Visit Mansfield Fire Brigade Museum
Nineteen members of the NSGOM group recently attached blues and twos to their cars and went up to Mansfield to learn about the history of the Nottinghamshire Fire Service. Located at the front of the former Notts Fire Service training school in Mansfield, the site also houses the present Mansfield Fire Station. The Museum is run by a Trust and relies heavily on volunteers.
The aim of the Trust is to collect and preserve fire service items from as far back as the Great Fire of London but also showing many local items, for example from Thoresby and Welbeck Estates.
Assembling together inside the museum we were given a very informative history of the fire service, which included being shown, a leather bucket and “squirter” used in the 17th century. We then went on a comprehensive tour of the museum seeing fire fighting equipment, uniforms, helmets and various fire engines themselves,
We are lucky to have one of the few such museums in the country on the doorstep and we enjoyed a couple of hours learning so much about the history of the fire service. Huge thanks go to group member Dave Robbins for planning the day and also to volunteers, Richard and Paul, who led the visit and were a fountain of knowledge.
The visit was completed with a meal and drink at the Rushley restaurant in Mansfield, before returning back to Hucknall.
Barrie Saunders