A Banwell & District Volunteer Fire Unit cap badge manufactured by Mike Trueman Badges of Birmingham.
Banwell District is near the town of Weston Super Mare in Somerset & is one of the few active volunteer fire units recognised by the British government as an official fire brigade operating on a purely voluntary basis. It has its own charity set up in June 1985, number 292026 & literally runs from charity donations & is manned by volunteer firefighters! Based in Locking, Weston Super Mare! The modern day fire unit was reformed after the war & operates with a crew of 10 volunteers & uses a Land Rover which was obtained from Board Mills Company of Bristol which had closed down. It is capable of pumping 160 gallons of water a minute!
The older station was originally given as a gift in 1887 by a Miss Fazakerley who had come to Banwell from Chorley in Lancashire for health reasons & had lived in Banwell Abbey from 1883. She donated the building & supplied new uniforms & equipement for the volunteer crew whom she admired very much for their devotion!
This badge is a hard to obtain cap badge, the Fire Unit can only order a minimum of badges & has no choice but to sell off the extra's in the museum that they have in the Old Fire Station as there are only 10 firefighters!!