K 011

K 011

Alresford firemen stand on parade in front of the Fire Station in Pound Hill as part of the town’s celebrations in honour of the Coronation of her majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. The training tower at the rear of the station still exists. The object (since removed) on the right corner roof of the station was the air-raid siren which would be sounded in the event of a fire. Upon hearing the sound of the siren, locals knew to make way on the roads for the retained firemen, arriving by car, running or peddling furiously on their cycles to man the engines. Several years later this system was discontinued and the firefighters were issued with pagers. It was always intended, during the ‘Cold War’ that in the event of a nuclear attack the Civil Defence Force would sound the siren continuously as a warning. 

  All images on this site © Godfrey Andrews ALRESFORD HERITAGE