Dic Evans is one of many heroes that Moelfre and its lifeboat station has produced. Since the lifeboat station was established at Moelfre in 1830, there have been 37 medals awarded - 4 gold, 7 silver and 27 bronze.
Dic was born in a small cottage overlooking the sea at Moelfre, Anglesey. His father, William Evans, was a sea captain and member of the Moelfre lifeboat crew, as was Dic's uncle and both his grandfathers. Dic himself left the village to join a coaster's crew when he was 14, and soon rose through the ranks as a seaman. He returned to Moelfre to run a butcher's business and married farmer's daughter Nansi. Dic and Nansi had three sons, Derek, David and William. In 1954 Dic was asked to became coxswain of the Moelfre lifeboat after his uncle, John Matthews, retired. Uncle John was also awarded a silver RNLI medal.
Dic's service as coxswain was a long and successful one culminating in his part in the rescues of the Hindlea in 1959 and the Nafsiporos in 1966. Having won the MBE and two coveted RNLI Gold medals he retired in 1970. He died in 2001 at the age of 96.
The list of Dic's honours and awards:
- 1940 Thanks on vellum, RNLI
- 1943 Bronze medal, RNLI
- 1959 Gold medal, RNLI
- 1960 HM the Queen's silver medal for gallantry at sea
- 1967 Gold medal, RNLI
- 1967 'Man of the Year' award
- 1969 British Empire Medal
- 1975 Honorary Fellow Manchester Polytechnic
- 1978 Honorary Bard, National Eisteddfod
The Project
Having decided upon a pose 'in action' I set to work in September 2003. Realising that my studio was large enough, but not high enough, I erected a temporary steel and canvas studio on the land next to our barge on the River Medway. The first stage was to construct a sturdy metal armature (skeleton). Things began to take shape quickly and before long I had a clay man at the wheel of a lifeboat underneath the canvas.
There was a storm in November and although puny by Moelfre standards the wind was gusting from the southwest at over 65 miles per hour. In the morning the only thing that remained in my studio was Dic Evans, standing resolute. Nor did he mind much when in February there was a freak high tide exacerbated by the closing of the Thames Barrier, which left him up to his ankles in the River Medway. I think it was at this point that John Payne, of the Moelfre partnership, said that Dic deserved another medal for surviving Twinney Wharf !
The Sculpture of Dic Evans is cast in fine art bronze. He stands 7 ft high and weighs approximately 400 Kg. The plinth is a granite boulder kindly donated by Hogans' Gwyndy Quarry. The plinth alone stands 5-1/2 ft high and weighs approximately six tonnes, making the sculpture an imposing 14 ft high.
