Re: Birmingham Fire Brigade - Birmingham Fire Station Pictures 1955 - Part 2
The Kings Heath pic seems to have a pump escape (wheeled) - note PE 60 on the cab side - then another ex-wartime vehicle with a timber extendible ladder.
Kings Norton is a newer (late 1930's?) structure. Of note is the ambulance, large clock above a shop and I wonder what the ornate building to the left of the fire station was. Almost like a cinema or theatre. Little to note (for me) at Perry Barr except the petrol pump!
Lingard Street is quite interesting. It has, on the right a Commer pump (possible a wheeled escape (much favoured in cities with wide pavements and good access - less so in hilly, narrow places); the other vehicle seems to be an Austin ATV. This was a type of vehicle hurriedly made for the blitz. It was basically a crew and tool vehicle which towed a trailer pump. (I went to Paignton in one in the early 1960's at high speed, the trailer pumps wheels kept leaving the road, the driver paid no heed to our calls). To the far right of the pic is a tall, metal framework. I believe this to be the hose drying tower.
The building is also most ornate, especially the small tower, resembling a lighthouse and those tall, elaborate chimney stacks. I wonder if it still stands, or has it fallen victim to developers etc. By the way I don't know this district where Lingard Street is (or was) situated.