Fire Engines Photos

Comparing the PE and WrL: from the sublime to the the rediculous!

Added by Neal Glover on 23 January 2011.

That escape ladder looks to be longer than 50'.

Added by Bristol Bob on 23 January 2011.

The Escape looks like a 60' one.

Added by George A'court on 24 January 2011.

Origionally the 60ft Merryweathers had props and were only built pre war (according to MoF). It would be interesting to compare it with the ex Cleveland WrEs 60ft.

Added by Neal Glover on 24 January 2011.

Confirming that this was a 60 foot ladder.

Added by John Needs ex Glos and Avon on 26 January 2011.

Brings back memories of long ago, it was repainted by hand by workshops by Eric Hoffman, who is interned at Andoversford church Glos

Added by [email protected] on 28 November 2025.

Neal’s comment was entirely appropriate in its day, when HCB made their extremely primitive first effort to integrate modern water tender bodywork with the first ever Ford D 600 tilt cab chassis for Gloucestershire. It was actually perfectly functional, but no beauty to behold. Mercifully the firm figured out a few years later how to blend the bodywork in to the cab design while preserving its tilting functionality. Even later Reliant eventually built a full four door tilting crew cab for the Ford D series Merryweather Marksman series, but it took that firm more than a decade to get around to it. Both of these evolving designs are illustrated on this site with numerous examples. As for the Dennis F12 stablemate, it was undoubtedly the classic British fire engine of the fifties, and pretty much universally loved by everyone who rode it. It was fast, stylish, reliable and very well constructed - and many served for close to thirty years before being replaced.

Added by Rob Johnson on 29 November 2025.

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