Feel good factor back thanks to Cleveland vintage films

When Cleveland Fire Brigade moved out of its old headquarters last year we unearthed some long forgotten film reel footage of firefighting in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

In a matter of weeks they had gone from sitting on a dusty shelf to being digitised then preserved in special climate-controlled vaults at Teesside University where the North East Film Archive is based.

Shot in black and white and colour there is some great training footage of crews putting out a plane fire in the drill yard (yes, really) and using the old (and very scary looking) hook ladders.

Local media gave the films a good showing with BBC Look North admitting they were suckers for old footage and the local paper The Gazette running a double page spread in its nostalgia section.

We’ve had an excellent response from other fire and rescue services with Hampshire showing it to their new recruits to give them an idea of how it was all done more than 50 years ago.

And it was feel good factor all round when a member of the public emailed to say she was thrilled to see that her late grandfather, who died when she was only six, appears almost straightaway on the footage and regularly throughout. She couldn’t wait to show her dad who was also a firefighter.

You can join more than 12,000 other viewers by watching the film reels here: www.clevelandfire.gov.uk/about/firefighters-on-film/ 

- Jill Barber is Communications Manager at Cleveland Fire Brigade