Fire Engine House

What’s not to like about these bright red doors of the old fire station in the nearby village of Singleton?  (Even the fact that it now functions as an electricity sub-station doesn’t much detract from their magic). I think I need to do some digging to see if I can find a picture in some local archive  of the fire engine it housed. It must have been very small! Maybe the firemen were too? Maybe it was horse drawn? I feel an overwhelming bout of curiosity coming on……..

……which I hope google can satisfy…..

Made a start to finding something out. It is called “Fire Engine House” and was built in the late 19th Century, and is one of several listed buildings in the Lancashire village of Singleton.

How about this gem of information for painting a mental picture:

The first fire engine was horse drawn, and the speed of response to an alarm was determined by how quickly the fire-crew could catch the horse.– Lancashire Cycleways: A comprehensive Guide.

There loads more about the history of the village, dating back to 1168, on the website: “British History Online”. Typically it’s a history with a cast of kings, dukes, land boundary disputes, English Civil War and, of course, the obligatory (for NW England) mention of Lancashire witches:

The village is said to have been the residence of Mag Shelton, a famous witch. ‘The cows of her neighbours were constantly milked by her, the pitcher in which she conveyed the milk away, when stolen, walking before her in the shape of a goose.’ A neighbour, suspecting, once struck the ‘goose,’ and the pitcher was broken, the milk flowing out. – British History Online: Lancashire

Thanks as always to Cee for this week’s Fun Foto Challenge: Doors & Drawers, without which I wouldn’t have passed a very pleasant half hour just now finding out about this. I’ve lots more investigating to do too!

Fire Engine House in Singleton Village ©HelenBushe