Green Goddess is back to her best
A vintage fire truck, restored by firefighters from Killin, has been sold for more than £3000 with all the proceeds going to charity.
Crew members from Killin Fire Station were gifted a 1954 Bedford RLHZ Self Propelled Pump – better known as the Green Goddess – and carried out a raft of repairs before putting it up for auction.
The sale generated £3556.78, which will now be donated to the Fire Fighters Charity.
Members of the Killin team first spotted the old machine while on calls out to Meggernie Castle, Glenlyon, and the vehicle owner there, a Mrs Malin, offered to donate it to them.
Over the following months, the crew volunteered their own time to carry out repairs on the prized truck which was notorious for being top heavy and prone to toppling over when manoeuvring at speed.
Watch manager Iain Campbell said: “It started last year. We had been called out on a few occasions at an estate near Glenlyon and we got chatting with the lady who owned the Bedford.
“The next time we went up she said that we could have it as long as we did something for charity with it.
“We have spent the time since cleaning the truck up and put a new roof on, and we actually got it pumping water again. Our aim was to get her up and running and ready to go on display at the Killin Show and it proved very popular.”
The vehicles were used originally by the Auxiliary Fire Service, and latterly held in reserve by the Home Office until 2004, and available when required to deal with exceptional events, including being operated by the British Armed Forces during firefighters’ strikes in 1977 and 2002.
Bedford built the green– painted vehicles between 1953 and 1956 for the AFS with the design based on Bedford RL series British military trucks.
The Fire Fighters Charity helps fire and rescue service personnel past and present and their families in times of need.
Watch manager Iain added: “It’s a charity that has always been close to our hearts, particularly myself. I have injured my back twice and had to go to Penrith to see their nursing team there. So it’s a charity that means a lot to us and obviously the whole firefighting community.”
A separate donation will be made to the Lifeboat Association which helped house the vehicle for them.
A plasterer from Retford, Nottinghamshire is the new owner of the Green Goddess and he collected the vehicle this week, loading it on to the back of a low bed truck and removing to its new home.