National Coastwatch is mourning former Station Manager Richard McMinn who died at the end of March.

After a life-long career as an official Ministry of Defence photographer based in the naval base at Portsmouth, Richard joined the National Coastwatch Institution as a Volunteer Watchkeeper in December 2007.

He began as a founder member of the team at Lee-on-the-Solent NCI and then within just a few months he became personally responsible for setting up and commissioning the Gosport NCI Station overlooking the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. This only became possible after a former MOD colleague offered the use of the redundant naval signal tower high on the wall of the MOD base at Fort Blockhouse.

After a mammoth clean-up and refurbishment job carried out by a small band of volunteers led by Richard himself, the Gosport National Coastwatch Station became operational on 1 June 2008. Initially they could only man the station at weekends due to a shortage of volunteers, but Gosport NCI has now evolved into a full seven days a week operation looking out for the safety of all those using our local inshore waters throughout the year.

Even in those early days, Richard’s organising ability had been noticed by NCI National President Jon Gifford who asked him to identify suitable locations for additional stations in the Solent Area and it seemed that nothing was too much trouble for a man who had a positive vision and the will to succeed. This eventually resulted in the acquisition of the observation deck of the Calshot Radar Tower on Southampton Water and use of a site overlooking the Needles on the Isle of Wight, bringing the total NCI stations in the Solent Area up to four.

Richard inevitably became the very first Station Manager at Gosport NCI and remained in this role for several years guiding the volunteer watchkeepers with a laid back and knowledgeable style which moulded the watchkeeping team into the valued member of the UK Search & Rescue Service that we see today.

Richard was forced to stand down as Station Manager after he became seriously ill a couple of years ago, but even this did not put him off entirely. Despite increasingly frequent hospital admissions and extremely uncomfortable and invasive treatment, he still insisted upon supporting NCI and had managed to hold down the posts of Station Welfare Officer, Health & Safety Officer, Maintenance Officer and Assistant Training Officer at various times within recent months.

Such dedication, even to a charitable cause, is almost without precedent and an enormous debt of gratitude is owed to a man who gave so much for the benefit of others in the local seafaring community. Sincere condolences and best wishes to Cath and the family.

Richard McMinn 1945 – 2017

David Russell, Station PR Officer

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