Wargrave Local History Society

A HISTORY of Wargrave Fire Station was the topic of Rodney Annetts’ presentation to Wargrave Local History Society’s May meeting.

Rodney, and several members of his family, had been firemen based there, so the audience had a personal insight as well as an historical account of our local station.

The fire service in Wargrave began in 1905 when Lance Hannen provided a hand operated fire pump to the village, operated by volunteers from the village. The appliance was replaced by a horse drawn one, which needed four men on each side to work the pump, with others filling it with water, and attended the Wargrave church fire in 1914.

Wargrave’s first motorised fire engine arrived in 1931, a house-to-house collection raising £430 to buy the Dennis. The Parish Council provided land for a fire station, which was built by the volunteer fire crew and Easterlings, the local village builders.

Easterlings’ workforce were the backbone of the village brigade for several decades, most having served an apprenticeship with the firm.

In 1941, the National Fire Service was formed, when many local brigades were taken over, and this continued until 1948, when county fire services were established, Wargrave becoming part of the Berkshire and Reading Fire Brigade at that time, known as ‘Station 9’.

Rodney outlined the changes that came with local government reorganisation, through to the closure of the Wargrave fire station in 2020, as well as various incidents they attended – notably the Windsor Castle fire in 1992, when the small size of the Wargrave fire engine meant it could access areas the standard machines couldn’t.

The village brigade had always been a big part of the community, holding open days in aid of the Benevolent Fund, providing demonstrations for local schools, and so on.

There was clearly a great camaraderie among those who served at Wargrave – and pride in what they had done.

Details of the Society’s programme is at www.wargravehistory.org.uk - or email info@ wargravehistory.org.uk to confirm meeting details.

The next event is an Historic Wargrave Exhibition in the Woodclyffe Hall on Saturday, June 11.