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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
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Jacob Farr

Last days of lost Edinburgh fire station captured in throwback 1960s photograph

A photo from the 1960s has resurfaced showing a team of firefighters testing out a horse-drawn fire engine.

The image was captured by John King in the “mid-to-late sixties” at Stockbridge Fire Station which was located on Saunders Street before it was demolished around 1967.

Residents of Edinburgh from that era will remember the large fire station building in the area along with tenement buildings before it was brought down to make way for new blocks of flats between Saunders Street and India Place.

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John reminisced on capturing the photo and said that it was taken as the Stockbridge Fire Station was “just hanging on".

He says that in the image there was a group of firemen who were playing around “with their new toy” which had come from Tullis Russel in Markinch in Fife.

On the snap, John said: “Back in the mid to late 60s I took this photo outside Stockbridge Fire Station which is just hanging on. All the buildings along from the old shop to the traffic lights are gone.

“Some of the firemen are messing about with their new toy, an old horse drawn fire engine from Tullis Russel in Markinch in Fife.

“The lads did manage to get it connected up and sent some water from the hoses into the Water of Leath just over the railings opposite the station.

Saunders Street before it was brought down in the 1960s. (Lynn Watson.)

“My Dad, Johnny King, was a fireman at West Norton Place Fire Station at the top of Easter Road during and after WW2 while a family friend, Archie Hill worked out of, and lived on, this fire station at Stockbridge.

“A great piper was Archie Hill!”

Another picture that was taken by Lynn Watson shows Saunders Street before it was demolished.

The building with the tall chimneys in the centre of the rare colour image was the handsome fire station. The image was taken from St Bernard's Bridge looking east along the Water of Leith and Saunders Street towards Hamilton Place.

Saunders Street in 1967 as it was being demolished. (Sixties Edinburgh.)

Back in 1901 the firefighters from the Stockbridge station were heralded for their quick response to the Tod’s Mill explosion which was one of the worst peacetime disasters in Edinburgh’ history.

A total of six people sadly died as a result of the blast, with some succumbing to their injuries in the city's Royal Infirmary.

The death toll could have been far greater if not for the proximity of Saunders Street fire station, which was situated just around the corner. The fire service were able to attend the scene swiftly and eventually managed to bring the blaze under control.

Another picture shared by Sixties Edinburgh shows the iconic station being demolished in 1967. The site today is unrecognisable from how it looked prior to the construction of the current block of flats.

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