Pictures from the Heritage Archives

Until 1941, when the UK National Fire Service was established, the danger and extent of a fire in industrial or commercial premises, was often exacerbated by the length of time it took the local insurance company linked fire brigade to arrive. From early in the 20th century there was a rapid growth in the number of ‘Private’ industrial and commercial ‘Works Brigades’.  The Parkside factory headed by John Siddeley was no exception. The picture below is taken after the first world war in 1918, and shows him with his brigade proudly showing off their, we suspect, new uniforms and equipment.

Just 21 years from that date our second picture shows preparations being made for the devastation that was to come. Note the Commer ‘Q’ truck fire engine and the Coventry Climax pump unit. Both would prove their worth in the months to come.

Over the past few weeks our TV news seems to have been dominated by floods and fires. Neither is welcome, and sadly they have caused loss of life and a great deal of distress to very many people. How often we hear that the destruction or damage caused to homes has resulted in the loss of treasured family items and pictures. Our sympathies go out to those who have suffered and our great admiration to all the members of the rescue and emergency services. 

We at Heritage are also aware of this danger and having saved so much are taking every precaution to store items as safely as is possible. In addition we photograph artefacts, then scan, along with photos, negatives, brochures, records and other interesting papers. The electronic records made are then stored in at least two locations. This is an enormous task and all done by volunteers at no cost to the Trust. We do however have overheads and would ask for your assistance with these finances. If you are not already a Heritage Trust member we invite you to join at only £12 a year. This would greatly assist us with our task in preserving relevant materials and knowledge to pass on in an enjoyable way to future generations.

This is an original Armstrong Siddeley Firemans helmet that is part of the heritage collection.