On 6th September 2009 i lost everything i owned in one tragic night !!
Living out the way with no neighbours & away for a weekend in Derbyshire with my parents at a Royal Navy reunion for H.M.S Kenya, the battlecruiser my father served on, a rat chewed a high voltage cable & caused a fire which went unchecked until it was too late.
Amongst my loss was my famous fire brigade collections filmed by The BBC in 2008, of helmets, badges & many fire brigade antiquities including sadly the only Hand In Hand Insurance Fire Brigade tunic & top hat related to early London Fire Brigade routes ! OUCH
Worn no less by the famous Robert Tozer in 1820's & merged into the London Fire Engine Establishment in 1832, superceded by the London County Council Metropolitan Fire Brigade in 1866 & then London County Council London Fire Brigade in 1904 !
This particular item has brought some of the most sadness about everything else i lost that night. To own such a rare piece of early London Fire Brigade memorabilia & being passionate about collecting, the immense loss, not only just to me....but to THE NATION, items of early fire brigade history that cant be replaced.
I have had a star spangled life experiencing so many life experiences, some tough one's...but i'm still here, nought killed me, or my passion for collecting moreso. Losing so much & digging it all out of the burnt ruins for 2 years, mostly alone...you reflect on your life & carve a new path.
My collecting bug, a pleasure i have known for many spare hours since 5 years old gained new paths to follow, sticking to certain area's & fields, i started collecting again, stamps, coins, banknotes, militaria & specifically fire brigade.
My love of the job & knowledge about badges & memorabilia, buying whole collections that came up & many individual items with insurance money, i have finally "come back from the dead ", i spent & still spend with available money, new additions or collections that are offered or come up at auction.
The main point was to create a museum at home & display & enjoy all my collections gained since 2009, starting from scratch, i enclose pictures of the temporary museum which until building works have finished...approx 2 years, i hope to open it !
With direct bookings through the Firefighters Charity, the public will be able to enjoy & see it up close....hopefully raising long term thousands for my beloved Charity.
My belief is the public deserve to see these firefighting antiquities & collections, i have been a collector all my life & hoped to have a museum type environment coupled with a luxury home to live my later years out.
Fully retired...or retarded as sum mite say guv lol.....I have started...... So by voluntary donations direct through The Firefighters Charity ( to be arranged )....i can take bookings & give a guided tour, welcoming people & fulfilling a life goal....to give back the support the charity gave me when i had NOTHING....& to continue raising money for injured or traumatised firefighters & their family's through times of hardship, across The British Isles !!
The Scorpion Phoenix "LFB smokeater" has RISEN FROM THE DEAD.....out of the ash came an even bigger collection & soon as its safe & displayed properly....you can all av a gander n see it up close n personal...a few snippets of the new collection which over time will be displayed, & the "WALL OF FLAME FAME" temporary badge board which eventually will be displayed on the back wall of the new extension....one huge long wall of just badges in rows....3 1/2 inch tall on badge width white card with all info on....all at attention loike ikkle soldiers ;o)
Certain badges will have photo's next to them of firefighters from that brigade. I have gained permission from several customers & in job "smokeater" mates for real photo's of any firefighter past or present, in uniform. Those i obtain will go passport sized with dates served & rank. I will select the photo's once i have finished to the letter Z adding every badge to card....the pic of the current board shows just up to LETTER D....cor blimey it's gona take months HOLY COW !!....pretty concentrated & time consuming i tell ya guv....even i didn't realise the full extent of how big the collection was until i made alphabetical piles on floor. The badges having lived in pillow cases for years finally got aired & joined their mahoosive alphabet family of Brit FB cap badges on part of the museum floor. My mates who finally laid eyes on them laughed....."you aint gona fit all them on one wall" they were taking bets. So i have found that they certainly wont OOPS !!.....so when the extension is completed, the whole rear wall will be the eventual resting place of my entire British Fire Brigade Cap Badge Collection....the ability to move along & slot in new additions or photo's is why i designed it this way. Lets face it fellow anoraks....how annoyin is it when you make a great frame up...& then a great badge comes in but F's up your alphabet display & ya gota add it on the end ha ha
AMEN
Johnny Franklin the mad anorak "smokeater"....fink the smoke affected me brain ;o) x
