A very short lived county borough, Warley Fire Brigade existed for 8 ( eight ) years only & original cap badges from this small county borough fire brigade are highly desired by collectors owing to the small numbers produced ! 

Warley County Borough Fire Brigade was formed in 1966, one of the 5 ( five ) new county boroughs designated to administer the “Black Country” area of the West Midlands bordering Worcestershire & Staffordshire. The neighbouring borough’s of Smethwick, Oldenbury & Rowley Regis, part of what at the time of the Doomsday Book was the Manor of Warley, a huge manor taking in most of the land these 3 boroughs were placed in ! It lasted until 1974 when the new fire service reforms swallowed all county borough fire brigades into county fire services.

Warley merged into The West Midlands Fire Service & the cap badges changed . Warley County Borough Fire Brigade ran 3 ( three ) fire stations covering 15 ( fifteen ) square miles. Not many original cap badges come onto the market for sale, the growing demand from new & younger collectors coupled with the smaller number of badges produced for a small county borough brigade, the Warley Fire Brigade cap badge is harder to obtain !

All original Warley Fire Brigade cap badges are unusual from most fire brigade cap badges because the rear lugs are set below the horizontal centre of the home office star. This cap badge is on a London Badge Company star with an original Warley Fire Brigade cap badge enameled centre, the brass enameled centre lugs being thicker than others & a London Badge Co normal thin brass pin has been fitted to secure it. The enamel to the badge centre is also in very good condition. 

In 1988/89 The London Badge Company produced a list of some fire brigade cap badges of pre 1974 fire brigades they were selling off & sold these until 1990/91. They had bought original fire brigade centres from the badge companies that no longer required them at the time, being obsolete brigades.