NCI Froward Point is a

National Coastwatch Institution The National Coastwatch Institution is a voluntary sector, voluntary organisation and registered charity, providing a visual watch along the United Kingdom, UK's coasts, and is not to be confused with Her Majesty's Coastguard, HM Coastguard. ...

(NCI) lookout station at Inner Froward Point, at the easterly side of the mouth of the

River Dart The River Dart is a river in Devon, England, that source (river), rises high on Dartmoor and flows for to the sea at Dartmouth, Devon, Dartmouth. Name Most hydronyms in England derive from the Common Brittonic, Brythonic language (from which ...

, two miles by coastal path from

Kingswear Kingswear is a village and civil parish in the South Hams area of the English county of Devon. The village is located on the east bank of the tidal River Dart, close to the river's mouth and opposite the small town of Dartmouth. It lies within ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. Its twin duties are to maintain a daylight watch over the local coastal area and the

South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked Long-distance footpaths in the UK, long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harb ...

on whose route it lies. With some significant blind spots because of the coastline, NCI Froward Point covers the coastline from Start Point in the West towards

Brixham Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish in the borough of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. As of the 2021 census, Brixham had a population of 16,825. It is one of the main three centres of the borough, along with ...

in the East.

Operational details

The area of operation has a mixed boating population of a fishing fleet, recreational yachtsmen, yacht racing fleets, small commercial passenger vessels, kayaks, canoes, military vessels, dinghy racing fleets, racing gigs, small boats and inflatables. Additionally, there are regular visits to the River Dart by passenger cruise liners. The high number of boating movements makes the mouth of the Dart and the surrounding headlands places of high risk. Although it is not involved in traffic management, NCI Froward Point can alert Falmouth Coastguard both to potential incidents and incidents in progress. NCI Froward Point works closely with

HM Coastguard His Majesty's Coastguard (HMCG) is the section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible, through the Secretary of State for Transport to Parliament, for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue (SAR) within th ...

at Brixham, and the Dart Lifeboat, and is accredited with Declared Facility Status, which allows full participation on UK Search and Rescue incidents. The Froward Point lookout became operational in July 2005, with planning from 2002. Two buildings of the Brownstone Battery complex, a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

battery, are rented from the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. As a part of the NCI UK registered charity, NCI Froward point is entirely supported by charitable donations. NCI Froward Point was featured in the ITV Southwest Regional Evening News programme on 14 February 2007 as a recognisable point on a featured walk.

Facilities

The station maintains a listening watch using fixed and handheld

Marine VHF radio Marine VHF radio is a worldwide system of two way radio transceivers on ships and watercraft used for bidirectional voice communication from ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore (for example with harbormasters), and in certain circumstances ship-to-ai ...

s on channels 0, 16 and 67, unless authorised to transmit by the Coastguard on a per-incident basis (pre 1 October 2014), and channel 65 for regular two-way traffic (post 1 October 2014). A pair of mounted

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

binoculars Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held ...

, a radar set and a weather station are present. The weather station updates the lookout's website with weather data regularly via a microwave link to a broadband connection as a real-time service to seafarers. A webcam, updating images at intervals, provides a visual check on sea state and weather. With no

mains electricity Mains electricity, utility power, grid power, domestic power, wall power, household current, or, in some parts of Canada, hydro, is a general-purpose Alternating current, alternating-current (AC) electric power supply. It is the form of electri ...

to the site,

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s are used, and a

diesel generator A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of an engine generator. A diesel compress ...

is run when necessary. The lookout station maintains a visitor centre with information about both its operations and the Brownstone Battery itself.

Wildlife

When not monitoring the surrounding area for people at risk, watch keepers record sightings of seals,

cetacea Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...

ns and other wildlife for relevant wildlife organisations.

Incidents

NCI Froward Point has been involved in the following incidents: *13 Sep 2007 - Asked to assist Brixham Coastguard in locating disabled motor cruiser ''Jelly Bean''. Located successfully. *27 Sep 2007 - Assisted Brixham Coastguard with locating MFV ''Jose Jacqueline'', reported to be in danger. *10 Feb 2007 - Initiated rescue of 5 metre RIB *20 Feb 2007 - Located 10 metre motor cruiser with mechanical failure and conned Dart Harbour and Navigation Authority vessel to the casualty *21 August 2007 - Assisted Brixham Coastguard with yacht ''Stay Free'' taking in water. *24 Nov 2007 - Initiated rescue of small high speed inflatable. Sole occupant was hypothermic when rescued by the Dart Lifeboat *14 July 2008 - Initiated rescue of small open boat with engine failure near the Mewstone *20 June 2009 - Asked to assist Brixham Coastguard with a 19 ft Dory with 5 on board, that had run out of fuel at the Homestone and had let off flares. *29 August 2009 - Initiated rescue of replica of Nelson's cutter. *4 May 2010 - Initiated alert for apparently unmanned drifting motor cruiser south of Mewstone. *27 April 2011 - Initiated

ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...

assistance for walker in difficulties on the coast path. *3 August 2011 – Initiated assistance for dinghy on lee shore in Newfoundland Cove. *20 July 2013 - worked with Brixham Coastguard and NCI Prawle point to identify missing vessel suspected of being in difficulties off Start Point.

References

External links

National Coastwatch Institution official siteNCI Froward Point official site
{{Coord, 50.336, N, 3.543, W, display=title Froward Point Dartmouth, Devon