Full details of new additions to the site will be posted on this page with links where appropriate.

09.03.10.
Updated pictures of Southport and Chorley Fire Stations have been added. [see also POLICY update.]
PLEASE NOTE: THIS WEBSITE WILL BE UNAVAILABLE FOR APPROXIMATELY 3 HOURS BETWEEN 2300 ON TUESDAY 9TH MARCH 2010 AND 0700 WEDNESDAY 10TH MARCH.  THIS IS TO ALLOW FOR ESSENTIAL DATA CENTRE MAINTENANCE.

06.03.10.
I am most grateful to Barrie Green for the information and picture regarding the recently converted Animal Rescue Unit which appears on the Cheshire Miscellaneous page.   Ken Reid has very kindly provided some more 'gems'.  The Albion Salvage Tender has been added to the Blackley Library page, whilst another Firemaster picture has been added to the Manchester Central Library page and a picture of the 'white' T.L. has been added to the Rochdale C.B. Library page. Finally in this update a couple of most welcome picture from Peter Williams, including the missing white machine for the St. Helens C.B. Library page and an additional picture of the Ford A Series Light Rescue Vehicle has been added to the Accrington Library page.

02.03.10.
I am grateful to Keith Howarth for a selection of pictures of the former Lancashire & GMC Ford Foam Tender which for convenience and comparison have all been added to the Eccles Library page.   Also on the same page is an additional picture of E193WNA which saw further service in Northumberland, very generously supplied by David Cruickshank. David has also supplied a picture of the former GMC TL on loan at Tollcross, Edinburgh in the late 90s which can be found on the Bury Library page.

25.02.10.
HOT NEWS: The first of 3 new Daf LF appliances for Lancashire has just arrived in the county this evening from Papworth.  A picture has been added to the Miscellaneous Page.

23.02.10.
Pictures of both the old and new Foam Tenders have been added to the Chorley page.  I have created a second page for Preesall to show the developments taking place there.   The appliance picture at Garstang has also been revised.
 

21.02.10.
Following an incident on Thursday in Hattersley, a number of appliance pictures have been updated on the Stalybridge, Hyde, Ashton-under-Lyne, Whitehill and Oldham pages.   A few pictures of the incident itself can be found on a new page for Sandpits Business Park.  Also added is a picture of one of the Stockport appliances just leaving the station for an incident.
Gary Chapman's excellent site for South-West Fire and Rescue is currently undergoing major revision.  However, some content does remain available via the new link.  Every good wish to Gary for the continuation of his greatly appreciated website.

11.02.10.
The new Environmental Protection Unit for GMC appears on the Bury page.   Following the switch round of units A and B, the captions on the SACU page have been updated accordingly.

10.02.10.
More new Scanias have entered service in Merseyside and can be seen on the Bootle/Netherton, Crosby and Heswall pages.  An additional picture of E119HCW has been added to the Blackburn Library page.

06.02.10.
It has been a great privilege for me be invited to Plastisol U.K. Ltd to take photographs which I am now able to share via this website.   Many thanks also to Barrie Green for a selection of new vehicles recently delivered to Cheshire FRS which appear on the Miscellaneous Page.

30.01.10.
Merseyside FRS is currently putting another batch of Scanias into service, with Allerton, Belle Vale and West Kirby having an allocation so far.   Other pictures of new Scania pictures have been added to the Merseyside Miscellaneous page.  Additionally, on the same page, are pictures of the new Mercedes pump courtesy of Simon Ryan, who has also provided some pictures of the new Mobile Health Screening Unit which again appears on the Miscellaneous page along with pictures from this week's large exercise in the docks for which a new page has been created.  Following its recent decommissioning, the picture of the Foam Tanker at Philips Park has been moved to the Library page.

25.01.10.
A number of updated appliance pictures have been added to the Lancashire USAR page plus an updated appliance picture on the St. Annes page following a 12 pump fire in Blackpool overnight.

23.01.10.
Updated pictures have been added to the Preesall page ahead of demolition of the current fire station, which will be replaced by a new community fire station later this year.   The new B.A. Pod for Lancashire has been added to the Miscellaneous page.

18.01.10.
With serious fires overnight in Blackpool and Middleton, I was turfed out of bed just after 0300 to the latter incident, and can, therefore, add 3 night-time appliance shots on the Manchester Central, Blackley and Rochdale pages.

17.01.10.
An appliance from Leigh was caught in this afternoon's sunshine.

12.01.10.
I am grateful to a number of people for this latest update. Nigel Rowbottom has very kindly provided pictures of a derelict school on fire in Marple.  Thanks to Barrie Green for the picture of the pre-war Chester T.L. and the Dennis F7 during resotration. and also to Duncan Barker-Brown for updated pictures of Padiham Fire Station.   I have also included a link to Barrie Green's very interesting collection of fire helmets.  Finally thanks to my brother for a picture of the new Scania at Whiston.

11.01.10.
After quite a struggle, I have finally managed to upload video footage of the fire at Maple Mill in Oldham last April.   I have had to split the video into 3 parts.  This link is to Part 1 only.   Links to other parts are available via the Video Index page.

07.01.10.
A general tidy up with a number of corrections to copyright ownership and also further details on the current copyright situation regarding the Clifford Ashton Collection.

03.01.10.
This morning was one of those very rare occasions when I decided to take my camera with me to church.  On the way back we came across a Make Pumps 6 plus specials in yet another timber-framed apartment block under construction in Kearsley.   Appliance pictures have been upated as a consequence on the Agecroft, Atherton, Bolton, Broughton, Bury, Farnworth and SACU pages.

02.01.10.
The second GMC Volvo FL DTV had been added to the Miscellaneous page.   Another interesting and most welcome selection of pictures has been received from Satis which appear on the Oldham C.B. and Werneth [Hollins] library pages and the Rochdale C.B. and Heywood library pages.

01.01.10.

26.12.09.
Already a number of very positive comments have been received regarding the Christmas Special.  I am grateful to Sub O Andrew Entwistle for additional information regarding one of the 'mystery' incidents.  To aid navigation of this large update, I have now included links to each individual page on the first page of the Clifford Ashton Tribute.

25.12.09.
A very Happy Christmas to all visitors to the site. Special thanks to all those who have provided pictures during 2009 especially for the Library Sections.  As ever, your help and support has been truly appreciated.
This year's Christmas Special is, I believe, truly special and has involved many hours of preparation, hence the lack of other updates.
The Tribute to the Late Clifford Ashton has now been expanded to 50 pages and contains 335 photographs!   It is indeed a very great honour for me to be able to share these pictures with you, and despite Mr. Ashton's generosity, I do urge you all, please, to respect his copyright without exception.
As ever in such a large update, mistakes can happen.  Please report any broken or incorrect links or indeed any other errors to me by email [link on welcome page] ~ thanks.

19.12.09.
Thanks again to Ken Reid for providing another couple of 'missing' archive pictures, namely the F36 from Oldham and the Range Rover at Heywood.

15.12.09.
Many thanks to Bill Potter and Ken Reid for an updated picture of Bedford Turntable Ladder 7PTB on the Morecambe Library page.

09.12.09.
More appliance pictures today from Merseyside which can be found on the City Centre, Old Swan,
Bromborough and Training Academy pages.

08.12.09.
A miscellaneous update of Lancashire appliances on the Fulwood, Lancaster and Bamber Bridge pages, plus 'hot of the press' [they actually arrived as this update was being prepared] pictures of the new Special Rescue Pump for Merseyside are on the Miscellaneous page, with sincere thanks to Simon Ryan.

02.12.09.
A couple of updated pictures have been added to the Maple Mill Incident page.

26.11.09.
A selection of pictures from a fire in a derelict mill in Stockport Town Centre this evening.

25.11.09.
A new page has been created showing some pictures from the 8 pump incident at Hartley's in Wigan earlier today, plus revised appliance pictures on the Atherton, Leigh, Salford and Wigan pages.

24.11.09.
Many thanks to Ken Brown for appliance pictures from a recent 6 pump incident in Cheadle Hulme.  A revised picture has been added to the Poynton page with an additional picture on the Cheadle and Widnes pages.   Grateful thanks also to Peter Williams for an additional picture for the Salvage Corps page and the Mossley Library page.

18.11.09.
Following a large fire in Widnes overnight, updated appliance pictures have been added to the Widnes, Runcorn, Warrington, Northwichand Winsford pages.

17.11.09.
Thanks to Keith Howarth for some revised pictures on the SACU page.  From Paul McLean comes a great night shot of a pump from Old Swan and pictures of a car fire in Wavertree.  Finally, another video extract has been added of a 10 pump fire at Bradshaw's, Trafford Park in April 2008.

13.11.09.
Thank you to all who responded so favourably to yesterday's video experiment.  It would seem to have been a resounding success.  I now hope to add further videos over the coming months, beginning today with Vibe at Bolton in July 2008.

12.11.09
As an experiment, I have started a new VIDEO section via You Tube.  If it is succesful, I shall add more in the future.  The first brief offering is of a car fire in Worsley in February 2009.

06.11.09.
Some more night time shots have been included, with an updated picture of Kirkdale Fire Station seen on Hallowe'en and a fire at a derelict pub in the same area on Bonfire night.
Also added, rather belatedly, are pictures of an incident at the former Burgess Primary School in Harpurhey on 7 October, which were very kindly supplied by Nigel Rowbottom.

27.10.09.
I am very grateful to Peter Williams for an excellent shot of the former Cheshire Dennis F8 after it passed to Birkenhead.
The new station numbers for Merseyside have now been added on each page in anticipation of the imminent change to National Call Signs. Until the actual change, I will leave the current station number in brackets.

20.10.09.
The current round of revisions and updates of appliances in Lancashire has now been completed with new pictures on the Fleetwood page, plus one revised picture on the St. Anne's page.   Thanks to Ken Savage for an updated picture of one of the LFs at Blackburn.   One of Merseyside's new Ford Mondeo fire cars has been added to the Miscellaneous page courtesy of Simon Ryan.

13.10.09.
Lancashire's new livery can be found on the Miscellaneous page where additional pictures of the new Foam Tender Pods and Prime Movers have been added.   Updated pictures of the Command Support Unit at Fulwood and the appliance at Haslingden have also been added.
I am delighted to be able to include pictures from Mark Eley on the website.  These include a vehicle fire on the M56 in Cheshire and a school fire in Merseyside [the latter supplemented with pictures from Paul McLean ~ thanks, Paul] plus the new Marine & Tunnel Firefighting Unit pod for Mersesyside on the Kirkdale page.
Finally in this update, another 2 new Scanias for Merseyside appear on the Miscellaneous page with thanks to Simon Ryan.

28.09.09.
With my holiday now complete, it's back to work on the website with another archive update, this time covering the former County Boroughs of Warrington and Wigan.  Work has also commenced on this year's Christmas Special.  All I will say at this time is that it will be one update not to be missed!!

WARRINGTON ~ ED8952 ~ KED300~ PED555 ~ YED111 ~ 4000ED ~8101ED
WIGAN ~ EK6489 ~ JEK999 ~ EEK250F

20.09.09.
Another, but more substantial, archive update focusing primarily on Southport Fire Brigade and also includes the former Birkdale Fire Brigade.  Other additions are listed below, including a very recent Firemaster picture.

BIRKDALE [SOUTHPORT] ~ FIRE STATION ~ STEAMER ~ HOSE CARRIAGE
BLACKLEY ~ 6900NF
BOOTLE ~ EEM47E
MACCLESFIELD ~ FMA210
SOUTHPORT ~ STEAMER ~ FY666 x2 ~ FY999 ~ WM2222 ~ WM9906 ~ EFY444 ~ GJJ33 ~ NYR296 ~ NYR244 ~ OWM261 ~ BWM602B x2 plus 3 line ups.

18.09.09.
It's a little while since I had a delve into the archives.  I am indebted to Mr. J. Wilde, for two pictures of the Dennis F7 at Ashton-under-Lyne, and also a picture of the crews on parade.   Mr. Wilde himself features in a 1951 picture on the Ashton page.   Also from Mr. Wilde comes a picture of the former Tyldesley U.D.C. Dennis Light 4 which has been added to the Atherton Library page and a picture of a turntable ladder competition in 1953 on the Lancashire Miscellaneous page.

17.09.09.
A new page has been created showing a variety of emergency vehicles that attended the recent Open Day at Northwich Fire Station.   Appliance pictures have also been updated on the Knutsford page. Staying with Cheshire, I am once again most grateful to Barrie Green, this time for pictures of one of the recently converted Rapid Response Units which can be found on the Miscellaneous page.

11.09.09.
This year's 'Indian' summer has given me a good opportunity to update the appliance picture on the Horwich page.

09.09.09.
The first new Rescue Pump for Merseyside with bodywork by JDC arrived at Headquarters today and can be found on the Merseyside Miscellaneous page.  Another new L4P 'up north' has been added to the Cumbria Miscellaneous page along with revised pictures of two fire stations due for replacement in the future ~ Carlisleand Patterdale.

31.08.09.
A new page has been created for a series of pictures of the superbly organised Open Day at Irlam Fire Station, plus the appliances on the Broughton page have been updated.  The second appliance at Widnes has also been updated.

28.08.09.
Apologies that it has actually taken me four years to update the Malpas page.

24.08.09.
I have just completed a reasonably quiet week as Duty Officer for the SACUs, with just two shouts in Blackburn and Swinton and no pictures on this occasion.  However, I am very grateful to Barrie Greeen for pictures of Cheshire's 'pink' machine which has been added to the Miscellaneous page and also to Ken Brown for an updated picture at Formby.

15.08.09.
A new page has been created showing a selection of vehicles attending the Birchwood Open Day.  Additionally, I have updated the appliance picture on the Birchwood page, and added a couple of new pictures of the Dennis F7 to the Chester Library page.

13.08.09.
The first posting on the site of pictures of the new Volvo Recovery Vehicle for Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service have been added to the Leigh T.S.C. page.

10.08.09.
I am most grateful to Paul Mclean for a selection of pictures from the 12 pump incident at Spice City Balti House in Liverpool last Saturday.  Additionally, I have updated appliance pictures on the Wallasey and Whiston page.

06.08.09.
A selection of pictures from the 8 pump incident at the Pallet Yard in Burnley in the early hours of today, along with some revised appliance pictures on the Colne, Preston, Hyndburn and Bacup pages.

05.08.09.
All four new Volvos have now been added to the Cumbria Miscellaneous page.  The picture of the second appliance at Skelmersdale has been updated and the first away at Manchester Central has also been revised.

03.08.09.
Two of the new Volvo FLs have been added to the Cumbria Miscellaneous page.   Both new Foam Units for GMC have now been registered and pictures have been included on the GMC Miscellaneous page along with a picture of the two W reg GP lorries.  Pictures of the HPVs at Whitehill and Leigh have also been updated.
A number of Cheshire appliance pictures have been updated following the 8 pump fire at Over on a very dull and wet Lammas Day.

CONGLETON ~ DG53JNZ
MACCLESFIELD ~ V667KMA
MIDDLEWICH ~ R45FMA
RUNCORN ~ Y495PTU
SANDBACH ~ R42FMA

I am very grateful to Ben Walton for a set of pictures of the major fire in South Shore last week, which concludes the present update.

30.07.09.
The night of 27/28 July saw two major fires in the North West, 12 pumps plus specials in Warrington and 15 pumps plus specials in Blackpool.  From these two shouts comes a revised picture of the Control Unit at Northwich and additional pictures of the HPV at Bolton Central.

29.07.09.
A routine update of appliance pictures at Penwortham and Tarleton.

28.07.09.
My deepest sympathy to the firefighters at Colne who responded to a Road Traffic Collision at the weekend and on arrival found one of their colleagues was amongst three people who had been fatally injured.  Sincerest condolences to Tom's family and the other families involved in this tragedy.  R.I.P.

25.07.09.
With the importance of Community Fire Safety being paramount, there have been a good number of Open Days this year with the promise of several more still to come.  Today's Open Day at Warrington featured a variety of appliances and exhibitions. I have also updated the appliance pictures on the Birchwood and Stockton Heath pages.

23.07.09.
A mixed bag of old and new, beginning with 2 pictures of the 'missing' Bedford at Chadderton, plus another picture of the E.T. there, all courtesy of Satis.  Many thanks to Keith Howarth for an updated picture of the Atego at Congleton, plus an additional picture of the chip pan demonstrator which has been added to the Cheshire Miscellaneous page.  Staying on the same page, a collection of pictures of Cheshire's new Community Roadshow Vehicle have been added thanks to Barrie Green, along with one of the new Motorway Accident Response Vehicles.  Rounding off Barrie's latest contributions and rounding off this update, pictures of the replacement OSU have been added to the Winsford page.

16.07.09.
Another very welcome selection of pictures from Neal Glover has been added on the following pages:

BARROW C.B. ~ KEO811J
BLACKBURN C.B. ~ NYV101
BLACKPOOL ~ RFV934X
BURY C.B. ~ UEN999L
CREWE ~ TLG887
GORTON ~ YVU133M
LANCASTER ~ STJ198L [with wheeled-escape]
MORECAMBE ~ UTE950L
PRESTON ~ NCK935X
WALLASEY ~ JHF707J
WEST KIRBY [HOYLAKE] ~ PMA817

12.07.09.
More historical pictures from two brigades which rarely seem to get cover on these pages ~ the former Manchester and Salford brigades, with thanks to Roger Simpson and to Merseyside F&RS.

BLACKLEY ~ N5978 ~ 6900NF
BROUGHTON ~ XRJ538
GORTON ~ HORSE-DRAWN ~ SVU200
LONDON ROAD ~ HORSE-DRAWN ~ N5944 ~ N5951 ~ N5955 ~ VU8696 ~ XJ5492 ~ DVU785 ~ GLW426 ~ WXJ286 ~ AVM3B
MOSS SIDE ~ BXJ500 ~ JVU594F
PHILIPS PARK ~ NVR66 ~ FXJ944D ~ JVU593F
SALFORD ~ BA9335 ~ BRJ333 ~ FRJ928 ~ WRJ661 ~ MBA773F ~ SRJ999H ~ XBA327K
WITHINGTON ~ GNC800 ~ GNC800 with ONB876 ~ ONB876  ~ VND217
WYTHENSHAWE ~ TNE265 ~ UXJ695 ~ HXJ142F

11.07.09.
Another selection of very interesting pictures from Satis including the two Bedfords at Irlam in colour and intact, plus 4 additional pictures at Stretford of 3541TD and RTE138C taken c.1968~1970 and the addition of T.L. BTB292E.

10.07.09.
This update introduces a further 3 new pages to the website.  Firstly the Rochdale Open Day held last Sunday; a page for the new USAR vehicle for Greater Manchester including some 'locker' shots; and finally I am pleased to be able to include a page specifically for the Greater Manchetser Fire Service Museum at Rochdale.

08.07.09.
I am most grateful to Paul McLean for an interesting set of pictures covering the Crane Collapse in Liverpool earlier this week.

06.07.09.
A recent picture of the second pump at Heywood has been added, along with the new Volvos at Rochdale.  The appliance pictures at the four most northerly stations in Lancashire have all been updated ~ Bolton-le-Sands, Carnforth, Silverdale and Hornby.

02.07.09.
A night-time shot of the CSU from Lancaster, and an additional shot of the Great Harwood appliance have been added following the 10 pump incident in Preston last night.   Unfortunately there was little supplementary light available which made photography almost impossible.  All pictures were taken from outside the safety cordon.

27.06.09.
Congratulations to all at Farnworth Fire Station for organising a superb open day there today.  With hundreds of visitors, hopefully a large sum will have been raised for the Firefighters Charity.

26.06.09.
Another routine update but with the odd little surprise, especially at Mossley Old Fire Station.  Thanks to Dave York one of the Merseyside pictures as indicated.

CROXTETH ~ J252KWM
KIRKBY ~ DK54HZB x2
MANCHESTER CENTRAL ~ PN08UWW
MAPLE MILL ~ UPDATE
MERSEYSIDE MISCELLANEOUS 1 ~ YD54AUC ~ DK56JXF
MERSEYSIDE MISCELLANEOUS 2 ~ DK58HNG[DY] ~ DK58HNH
MERSEYSIDE T.D.A. ~ PM154
MOSSLEY ~ FIRE STATION
MOSSLEY LIBRARY PAGE ~ OLD FIRE STATION x2

19.06.09.
A great start to the weekend, with another selection of excellent pictures from around 40 years ago from Satis.

MORECAMBE ~ 26CTB
RAINFORD ~ 279WTC
WHISTON ~ DTC927E
WIDNES ~ 276NTF ~ 576YTD

18.06.09.
A mill fire in Hopes Carr, Stockport, and a selection of routinely updated appliance pictures form this latest update, along with one of the new foam carriers for Lancashire.

BARNOLDSWICK ~ T131BCK
BLACKLEY ~  PN05EHB
BROUGHTON ~ PN05EHF
LANCASHIRE MISCELLANEOUS ~ T634JWB ~ PN09KNO x2

15.06.09.
Two more superb pictures from 1967 have been very kindly supplied by Satis, and show a pair of Karriers at St. Annes.

12.06.09.
A major exercise involving appliances from Greater Manchester and Lancashire, plus the Mountain Rescue Service, took place yesterday on the moors above Bolton.  Accordingly, I have been able to update a number of appliance pictures and I have also included a special page for general shots of the exercise rendezvous point plus some reserve appliances.  Updates can be found on the following pages:

AGECROFT ~ P21GNA ~ PN57AOZ
ATHERTON ~ MV54AYW
BOLTON CENTRAL ~ MH04FJA
BOLTON NORTH ~T271MBA
BURY ~ MF51EXO
CHORLEY ~ PJ52FMP
DARWEN ~ PL06OWA
FARNWORTH ~ PN57AOU
HINDLEY ~ PN05EHD
LEIGH ~ MW52UDY

11.06.09.
Pictures of one of the new foam units and the new USAR vehicle have been added to the GMC Miscellaneous page.

09.06.09.
A picture of Leyland-Daf 60 N171GCK has been added to the Fulwood Library page.  Still playing catch-up, I have included an additional set of pictures from the 22 pump incident on Trafford Park in September 2002, very kindly supplied by Carl Haslam.

04.06.09.
EXCLUSIVE: Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service has just taken delivery of the world's largest Dennis Sabre, which appears on the Cheshire Miscellaneous page.  Remember you saw it here first!  Slightly older, but just as welcome is another picture from Satis of a J4 on the Stretford Library page.

03.06.09.
Two more superb colour pictures from 1970 have been very kindly donated by Satis UK.  They include the first picture on this site of one of the Bedford KELs at Horwich, and the Busmar bodied Water Tender at Penwortham.

01.06.09.
I am grateful to Neal Glover for a selection of pictures from the major fire at a Chicken Factory in Morecambe on Spring Bank Holiday Monday.  I have also revised the station pictures on the Kendal and Agecroftpages, plus a revised appliance picture has been added to the Bolton page.

23.05.09.
Two appliance pictures have been revised on the Morecambe page.

22.05.09.
The four Daf55 series appliances in Lancashire that are now in the reserve fleet have been added to the Library page of their initial allocation, being Fulwood,Lancaster, Blackpool and Nelson.  I have also added a link from the Welcome page directly to the Incident Library.

21.05.09.
Following a much quieter period in the north-west, this update brings a mixed bag of old and new.  Many thanks to Barrie Green for a picture of the Chester Water Incident Unit which has recently been reliveried. Thanks also to Simon Rowley for current pictures of the former Leyland-Daf EST from Wigan and a former TL from Carlisle.  The former GMC L4P which was converted to an LRV has been very kindly provided by Terry Davies and appears on the Eccles Library page.

08.05.09.
Updated pictures of both pumps at Burnley have been added along with PM035.   A Ford Ranger picture has been added to the Lancashire Miscellaneous page whilst preserved Dennis F26 NCB100 has been added to the Blackburn C.B. Library page.

04.05.09.
It has been a busy Bank Holiday weekend here in the North West, which has resulted in two nights with very little sleep.  It began with a MP5 in Miles Platting just east of Manchester City Centre at about 2330 on Friday.   Saturday morning, just before dawn, it was MP8 in Little Lever, near Bolton, and then 0215 Sunday a MP10 in Runcorn, which subsequently went to MP15.  Although the lighting conditions were not conducive to decent photography in the early hours, I am including pictures of both the Little Lever and the Runcorn incidents and a variety of updated appliance pictures on the following pages:

AGECROFT ~ PN57AOZ
ATHERTON ~ MV54AYW ~ PN05EHE
AUDLEM ~ N712GFM [picture transfer]
BOLTON ~ MH04FJA ~ MH04FJC
BOLTON NORTH ~ X594AVR
BROUGHTON ~ PN05EHG
BURY ~ MF51EXO
CHESTER ~ DK57GCX
CONGLETON ~ N709GFM [picture transfer] ~ PM069 WX54VMV
CREWE ~ N707GFM~DA52YZF x2 ~ DG53JNX
FARNWORTH ~ PN57AOU ~ PN57AOY
LEIGH ~ MV54AYU x2 ~ MW52UDY
MACCLESFIELD~ V896JMA
MANCHESTER CENTRAL ~ S981SDB
SALFORD ~ PF08SNX
SPEKE-GARSTON ~ DG02WFW
STOCKTON HEATH ~ DK08AHX
TARPORLEY ~ R43FMA
WHITEFIELD ~ PN57AOV
WINSFORD ~ DK57GCV

Omitted from the previous update was a link to the Whitefield Library page where Commer HY 344KTF has been added.
 

01.05.09.
More excellent images from the late 1960s and early 1970s appear on the following Library pages:

ACCRINGTON ~ 577YTD ~ ATB235A
ECCLES ~ WTF85L
LANCASHIRE MISCELLANEOUS~ ONE CONTROL UNIT AND THREE EMERGENCY TENDERS [one picture]
LITTLEBOROUGH ~ PTB140G
MOSSLEY ~ 348KTF ~ 351KTF
NELSON ~ 282NTF
NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS ~ 347KTF [colour]
WIDNES ~ LTJ858

Returning to the present day, an updated picture of the HPV at Whitehill has been added with thanks to Ken Savage, and many thanks also to Peter Weatherby for a picture of the Pleasureland fire in Southport recently.

28.04.09.
A number of appliance pictures in the East Lancashire area have been updated and are available on the Darwen, Colne, Blackburn, Earby and Nelson pages.
I am grateful as ever to Keith Howarth for his continued unstinting support of this website, and I am pleased to be able to include more recent shots on the Maple Mill page.

27.04.09.
Three pictures dating back to September 1967 have been added to the Blackpool Fire Brigade page.

26.04.09.
I am very grateful to Ken Savage for an updated picture of the Chester ALP.

24.04.09.
Two additional black and white pictures have been added to the Birkenhead Library page, both having been taken exactly 40 years ago this month.  A recent picture of ex-Bury TL EN6080 has been added to the Bury Library page.

22.04.09.
This update begins with revised pictures on the Hindley and Wesham page, along with pictures of the Dennis F46 on both the Lytham and Lytham Library pages.
A new page has been created for pictures of the 18 pumps + specials incident at Maple Mill in Hathershaw.

14.04.09.
HAPPY EASTER!   This update begins with the 'missing' Volvo being added to the Manchester Central Page.  The arrival of Spring usually brings with it a spate of grass fires and moorland fires.   My first shout back on the SACU took me to an 8 pump fire high on Saddleworth Moor on Easter Monday.   From that incident, revised pictures have been added to the Ashton, Philips Park, Mossley, Atherton and SACU pages.

04.04.09.
I am most grateful to Steve Miller for more Cumbria pictures including new Land Rovers for Sedbergh and Silloth.  Although possibly not yet on the run, I have put the pictures at the appropriate station with former vehicles moved to the Library pages.  A picture of the MRV at Workington is also added.  The Iveco, previously posted on that page, has now been moved to its correct station, Carlisle, with apologies for the error.    Many thanks also to Dave York for an updated picture of the Merseyside Land Rover which appears on the Miscellaneous page.  In the near future, I will be creating a new page dedicated to the Marine Unit where this vehicle will be based.

02.04.09.
Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service now uses the National Call Sign system, as can be seen on one of the LFs on the Preston page.  There is no change to the station numbers.

31.03.09.
Two more new Volvos have been added.  One appears on the Salford page, whilst the second appliance for Rochdale has joined its future stable-mate on the Leigh T.S.C. page.
It's a little while since I delved into the archives.  Thanks to Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service and Roger Simpson, I am able to include a number of pictures from the former Stockport Fire Brigade.  With the exception of the Offerton picture, I have placed all the others on the Whitehill page, in keeping with the policy of placing former County Borough pictures at the Headquarters Station.

OFFERTON ~ STATION OPENING 1972
WHITEHILL ~ JA7848 ~ DJA631 ~ EDB688 ~ JDB393 ~ YDB469 ~ JDB999E ~ UDB675J

28.03.09.
Following the demise of the last Talbot 4x4 in GMC, pictures now appear on the Marple Library page and the Bolton North Library page.   The final two new Volvo pumps will be going on the run at Rochdale in the very near future.  A picture of one has been added to the Leigh T.S.C. page.  Two pictures of the Bedford TKG formerly based at Moreton, now appear on the Merseyside Miscellaneous page.

20.03.09.
Whilst still taking advantage of the spring sunshine, an updated appliance picture appears on the Whiston page plus one on the Kirkdale page, and a fresh picture of the Liverpool City Station has also been added.

19.03.09.
Pictures of all the Heywood appliances have been revised.

18.03.09.
The MAN at Warrington has now been added.   Thanks to Simon Ryan for a picture of Merseyside's new SRT pod and Prime Mover which appears on the Croxteth page.

17.03.09.
A revised picture of the 2nd appliance at Darwen has been added, along with revised pictures of  Lancashire's off-road vehicle, which appear on the Miscellaneouspage along with its transporter.

12.03.09.
Following a large fire on the Fylde Coast this morning, a number of appliance pictures have been updated at Blackpool, South Shore, Bispham, and Fulwood.  An updated picture also appears on the Wesham page, though not connected with the incident.

10.03.09.
Still in Merseyside, I am most grateful to Frank Mullen for providing a set of pictures of a dramatic house fire in Anfield in 1989.

07.03.09.
The picture of the newer Scania at St. Helens has been updated, as has that of the IIT vehicle on the Merseyside Miscellaneous page.   Continuing with the Merseyside theme, I am indebted to Keith Howarth for the supply of a large number of pictures following two large exercises held in Kirkby and Seaforth recently.   A new page has been created for the USAR exercise at Kirkby, whilst appliances attending at Seaforth are shown on their respective station pages as shown below.

AINTREE ~ DK05HBE
ALLERTON ~ Y244XRN
BIRKENHEAD ~ K475OKB ~ L38SFY ~ L39SFY ~ DK55HNA
BOOTLE/NETHERTON ~ T657CCK ~ Y246XRN
CROSBY ~ Y242XRN ~ DK57FKZ
CROXTETH ~ DK57FKV
FORMBY ~ T662CCK
HUYTON ~ PN04KTF
KIRKBY ~ DK54HZB ~ DK57FLA
KIRKDALE ~ K946OHF ~ DG02WFZ ~ DK57FKW
LIVERPOOL CITY ~ DK05HBF
LOW HILL ~ DG02WFX ~ DK55HNC
MERSEYSIDE MISCELLANEOUS ~ YD54AUC ~ DK56JXF
OLD SWAN ~ PN04KTG
SPEKE/GARSTON ~ DG02WFW
TOXTETH ~ DK05HBD
WALLASEY ~ DK05HBO ~ DK05HBP

05.03.09.
Continuing the catch-up theme, an additional picture of GJM447 has been added to the Kendal Library page.  A fourth page has been created for Leigh T.S.C. with pictures from Manchester Airport during the trialling of new foam making equipment.

04.03.09.
This update begins with me playing 'catch-up' again, with a number of pictures being added that have beeen sent to me over the last year, beginning with a picture of the Dennis DJ which has been added to the Salford City Library page.   From Westmorland comes a collection of pictures of the 1943 Dodge from Windermere under renovation.  In service pictures of Dennis F12 PLV415 have been added to the Hatton Garden page.
From the current scene, the second new Volvo at Stretford has been added, plus also, temporary pictures of the new Volvos at Ashton-under-Lyne.   Previous appliances have been moved to the respective library pages.

02.03.09.
Pictures have been added of the two new Volvos now on the run at Heywood.
A couple of interesting pictures of the Dennis RS at Hindley have been added thanks to Steve Blackledge.

24.02.09.
An updated appliance picture appears on the Chadderton page and the Rochdale page.

16.02.09.
The B.A. unit has been added to the Chorley page, whilst the preserved ex-West Riding Dennis F46 now appears on the Lytham Library Page

13.02.09.
Many thanks to Craig Howell the new owner of DMB902X for a picture as it left Sandbach.  The Merseyside DIM Unit picture has been moved to the Bromboroughpage following reallocation there.

10.02.09.
To help with finding old fire stations, I have now included some former names along with current names in the various Library Indexes.  I would welcome information on any others that may need amendment.  A new Volvo has gone into service at Hollins, whilst the Foam Tanker picture has been updated on the Cheadle page.   Another Volvo picture has been added to the Leigh T.S.C. page.

06.02.09.
Another varied selection of pictures begins with an updated picture of the Bolton Hydraulic Platform, whilst on the Bolton Library page there is a superb picture of the previous Hydraulic Platform which comes courtesy of Keith Howarth.  The picture of HPV TXJ647K with yellow booms has been moved from Oldham Library to the Moss Side Library page.
An additional picture has been added to the Formby Library page, which has previously been overlooked.
Many thanks to Major Tansley for another couple of pictures for the SACU page.
I was delighted to be contacted by Tony Foster who informed me that the ex-Bury Leyland Metz Turntable Ladder [1935] is currently undergoing restoration in Northamptonshire.  Some pictures are included on the Bury C.B. page.
Thanks also to Ken Brown for a picture of the Penwortham appliance seen recently.
Back to the historical theme, many thanks to Tony Kent for a picture of the old Derby Lane Fire Station in Old Swan.
Paul Warnock has again provided some very interesting pictures, a Dodge appliance on the Manchester Central and Moss Side Library pages are included, but most especially one of the early Lancashire Bedford diesels after to moving to Ireland, appears on the Bamber Bridge Library page.
Finally, a link has been added to Mike Hughes Action 'n' Emergency website.

04.02.09.
A revised appliance picture can be found on each of the Gorton and Heywood pages.

02.02.09.
Following two recent incidents, firstly a flat fire in Warrington and a derelict pub fire in Leigh, appliance pictures have been updated on the Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Atherton, Hindley, Wigan, Leigh and Ashton-under-Lyne.
I am very grateful to Mr. Andrew Entwistle of Hebden Bridge for a selection of photographs including the 'missing' Bedford TK from Chadderton and a couple more pictures of the Simonitor there.
Thanks to Simon Ryan, I am able to bring more updates from Merseyside, where two hose-layer pods have recently arrived plus a new Land Rover L4V, all of which are on the Merseyside Miscellaneous page.

28.01.09.
An updated appliance picture has been added to the Moss Side page, being the first picture to be included of one of the new Volvos at work.

27.01.09.
Every good wish to Watch Manager Mark Hopton, of Red Watch at Bispham, who has retired today and kindly provided a picture of their pump.  All the very best, Mark.

25.01.09.
For ease of navigation, a new page has been created for all the Salvation Army Catering Units.  Included are unique pictures showing all four vehicles together for the first time.

23.01.09.
Further information has been added regarding BBU999J on the Oldham C.B. page and also more information on N657YNC on the Hollins Library page.  This information has come direct from GMF&RS and is most gratefully received.  The picture of the first appliance at Bamber Bridge has been updated along with that of the ALP at Preston.

22.01.09.
A return to the historical theme with a number of pictures added to the Oldham C.B. page as listed below, plus a picture of the old Werneth Fire Station has been added to the Hollins Library page.

BU150 ~ ABU980 ~ FBU760 ~ FYH95 ~ GLE408 ~ GXA791 ~ JBU510 ~ MBU130 ~ BBU999J ~ DBU999K

17.01.09.
A further 3 new Volvos have been added on the Salford, Manchester Central and Stretford pages.  Updated appliance pictures also appear on the Stretford and Agecroft pages.  Previous generation Volvos have been moved to the respective library pages. Note that for the time being only one pump is shown on the S16/W58 pages.  They do, however, remain 2 pump stations.

14.01.09.
A new appliance picture has been added to the Mossley page.

13.01.09.
The latest restoration pictures of PLV415 have been added along with a couple of new GMC Volvos which have been added to the Leigh T.S.C. page.

12.01.09.
An updated picture of the Water Tender at Morecambe and Vauxhall Vivaro PG04ZZY has moved to the Lancashire Miscellaneouspage where it can be seen in its former and current guises.

07.01.09.
Back to the historical theme, and an additional picture of Karrier 402ATC has been added to the Hindley Library page.   A further batch of pictures, predominantly from Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service has been added as listed below.

BOOTLE ~ LINE-UP x4 ~ HORSE DRAWN APPLIANCES x5 ~ EM110 x2 ~ EM919 ~ EM2379 ~ EM3082 ~ EM4617 ~ KEM90J x2
BURNLEY ~ MCW976 ~ MHG1 ~ PCW1 ~ AHG1B x2
BURY ~ EN12 ~ EN6080 ~ EN6831 ~ HEN999 ~ UEN999L

04.01.09.
I was privileged last October to be invited to Leigh T.S.C. for the handing over ceremony of the 17 new JDC bodied appliances.  Unfortunately, I missed the appointment due to my unexpected trip into hospital.  I am, therefore, extremely grateful to Neville Heywood of Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service for a selection of photos of that event, which now appear on the T.S.C. page.
The Links page has been revised with 5 defunct links removed.  If you had a link that is now missing, please contact me with the revised URL.

02.01.09.
The first pictures of two of the new GMC Volvos in service, are now on the Moss Side page.

01.01.09.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all visitors to this web site a very Happy and Peaceful 2009.
Once again there has been substantial growth on the site throughout 2008 with over 1,000 pictures added.   There are now nearly 600 pages to browse.  Thank you very much indeed to all who support this site and especially to those who have so willingly shared their pictures.  As ever, I have received much help and support for the various Fire and Rescue Services in the North West and again I offer my sincere thanks to you all.    And so to 2009..........
 

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