Artefacts Discovered On Site Of New North Tyneside East Community Fire Station
Artefacts dating back to the late 1800s have been discovered by builders during construction of Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service’s new community fire station on Preston Road, North Shields.
Bottles and pottery dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s have been discovered whilst preparing the ground for the build.
Pictured with just some of the haul is Graham Cottam, Build Manager for Shepherd Construction. He explains: “The fire station is on the site of an old coalmine. During the groundworks stage, involving substantial stabilisation works, we discovered huge numbers of bottles and pottery dating back to the late 1800s/early 1900s, some of which were used as backfill in the mine shafts after coal had been extracted.
“Although the relics aren’t worth huge amounts, it is an interesting glimpse into the past and we will be donating them to Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service to display in the new Station once it’s been completed.”
Station Manager Tony Markwell, North Tyneside East Community Fire Station, said: “We’re delighted to have the opportunity to display a little piece of local history at our new community fire station. I’m sure visitors will find it interesting to be reminded of bygone times whilst visiting this brand new station with its state-of-the-art facilities.
The build represents an investment of £4.3 million and will be home to Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service operational, community safety and support staff. Once complete it will replace the existing fire station, currently on the same site, which was built in 1959.
Continues Tony: "We are committed to providing the community with the highest standards of safety and our new community fire stations like the one we have planned for North Tyneside are a major step forward in achieving our vision of a safer community, ensuring our services are second to none.
“The community facilities which we have planned here will allow us to get our message across and also provide an excellent focal point for local people to come and receive life-saving advice.
"We're delighted with the way the build is progressing and we're on target for completion in Summer 2010."
North Tyneside East Community Fire Station will be equipped with two appliances and an incident response unit crewed by frontline firefighters, and will also be home to the Station Manager and the North Tyneside District Manager, along with community safety and support staff.
As well as providing emergency fire and rescue cover, it will also be home to an extensive community safety facility where members of the public can ‘drop in’ for free fire safety advice from experienced staff. The centre will have multi-media facilities, including free internet access, and meeting rooms which will be available for the public to book.
The existing fire station will continue to be operational until the new North Tyneside East Community Fire Station is open in Summer 2010.
It is one of five new community fire stations to be built as part of a North East Fire and Rescue Authorities (NEFRA) Private Finance Initiative (PFI) which will include new community fire stations for County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service and Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service.
The project is receiving significant funding from Communities and Local Government who are contributing £42 million in PFI credits to assist in the project.
John Laing Investments is providing 80% of the equity for the NEFRA project and Shepherd Construction is providing the remaining 20%, as well as building the five new stations.
The other stations are set to be up and running as follows: Bishop Auckland, May 2010; Spennymoor, May 2010, Pegswood, June 2010 and West Hartford, July 2010.