On Thursday, 25^th May, 1950, the Part time Volunteer Unit at Leadhills had their first fire call. At 21-03 hours the call was received to the Old School, Main Street, and the volunteers, having quickly mustered at the Fire Station, manhandled their light pump to the Glenconnar Burn and got to work with one line of hose.
The building at one time was used as the Village School and is adjoining the local Public Library which was erected in 1741 by Allan Ramsay, the famous Scottish Poet and is reputed to be the oldest Public Library in Scotland.
Appliances from Abington, Lanark and Sanquhar (South Western Area) also attended. The Abington unit brought their appliance into use and a second line of hose was directed onto the fire.
The prompt and efficient action of the Part time volunteer unit at Leadhills undoubtedly saved this historic building from disaster.
(Lanarkshire Fire Brigade Annual Report. 1950 – 1951. Page 7.)

VOLUNTEER UNIT E.51.

With having stated previously in my last editorial that the magazine was here to involve all departments of our Brigade, I decided to find out some facts about the very important part of our operational personnel whose involvement is working in our volunteer units. Although I visited Leadhills for this article I am sure that the painstaking efforts made by all volunteer are parallel throughout the region irrespective of their age, sex or class.
About 6 miles into the hills off the M74 at Abington lies the village of Leadhills. Just off the main street opposite the post office amid some out buildings is sited E.5 1 Leadhills Volunteer Unit of Strathclyde Fire Brigade.
To someone like myself who originates from a large city where there seems to be a fire station on every corner, this small wooden structure was the type of building which I wouldn’t usually recognise as a fire station.
However, to the 250 inhabitants of Leadhills it provides the comfort and piece of mind that within it’s frame is the equipment that may make all the difference between the saving of their lives and property should a fire occur.
I arrived just before 1815 hours and had only finished taking a picture of the unit when Willie Freebairn came up the lane.
After a brief introduction and explanation as why I was there Willie opened up the unit and put on the lights and heater. It wasn’t very long before the rest of the crew arrived. I again went into my introduction only to be halted by the arrival of the units’ Training Officer Station Office Jimmy Anderson.
Jimmy a Station Officer from Lanark has been involved with the unit for the last 4 years, he comes to the unit at Leadhill about 6 times a year although the lads meet up with the retained at Abington for more training throughout the year where they again team up with Jimmy.
Knowing I was coming down the Station Officer was quite willing to let the men have a talk with me although it took some of the time away from their training session.
The personnel of the Unit numbers 7 in total, their ages vary from early twenties up to mid-forties, their occupations range from local coalmen, a game-keeper and employees of the Water Board.
The Unit’s Leader is Willie Freebairn, 9 years service, Gordon Pool 8 years, Dougie Aitchison 4 years and two sets of brothers James and Hugh Murry 9 years and 1 year and Colin and Frazer Cameron both 1 year.
Three of the lads Willie Gordon and Jamie all volunteered for the Unit back in the day when no payment was involved for their services.
Out of the 7 only 3 were born and raised in the village they are Hugh, Jamie and Dougie. The rest all agreed that even if you lived in the village for 90 years you were still an immigrant. Willie comes from Abington, Gordon from Portobello and Colin and Frazer from Glasgow. The lads stated that there was more people in the Village willing to join the Unit but at present none of the lads were ready to call it a day for some considerable time to come, as the Unit was very necessary and also gave them all a feeling of pride to hold such a position in the community.
Here I got the impression that all would give 100% effort should their services be required. By this time 45 minutes had passed and I decided to call time out, as the Station Officer wanted to get on with some drills.
Before leaving I took a couple of pictures of the crew and said I would send some copies down to them.
As I drove the six miles back to the M74, I realised how important a part of the Village community the Unit and Volunteers must play.
(Aye Ready, Issue 5, Winter 1988. Page 29.)

All systems go for firefighting team
By George Topp

VOLUNTEER firefighters in Leadhills have just been presented with their first Fire Service vehicle, a Landrover equipped with firefighting and rescue equipment.
The keys to the Landrover were handed over by councillor John McNamee, member of the Board of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, to Watch Commander Roger Beadle.
Councillor McNamee said: “I am delighted, on behalf of the board, to offer this further support to the excellent volunteer crew of Leadhills who have been very active in supporting their community for nearly 60 years.
“Through their efforts and the support of the community, Leadhills is clearly a very safe place and long may that continue.”
Replying, Karen Gillon MSP thanked councillor McNamee and South Lanarkshire Area Commander Andy Wilson for the vehicle which had long been awaited by the village.
Mrs Gillon said: “The board are to be commended for this further level of support to the village of Leadhills which, as you can see by the fantastic turnout of villagers, is warmly welcomed by all.”
Area Commander Wilson added: “Historically, volunteer units such as Leadhills did not require a vehicle as their function was to provide only first aid firefighting until the arrival of full support. With our new duty of community safety education introduced by the Fire Scotland Act 2005, we have found that the most effective way of carrying out this education is by using any local crews we have in any area, particularly in remote areas such as Leadhills.
“This vehicle will further support the already fantastic efforts of the Leadhills crew in carrying out our free home fire safety check and smoke alarm initiatives.”
The Deputy Provost of South Lanarkshire Council, councillor Beith Forrest, and councillor Hamish Stewart, both local councillors, added their thanks and support before the chair of Leadhills Community Council, Colin McGavigan, proposed a vote of thanks to the crew for their excellent work within the community.
Shortly after receiving the keys and witnessed by many of the residents from Leadhills, Watch Commander Beadle transmitted the first radio message from the vehicle to the Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Operations Support Centre, officially booking the vehicle operational.
The crew were presented with a framed photograph of the vehicle, signed by guests at the hand-over and also by the Deputy Provost.
(Hamilton Advertiser, May15, 2008)

Official Opening of
Leadhills Community Fire Station

7^th June 2014

ORDER OF PROCEEDINGS

GUESTS ASSEMBLES

PLATFORM PARTY ASSEMBLES 

WELCOME
Group Manager Ian Burns 

OPENING REMARKS
LSO Alan Fairbairn 

ASSISTANT CHIEF OFFICER’S OPENING REMARKS
Assistant Chief Officer Dave Boyle 

DEDICATION OF STATION
Father Jim Thomson
Reverend Gordon Armstrong 

UNVEILING OF PLAQUE
Chair of the Board of SFRS
Pat Watters 

CLOSING REMARKS
LSO Alan Fairbairn

BUFFET

LEADHILLS VOLUNTEER UNIT 

Leadhills is one of the highest villages in Scotland and one of its most famous sons’ was William Symington, an engineer who built the first ever steam ship, the Charlotte Dundas.
When the new volunteer got its first call on 25^th of May 1950 it helped save a precious piece of Scottish heritage. It extinguished a fire in the old school which threatened the adjacent Leadhills Miners’ Library, the oldest subscription Library in Scotland.
The prompt and efficient action of the part time volunteer unit at Leadhills undoubtedly saved this historic building from disaster.
In 1995 the Fire Service provided the volunteers with a large hut to store its equipment and in 2008 the unit was presented with their first Fire Service vehicle. The keys to the Landrover were handed over by councillor John McNamee, member of South Lanarkshire Council.
The Volunteer unit has evolved greatly over the last 64 years and has come a long way from those days of the timber hut, a few lengths of hose and the obvious lack of transport.
Leadhills has become an integral part of the community it serves and is now able to provide a level of emergency cover that also involves attending road traffic collisions.
The Volunteer Firefighters are a dedicated group of people that are trained to a high standard in many aspects of the fire service that also includes advanced first aid skills. Unit members are now trained to an impressive ‘Intermediate Trauma Care’ level.
In 2011 the Fire Service, with help from Leadhills estates, secured new premises for the Volunteer unit, of the Bricks and Mortar variety. This helped cement the commitment the service has to providing the residents of Leadhills and surrounding area with the high level of safety they deserve in their close knit communities for many years to come.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have invested considerable time and money into bringing the building up to modern standards to operate effectively in the 21^st Century.
In addition, their new 4x4 vehicle will take pride of place in the appliance bay and withy plenty of office space, IT equipment and storage facilities, it will prove to be an impressive and welcome addition to the community.
As the unit looks to the future, the Fire Service in South Lanarkshire will continue to support firefighter development within the unit in order to maintain the necessary core skills by training to the highest level of competence.
The communities of Leadhills and Wanlockhead are now in a privileged position to have a dedicated team of individuals with a very high degree of personal commitment that ensures, as with all the emergency services, they provide an essential service every minute of each day on every day of the year.
<PHOTO> The Village of Leadhills.
<PHOTO> The new Leadhills Volunteer Station.
<PHOTO> Leadhills’ 4x4 vehicle.

If you know of any mistakes in this or have any additional information please let me know.