Fire Services

 

 

Dover Corporation Fire Brigade fire engine standing alongside the Maison Dieu, probably in the 1930s



Gleaming chromium plating is a feature of this smart looking Dover Corporation Fire Brigade fire engine standing alongside the Maison Dieu, probably in the 1930s.
(Note the registration number KR 602?).


Fires in Dover

 

 

Dover Corporation Fire Brigade escape ladder device in Priory Gate Road, Dover, with Dover Priory - Dover College prominent in the background.


Dover Corporation Fire Brigade escape ladder device in Priory Gate Road, Dover, with Dover Priory - Dover College prominent in the background. Photograph used in Dover Express on March 27, 1930. One wonders how long this somewhat light-weight looking device remained in service

 

 

Woolcomber Street fire, c1927


Woolcomber Street fire, c1927 with Dover Corporation Fire Brigade ladder appliance outside the bakery of the Imperial Bakery next to Woolcomber Lane, with the “Imperial Dairy” on the opposite corner. The 1925 Pike street directory shows C.E. Coombe had the Imperial Dairy (as shown on the shop front ) and M.C. Baldry had the baker's shop. The arched doorway on the right was possibly a side entrance of the Mail Packet Inn (licensee E.H. Coombe in 1925 ) which was next door, while on the other side of the public house was F.W. Amos, greengrocer.

 

 

the town's Merryweather fire appliance sporting gun carriage style wheels


Dover Corporation Fire Brigade crew of pre Second World War vintage and the town's Merryweather fire appliance sporting gun carriage style wheels, with chain drive to the rear wheels.

 

 

Old Oil Mills in Limekiln Street


Dover Corporation Fire Brigade fire escape ladder in use towering over the Lord Warden Hotel (later Southern House railway offices) and a fireman doing a 'look, no hands, gesture!'

Note the old town station on the right, which was once linked to the hotel with an overhead, covered walkway link for guests going to and from the railway station.

 

 

Horse-drawn fire appliance crossing the Union Street railway bridge, Dover,


Horse -drawn fire appliance crossing the Union Street railway bridge, Dover, with an interesting view of a Townsend Ferries vessel and signs directing passengers to boats of the 'Southern' to the left and the Townsend Ferry, to the right.
Photograph courtesy the late Joe Harman, of St Radigunds Road.

 

 

Horse-drawn fire appliance pictured passing the fire station in Ladywell


Horse-drawn fire appliance pictured passing the fire station in Ladywell, heading for the junction with High Street, Dover.
Photograph courtesy the late Joe Harman.
Date possibly late 1930s? Fire appliance perhaps not Dover's regular one.

 

 

Dover Corporation's 'Merryweather' steam fire appliance drawn by horses with crew of firemen, taking part in a carnival procession along Dover's Marine Parade


Dover Corporation's 'Merryweather' steam fire appliance drawn by horses with crew of firemen, taking part in a carnival procession along Dover's Marine Parade '' note the old railway track set into the tarmacadam of the modern road. This originally carried steam trains hauling wagons of coal and oil tankers from the western docks to the eastern docks ferry terminal. Bringing up the rear is a Southern Autos breakdown truck, from Woolcomber Street probably with another carnival entry. Photograph believed to have been taken by the late Joe Harman.

 

 

Dover Corporation Fire Brigade's Merryweather Peerless fire escape appliance in pristine condition and proudly bearing the curved name plate


Dover Corporation Fire Brigade's Merryweather Peerless fire escape appliance in pristine condition and proudly bearing the curved name plate “Margaret,” over the registration number KE'9312.
The number probably dates the picture as around 1922. The picture, from a glass plate negative, photographer uncertain, was taken in Priory Gate Road, with Dover College buildings to the right.

 

 

A horse-drawn fire appliance outside the Maison Dieu, Dover


A horse'drawn fire appliance outside the Maison Dieu, Dover, probably in the 1930s, when the Town Hall steps had a wrought iron and glass canopy extending over the pavement, for the benefit of users of the hall. Note the Lyons ice'cream handcart to the left.
Photograph courtesy of the late Joe Harman, a former ambulance service officer and, earlier, one of the last conductors on the Dover tramway cars.


 

 

Outside the Sir John Falstaff public house in Ladywell is an early horse-drawn fire appliance


Outside the Sir John Falstaff public house in Ladywell is an early horse'drawn fire appliance with the former Electricity Board showrooms behind.
The date is possibly 1939 and the photographer may have been the late Joe Harman.