Cine film of a house fire at 14 Whitworth Road, South Norwood, in 1963. Croydon Fire Brigade in attendance. See the view today at goo.gl/maps/zVbL7EzALyR2
From "One Hundred Years of the British Fire Engine" by Neil Wallington (2008): AEC Merryweather 100ft turntable ladder formerly delivered to Croydon Fire Brigade in 1963. This fire engine was absorbed along with the fleets of nine individual brigades into the enlarged London Fire Brigade (LFB) at the inception of the Greater London Council in 1965. After being finally retired from operational service in the early 1990's, CBY 1 was preserved by the LBF as a classic working example of its time and today this turntable ladder is in regular use at fire service charity events and other functions. (Paul Wood)
Compressed air sets were widely used by many bridges at that time. We were using them in Manchester along with most adjacent brigades but still ran with one hour Proto sets on the ET. Training on Proto was continued till 1972 with a two day conversion on air t the end of the two week course. Proto on the ET was eventually dropped about 1973, maybe '72.