74


Keith Langworthy


U


NSUNG hero Keith Langworthy has helped save scores of lives since joining Dartmouth Coastguard more than 30 years ago.


He’s seen many changes to the service over the last three decades, but one thing remains a constant - the need to rescue people trapped in the water, on cliffs or in mud. Earlier this year, Keith, Dartmouth Coastguard Station Officer, was a finalist in the BBC Make A Difference awards in the Volunteers category. Te 63-year-old says he is proud of himself and his team, of which he says he is just the figurehead. He told By Te Dart about what his job – largely voluntary – entails.


Speaking at the Dartmouth Coastguard Station situ-


ated in a quiet cul-de-sac in Stoke Fleming, Keith said when he decided to join up nearly 32 years ago he just walked round to the station officer’s house, knocked on the door and asked. Nowadays newbies receive thorough training ses-


sions before being taken on, but back in the day you just learnt on the job, he said. “When I joined, I lived in the village [Stoke Flem-


ing] and we used to get notified to an incident when the maroon went off. Now it’s all done on our mobile


phones,” he explained. “I’m not a techie boy so it’s lucky my DSO [Deputy Station Officer] is very techie. All of the info we need is on our station Ipad, you can organise the search from it - although sometimes manual is a lot better,” he winked. Dartmouth’s current ‘patch’ stretches from the Weir


at Totnes all the way down the river and around to Torcross, although the team can be asked to assist neighbouring Coastguard teams in Torbay, Kings- bridge and Salcome. Tey have even been tasked as far afield as Dart-


moor where incidents have occurred near water - such as a reservoir. Keith recalled perhaps his strangest shout was pick-


By Ginny Farrell


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100