The Marvellous Merryweather: Where Firefighting met Engineering Excellence (7th February 2025)
A Gentle Touch…
Earlier this week our beloved Merryweather Fire Appliance was given some well deserved TLC. As one of the six vehicles that visitors may board as part of their visit to the Museum, the Merryweather was beginning to look its age a little (it is celebrating its 87th birthday this year!) with the paint on the floorboards in particular needing a touch up.
Members of our wonderful volunteer team have been working hard to revive the vibrant red paintwork on the floorboards and surrounding wooden decks on either side of the ladder.
Firstly, all the brass trims were painstakingly removed from the wooden decks. The edges of these decks were then sanded and prepped ready for painting.
Next the floorboards were removed from the area where the driver and their accompanying firefighters sat. Painting then commenced…
The woodwork was left to dry for a couple of days, before the floorboards were refitted and the brass trim repositioned and fastened back into place. All that is left to do now, is to polish all the brasswork this weekend!
A huge thank you to our brilliant volunteers Neil, David and Tony for all of their hard work… the Merryweather is looking much improved!Â
The Merryweather Fire Appliance
This Fire Appliance was manufactured in 1938, it has an 8-cylinder, 5.65 ltr petrol engine. It fought fires during the London Blitz in the Second World War.
Fitted with an extremely powerful Rolls-Royce engine and famous for its turntable escape ladder, which could reach up to 100 feet (30 m) high (which also has a built-in telephone to allow for communication with firefighters at the top) it was an impressive feat of engineering for its time!
This vehicle was supplied to the Barking Fire Brigade in 1939 by Merryweather & Sons of Greenwich, London.
Previously, this vehicle belonged to the late Trevor Hemmings (1935 – 2021), following his passing it was very kindly donated to the British Commercial Vehicle Museum. Trevor’s wish was that visitors could appreciate the excellence of British engineering.Â
Merryweather & Sons
The story of Merryweather & Sons begins in 1690. Just after the Great Fire of London they started making products that included hand-operated fire-fighting equipment. Their business flourished and they became specialist suppliers of fire-fighting apparatus used in the London area.
By 1913 Merryweather was a global business, providing fire-fighting equipment around the world.
238 years later in 1928, Merryweather acquired the equally famous Shand-Mason fire engine firm in a company buy out.
