Photo Gallery 2


Church Parade - Chapel Hill 1920's	National Fire - Brigades Association	Auxiliary Fire Service	National Fire Service	Hertfordshire Fire Brigade	R7 Malting - The Aftermath

Photo Gallery 2

Sawbridgeworth Fire Brigade 1897 - to the early 1970's and beyond.

with other town information and views

Dedicated to those who unselfeshly gave of their time and loyalty to their fellow citizens.

About Sawbridgeworth

Email the Webmaster

======= LINKS =======

Sawbridgeworth Dot Com

More Sawbridgeworth History

The Pictures on this page will enlarge when clicked with your mouse

The photograph at the top right of all of the Web pages shows the R7(*) malting building after the devastating fire that took place on Friday August 15th 1929. This was easily Sawbridgeworth's most serious and biggest fire which broke out late evening, lighting the sky for miles with a red glow. Sawbridgeworth and other supporting brigades were in attendance for about 4 days and the Sawbridgeworth Dennis fire engine, set in at the River Stort loop by the Station Road bridge (below), was pumping for 48 hrs. non stop. Hoses were run down the road adjacent to the R4 malting and across towards the R7 malting under the main Cambridge railway line to get water to the fire. The fire was thought to have been caused a lightning strike.

(*) The maltings at Sawbridgeworth on both sides of the railway, owned by H. A. & D. Taylor Limited, were all served by a railway siding and the maltings that adjoined were all known by the siding number. R6 is the building in the right of the photograph above and left below.

($) Pictures taken by Frank Wright.

The top photograph is repeated below for enlargement purposes.

Sawbridgeworth Dennis fire engine pumping from the river Stort on Sunday 16th August 1929.

Still at work on Monday and Fireman Jack Baker is the Engineer. (see Marriage Present)

The top floor gutted

(Picture supplied by John Dear)

($)

Left, a view of the maltings looking West after full restoration - picture thought to have been taken around 1946. Around 1947 -1948 a huge concrete grain silo, about 80ft high, was built to the South side of the R7 malting (See Picture Right).
(Picture supplied by John Dear)

(Picture kindly supplied by Joseph Fizgerald)
By the time this picture was taken the R6 chimney was less liable to smoke as the boilers had been converted to oil firing - Heavy Fuel Oil supplied in steam heatable railway tankers.

		Left - On the 1st February 1905 a serious fire broke out on the corner of Hoestock Road and London Road. The Fire Brigade were called at 11:50pm and arrived 9 minutes later. The cause of the fire was recorded as 'unknown' and the damage estimated at £2,500. Records show that the brigade were engaged for 37 hours!
Harrys Store Fire Both Pictures courtesy of Richard Dyer.

The Original Rule Book Cover	The Original Rules	The Fire Brigade make news in 1913	Transcript of the article below the photographs
			"The village of Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, is proud in the possession of the youngest fireman in the country. "Billy", the-ten-year-old son of Dr. Collins, is no mere ornamental member of the brigade, for he has assisted ably at two serious fires during the week. He is described by the Captain as "one of the brightest boys I have ever met, and invaluable, not only as a messenger, but on the scene of a fire as well". Billy's success as a fireman has had the effect of making all the boys of Sawbridgeworth ambitious to emulate his example. 1. Billy riding to the Waterworks to ensure a sufficient head of water. If any members of the Brigade are slow in responding to a call, he rides round on his bicycle and whips them up. 2. In charge of the hose. 3. Turning on the water. 4. On rescue work intent. 5. Billy in his place on the engine. 6. A view from above. ("Daily Graphic" photograph.)


Thomas Burton's Mill off Station Road
It is said that there had been a mill in Sawbridgeworth for at least a thousand years and certainly one was mentioned in the Domesday Book. However, when the mill that became Burton's, as it was later known, was first established is not clear. There was another mill on the River Stort at Sheering Mill which had disappeared before the commencement of the 20th century so whether the Station Road mill was established out of that is unclear. The building off Station Road was always recognised as a fire hazard being constructed almost entirely of wood but it survived well even through the Second World War with some incendiaries falling close by. In the early part of the 1970's though the huge buildings were more or less redundant and fire engulfed them spectacularly as is shown below.
The Mill complex as it was in the 1960's	Garrett Steam Lorries owned by Thomas Burton Ltd - Late 1920's (Picture supplied by John Dear)	The Fire as seen at distance from the River Tow Path - looking North	The Fire as seen at distance from the River Tow Path - close up.

	Pictured left to right Will Broad; Fred Tant and Tom Puncher	(Picture from the Harold Blake slide collection)	(Picture from the Harold Blake slide collection)
The North end of the complex of buildings being Cooled Down - the river lock is to the right.

(Picture from the Harold Blake slide collection)