Faringdon History

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fire service in Faringdon

The Fire Service in Faringdon has been provided from a number of locations

19th century	Managed by the Vestry, appliance possibly kept in the building on Church St.
1905/1914	Manual appliance housed under Old Town Hall
1930s	1st motorised appliance, garaged at Bromsgrove and managed by Faringdon RDC
1943-1961	Under Marlborough House, Marlborough St. Now part of the National Fire Service
Present day	1st purpose built fire station, 6 Station Road

The Fire Brigade had used a hand pump, towed by horses, for many years. 14 men were needed to operate it.
In the 1920s the hand pump was replaced by a mechanical pump which was towed by a lorry ( breakdown lorry from Ann's garage). The first motorised vehicle and personnel carrier was bought in 1930s

This building on Church St was used to house the Fire Appliance	1914 with an open air hose drying holder Photo by Henry Taunt, courtesy Oxfordshire C.C. cultural centre
1900s	1930s
	Faringdon Firemen 1937 Wilf Moleford(driver) Back Row: Dick Goddard, SidTaylor, Herby Page, Archie Townsend, Mike Tucker Front Row: Charlie Smith(Captain), Gerald Drewit, Harold Hunt, Walter Busby, Chris Grey, Freddie Rogers Photo taken at Bromsgrove , Faringdon Larger photograph TFrom 1919 the Fire Station was roughly where Hart Avenue joins Bromsgrove. It was pulled down when Hart Avenue was built to connect Ferndale street to Bromsgrove. The house in the photo was somewhere in Bromsgrove.
1937	Faringdon House, 1972