The Wakefield City Fire Brigade cap badges from this period are often described as "rocking horse poo" when a collector is trying to find an original version. I have seen a few fakes of this badge, the most common being the small circular enamel centre that often comes from a broken up commemorative cap badge set of brigades that made up West Yorkshire in 1974. These were produced by Marples & Beasley in the late 1980's but there are several variations of the original cap badge & like the small brigade of Smethwick & West Bromwich Fire Brigade in the West Midlands, each variation is highly sought after by collectors.
Wakefield City Fire Brigade consisted of just one fire station covering a small area of just 9 square miles, any wonder these original cap badges are prized items !
There are small & large star variations & also variations on the badge itself being colour of the shield ( blue or black ) & gilt or enamel fleur de liss symbols in the centre of the shield !
This variation depicts the larger Home Office star & the enamel fleur de liss within a blue shield & blue surround ! We were lucky enough to buy in a collection very recently of 2 different variations of Wakefield City Fire Brigade in excellent original condition & many other rare badges too ! These collections do not come upon the market very often & are often broken up "piecemeal" but this collection was untouched with all badges being in pristine original condition ! Note the larger circular diameter of the enamelled centre which original Wakefield City Fire Brigade cap badges have, secured to the Home Office lined economy issue star by a thin brass pin & also displaying the thin brass lugs of the centre, another factor determining the originality of this badge as later copies were made with thicker lugs. there is evidence this badge was fixed to a cap at some stage of its life & it is a very good condition rare cap badge to grace any fire service badge collection. 100% original !!