How lovely it would be to have the real thing; how lovely it would be to have the space to have the real thing. But the fire brigade authorities hold the old Easterton Fire Engine in store. We believe the fire engine dates from around 1870.
Back in 1875, Easterton church was opened. A Victorian fair was held to celebrate the centenary of this event. As far as we know, that was the last time the engine appeared in Easterton and we have photos of the engine at this event in 1975.
The Easterton Fire Engine in 1975 - a photo at Market Lavington Museum
Here we see the engine and can get some idea of how it worked. It was man powered, both to pull it along, using the handle at bottom left and then to pump water, using the larger handles on the engine. The metal ‘ball’ on top contains air, which gets compressed when the pump is used. This compressed air keeps the water flowing between strokes of the pump.
People in the fire engine photo. Do you recognise them?
Does anyone recognise the ‘Victorian’ ladies and child at this event?
The engine was provided by Ben Hayward of The Kestrels in Easterton. In 1895 it was bequeathed by him, to the parish.
In 1975, there was colour photography and another image shows the fire engine in colour.
Easterton Fire Engine in colour - another photo at Market Lavington Museum
Colour rendition was not always good back in 1975 but it was the very dry year that preceded the drought of 1976 so maybe the grass was very yellow.
Tags: Easterton, fire brigade, Market Lavington, Museum
Market Lavington Museum 
January 2, 2011 at 10:50 am |
[…] The busiest day of the year was October 9th with 292 views. The most popular post that day was The Easterton Fire Engine. […]
May 15, 2012 at 5:23 am |
[…] Fortunately, there isn’t a fire, but had there been, the wooden door behind the girls would have been opened to reveal Easterton’s very own fire engine. We have looked at this venerable machine before. Click here to see it. […]