Fire Stations (Britain's Heritage)

Ever since being a little lad I've been fascinated by fire engines, fire stations and the logistics of organising services. My first trip to Leeds Central Fire Station in the '60s by 'bus was followed by exploring every station in the city; I'd purchased a Geographia street atlas which showed their locations. The service was superior then, with at least 17 engines covering the city and you could be sure of one or two at your door within 6 minutes if in need.This short 65 page book covers briefly the development from pre-Roman times (no actual stations) up to a couple built in 2015. There is an introduction and seven chapters detailing chronological periods, e.g. one on war time, one on the 'Golden Age' of Victorian/Edwardian civic pride, and so on. There are plenty of photos but unfortunately due to there only being 65 pages, at 24 by 17 cm., many pictures are too small. The giant six story The Mounts fire station in Northampton really does deserve a full page. And someone could have nipped over to Manchester a few years ago and taken a colour photo of the magnificent London Road station , the U.K.'s finest station. all red terracotta which does not show on the monochrome period photo printed here. We really need a more substantial publication detailing these sometimes great historical artefacts (by contrast look at the enormous number of books on steam locos for example). . But within its limits, this book does a good job. One can argue about which stations should be included, but they really should have shown Rochdale's, a wonderful place housing a brigade well in advance of its time- automatic doors and lighting, time recording of the first engine, even radio communications. All this in 1935! The author is an architectural historian, and writes in a straightforward fashion. Despite my reservations, I really do recommend this book.

My fire man/engine mad son loved this book that I bought from his birthday. He instantly recognised a local fire station in the book that he has had two personal tours of!

If like me you have a strong interest in emergency service architecture and buildings of different time periods this is a “must have” for your library. Highly recommended!

Nice book lots of reference photos just what I was looking for.

A great little book with loads of information.

Very informative read.

good selection of photos,but with this subject the book could be three times the size

It's ok not as informative as I thought would be