Plaque number 41 can be found at this location.
The plaque can be found above one of the former fire station doorways along Salt Lane.
The O/S grid position is SU 14505 East 30156 North.
FIRE STATION
Currently (2013) the plaque is covered with a blanking plate, placed there when the fire station moved to its new premises in Ashley Road in 1964. There were proposals to re-site this plaque to the new fire station but it has never happened; so far.
The FIRE STATION plaque was placed on this building when it was new in 1907. Before this new building, the volunteer firemen had been stationed along Salt Lane for a few years.
In the Salisbury and District Directory 1897-8 by Langmead and Evans, Salisbury reference library number SAL916 82873, Bar Code 1 578992 000, there is reference to:
Salt Lane - (South Side).
From No 12, Endless street
Clark, G., coachbuilder
The City Volunteer Fire Brigade, Hobbs, Herbert, station keeper
Waterworks Stores
George, Ed. corn stores
Here is Rollestone-street.
...
...
(North Side).
33 Hobbs, Herbert, resident fireman and station keeper
There are a number of photographs recording the opening of this new fire station in 1907. The first here shows that there was a grand opening ceremony with the mayor in his robes.
After the opening ceremony, the volunteer fireman went with one of their appliances to Blue Boar Row and the Market Square. This photograph shows them making their way.
The fire power demonstration entailed squirting vaste amounts of water from Blue Boar Row into the Market Square as can be seen in this photograph.
The photograph here of an old fire engine outside the 1907 building, clearly shows the fire station plaque in all its former glory. The appliance in the picture is probably from the early 1920s. It is carrying a 15cwt 50ft wheeled escape ladder and it is interesting to note that the levers above the carriage wheels are folded down so the the overall height is reduced to enable it to clear the door arch. When the station was extended in 1935, the door openings were raised and squared off so this problem was resolved. A good crew could get the wheeled escape ladder off the vehicle, trundle it across the pavement and run it up to a 3rd floor window in seconds. What eventually led to its demise was the growth in kerbside car parking.
At the end of the building, on the corner with Endless Street, there is a doorway with a crest above and the date 1935 in Roman numerals. This was an extension to the original 1907 building. This end of the building with the crest was used by "Weights and Measures" and never was part of the Fire Station. However the flat above, was associated with the fire station.
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