Llandudno, with its hillclimbing trams and snowless ski slope, is something of a wonderland. So it may come as no surprise that the lifeboat station is in a rather unusual place and needs a tractor and Land Rover to tow the lifeboats half a mile to the water..

'm late, I'm late, for a very important date', so said the White Rabbit as it sped through a doorway in Lewis Carroll's timeless classic, Alice in Wonderland.

The lines are familiar enough, but what may not be so well known is that Alice Liddell, the young girl for whom Lewis Carroll wrote his stories, was a frequent visitor to Llandudno during the 1860s staying with her family at their holiday home on the West shore. There is speculation that Lewis Carroll himself visited Llandudno and stayed with the Liddell family at this time. As the first Llandudno lifeboat was placed on station in 1861, it is quite possible that Alice and her mentor may have seen it being taken to the shore and launched.

When a lifeboat launches speed is of the essence and being late on a shout could have fatal consequences. To that end most lifeboats are either moored afloat, launched from a slipway or live in a boathouse which is situated just a stone's throw from the water. However, the nearest you get to water at the Llandudno lifeboat station is when the crew comes back from a call-out and someone puts on the kettle for a cup of tea - the station is unusual in that it is located in the centre of town, almost half a mile from the sea.

Nestling in the lee of the Great Orme isthmus, Llandudno has two shorelines. A mile and a quarter apart, the North Shore, with its splendid Victorian esplanade, is perhaps the better known, but the picturesque West Shore is equally popular with holidaymakers. The need to service the two shorelines is the reason for the unusual siting of the lifeboat station.

Horsepower In the earliest days, the lifeboats were towed from the lifeboat house to the relevant shore by horse or even man-power. Nowadays, however, the two modern lifeboats on station each have their own dedicated towing vehicle.

The all-weather Mersey class lifeboat Andy Pearce, is towed and launched by a Tallus Caterpillar tractor, and they go together to make up a more than diverting spectacle as they make their way through the busy streets of Llandudno to a launch.

The station's D class inshore lifeboat John Saunderson is towed by a Land Rover 110 Tdi Defender station wagon which is standard in trim, but fitted with towballs at both front and rear for manoeuvring the lifeboat at launch and recovery. The vehicle is also fitted with a winch, for use on beach recoveries if necessary, and a rear-mounted spotlight which can be used to illuminate the towing area when operating at night.

The Land Rover allows a large degree of operational flexibility as the lifeboat can be deployed quickly by road to an emergency situated away from the immediate beaches at Llandudno - a case in point being the Towyn floods. Similarly, the lifeboat can be quickly taken to the nearby resorts of Rhos-on-sea and Colwyn Bay, both of which are in the operating area of Lfandudno station.

During the summer, Llandudno's lifeboats are displayed on the North Shore promenade, where they prove to be a popular attraction.

Every two weeks, they launch on exercise to check systems and keep the crews up-to-date with working practices.

The RNLI's green book of regulations doesn't include a chapter on crashing the lifeboat before you get the chance to launch it, but there is a story about a local police constable who some years ago who, had the dubious distinction of having to deal with a road traffic accident in which the participating vehicles were a Llandudno tram and a lifeboat being taken out to a launch.

The tram was from the system that used to connect Llandudno and Colwyn Bay - it is long gone now, but Llandudno still boasts the Great Orme tramway, Britain's only rope-hauled incline tramway system, as well as a chair lift, dry ski slope and one of the UK's best preserved sea front facades. You can see why it's such a popular resort.

High street high seas 'Popular' is, of course, the preferred holiday brochure codeword for 'crowded', and the lifeboatmen who crew the current boats are predictably modest when recounting incidents at sea - they claim that the road journey between the lifeboat station and the launch is far more hazardous. Even so, once they put to sea there's no room for messing about.

The draw of Llandudno inevitably includes its fine beaches, and in consequence there are sea-related accidents and tragedies every year.

Just a few days before these photographs were taken, the inshore lifeboat launched off the West Shore to assist a speedboat with a failed engine. Another typical call-out had been to rescue a holidaymaker who had fallen off the pier.

But perhaps one of the most bizarre incidents was related by the station's honorary secretary, Lt. Commander John McDonald.

Apparently the all-weather lifeboat had been launched in the early hours of the morning, following the activation of an automatic distress beacon on a nearby vessel. After a search, the signal was traced to a coaster moored at a local quarry jetty. Upon investigation, it turned out that the intoxicated crew had been partying and were, as John delicately put it, entertaining a number of ladies of the night.

In their merriment the alarm had been unknowingly activated by the crew, who were now suitably embarrassed.

Nonetheless, Llandudno will continue to attract folk to its fine town and to visit the beaches and the sea front. The vast majority will leave again having no need to call either of the lifeboats. For those few who are unfortunate as to need them, the volunteer crews are ready to turn out, whatever the occasion, whatever the weather.

First published in Land Rover World magazine.

Text and pictures (except where shown): Bob Francis..