1977: West Lancashire firefighters make a big splash

WEST Lancashire firefighters were making a big splash for a television programme in September, 1977.

The Ormskirk crew were hired by Granada Television to provide water to make it look like it was raining for the filming of a television programme called 'The Last Romantic'.

Television crew members were filming a stormy night scene at Bickerstaffe Mill. Firefighters turned the hoses on for the filming and soaked the production team who didn't get out of the way quickly enough.

Although the series was filmed in Bickerstaffe it was actually set in Suffolk. Large crowds of people came out to watch the show being made.

In November, 1977, there was a firefighters strike and 14 brave volunteers from Scarisbrick came forward to plug the gap.

They were Phil Scarisbrick, Alan Walsh, Steve Davey, Neil Charsley, Arthur Poole, John Forshaw, Alan Jones, Chris Bound, Gordon Tattersall, John Stringman, Chris Halsall and Andrew Horner.

The crew members all came forward after Alan Walsh sounded the rallying cry for volunteers.

They were all trained up and reported for duty after working hours to deal with emergency calls from the Heaton's Bridge, Narrow Moss and Smithy Lane areas.