Will Hogg stands on the shoreline with a keen eye on bathers bobbing in the North Sea, doing the job his father and his grandfather did before him.
This year, though, the challenge has become relentless for lifeguards for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in Britain’s “staycation summer”. By mid-July, at the weekend there were already about 8,000 people on Longsands beach, Tynemouth, more than he has seen in this part of northeast England for many years.
“The other day we had a dislocated ankle, we had a rounders bat into someone’s head, we had a rescue going on at the same time, and the grass banks had been set on fire, all in the space of the same hour.” he said. “You’re sort of like spinning plates, and have to work out which one’s wobbling the most.”
Few turn up with a simple bucket and spade. “We’ve got more water sports than ever, more swimmers, more surfers, more stand-up paddleboarders, more people visiting the beach, more people wanting to be involved,” Hogg said. “So I would say it definitely has got harder because we’ve increased the volume of water users.”
Visitors from outside the area have noticeably increased since the beginning of the summer as more people are taking their holidays in Britain and flocking to the coast.
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Hogg, from Tynemouth, said: “I think ... we’re just going to have an influx of more and more people. I can imagine this is going to be our busiest summer.”
Hogg, 35, is celebrating his 20th season as a lifeguard but almost gave up in 2009 when his father, also called Will, died after suffering a heart attack during a charity swim at the age of 59. Hogg was working on the beach when the tragedy unfolded. “I didn’t realise what was going on until it all sort of got brought onto the sand. I think that’s part of it as well, why I stay, sort of a nod to my dad.”
While Hogg said the fact that people were making use of the beautiful beaches on their doorstep was great, the team of RNLI lifeguards who work on Longsands seven days a week during the summer are busier than they have ever been.
Their priority is incidents in the water, but the lifeguards also have to keep watch on the people on the beach — often in their thousands — and be ready to respond in an emergency.
As he patrolled the shoreline on Thursday, he warned three young people who were heading towards the water with their inflatable paddleboards that the conditions were too dangerous. The “no inflatables” windsock was also flying above the lifeguards’ hut.
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The trio ignored him. “We can only advise people,” Hogg said, “and they make the decision at the end of the day.”
In the past two years, Hogg said, there had been a huge rise in the numbers of people bringing stand-up paddleboards to the beach to make it “the most popular sport going”. “It just seems to have absolutely exploded,” he said.
Paddleboarding has become more accessible as the boards, originally made of carbon fibre, are manufactured as inflatables, making them cheaper and easier to transport.
On a windy day, he said, they were “like human sails” and could easily be swept far out to sea.
Hogg has some advice for those heading to the beach this summer who want to avoid such an emergency. “Our main advice would be to go to a lifeguarded beach,” he said.
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The RNLI has lifeguards on more than 240 beaches, and puts up flags that designate safe zones for swimmers, surfers and paddleboarders.
“The advice would be to seek us out and speak to us, get some answers,” Hogg said. “We don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, but we also don’t want issues to be developing, which could have been prevented with just a little bit of safety advice.”
Hogg works as a PE teacher in a Newcastle secondary school, but has spent his holidays lifeguarding since the summer he turned 16.
His grandfather, Jack, was the first Hogg to run the lifeguard service in North Tyneside, taken over by the RNLI just over a decade ago.
Lifeguards must pass regular fitness tests to ensure they are fast enough to be in the sea within seconds in an emergency. Hogg intends to keep going for as long as he is fit enough.
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“The main thing is, I just really enjoy it. I love it when it’s really busy.”
