Contents:
- Editor's welcome
- Paul Waugh: From Rochdale to Westminster
- Rachel Winnard: One in Two Million
- Rochdale Sixth Form College wins at prestigious Further Education awards
- Rev Mark Coleman
- Baillie Street Quarter
- Touchstones reopens with new exhibitions
- Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum »
- Highlights of a Mayoral Year
- Fancy dress posties raise £1,700 for MIND
- John Swinden’s Captain Tom 100 challenge
- Littleborough’s Tackling Minds to become first organisation to work with NHS in prescribing angling
- Keith Hicks retires after 33 years of service at RAFC
- Bid for local digital radio signal
- Carpet Creations celebrates 25 years in business
- Help fill Springhill’s gardens with sunflowers in memory of your loved ones
- Local author reminisces about Rochdale high streets in the 80s and 90s in new book
- After the storm, the healthy hazy days of summer
- Rochdale Heartbeat honoured with Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service
- Ian Jenkins: Forty Years of Making Music
- Hairdressing Trend - Babylights
- Lasting Power of Attorney
- Cupcakes recipe
- Brown’s Cakes celebrates 10 years
- Beauty Feature: Coming back strong after lockdown
- Take a walk at Ealees
Summer 2021Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum
The museum, based in Rochdale’s former fire station on Maclure Road, is being renovated to expand the space available and restoration work has included the re-fitting of original 1930s doors to the fire engine turnout bays.
Rochdale’s iconic art deco former fire station-turned museum has undergone an extensive £2million renovation and is due to reopen this summer.
Formerly located in the rear yard of the fire station, the museum – named ‘Fireground’ – will be found in the main building fronting Maclure Road, more than four times the size of the previous Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum site.
The word fireground has been used in the fire and rescue services since World War Two and refers to the scene of operations at an emergency incident – the centre of all activity, as with ‘battleground’ in the armed forces.
Along with the new name, a new logo depicting the iconic 1933 station will feature on uniforms, stationery and the building itself.
The restoration sees many of the original architectural features uncovered or re-instated, including the re-fitting of original 1930s doors to the fire engine turnout bays.
The station’s original 1930s folding ‘engine-house’ doors had been lost during the modernisation of the station – but a set of virtually identical doors from the same decade have been sourced from Southport, thanks to the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service.
Beautifully restored by specialist architectural joinery company Ramdale, of Bacup, the installation of the period doors is a fitting return which adds to the station’s charm.
The former ballroom on the first floor, affectionately remembered by many Rochdalians, has also undergone a complete restoration. Many of the original art deco features on the first floor, including the wonderful stained glass ceiling, have been returned to their former splendour by the Rochdale-based Casey Group Ltd, the main contractor of the project.
The first floor space has been skilfully re-purposed as a hi-tech ‘managed workspace’ which will be available for rental by small business in IT or related sectors and a new ground floor café fronting Maclure Road completes the layout.
The 115ft (35 metre) hose tower at Fireground is one of the tallest such structures in the country. Its original function was to hang canvas fire hose at full-length so as to dry naturally after use.
The tower was specially designed and built at above-average height so as to complement the architectural style of nearby St.John’s church.
As well as the fire station itself, the site included 32 houses for members of the brigade and their families.
The recent £2m project was made possible through a partnership between the Museum Trust, Rochdale Borough Council, Rochdale Development Agency and the building’s previous owners Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, with support from several major funders, chiefly the National Lottery Heritage Fund.