1933
The balance in hand of the Brigade was noted as £5-13-4d.
A second hand stove for the Engine House cost £0-15-0d.
As the old two-wheel Manual Pump was in a very poor condition, it was decided to purchase a much larger second-hand one from Kineton, for the sum of £3-0-0d.
In July a demonstration of pumping was given in Mr W Heritage’s field off Sandpits Road to make an assessment of the New Manual Pump.
To work a manual engine properly, up to fifty pumpers in relief sets are required and such a large number of men is rarely available. If the manual is at full working capacity, with a good set of pumpers up to 40 lbs per square inch pressure may be available. A Manual Pump will not work efficiently through more than 700 or 800 yards of hose.
The Brigade felt confident that it was capable of sending water on to the highest roof in Tysoe and that the new pump would prove a valuable asset to the village should occasion demand its use. The purchase of the new engine unfortunately exhausted the Brigade’s funds and, since it was several years since any appeal for funds had been made to the public, a house-to-house collection within a month was proposed. It was hoped that everyone would show their interest and appreciation by giving as liberally as possible to enable the purchase of much needed new hose.
The balance in hand of the Brigade was only £0-13-8d, after expenditure on the new Manual Pump, a second-hand stove for the Engine House, motor hire and all expenses of £4-19-8d.
The Captain was to see the Estate Agent to the Marquess of Northampton as to the disposal of the old manual pump and trolley given to the Brigade by the late Marquess. Engineer’s expenses were recorded at £0-10-0d.
1934
The house-to-house collection clearly proved most successful, raising £12-0-0d, which meant that, together with other income from the sale of the trolley for £10-0-0d, the sale of brass for scrap for £0-9-0d and balance brought forward of £0-13-8d, the Brigade now had a balance in hand of £23-2-8d.
2 x 50ft lengths of new hose were bought from W Rose Hose Co. for £4-14-8d. The village blacksmith, Mr J Price, was paid the sum of £0-17-6d for fabricating a draw bar for the new Manual Pump. This enabled it to be pulled by a lorry, which had been given to the Brigade by the Marquess of Northampton.
A letter was sent to the Parish Council deploring the scarcity of available water in the village, especially with regard to the state of the new pond. It was decided that the sum of £5-0-0d would be allocated to cover the extraction of as much mud as possible from both ends of the pond.
Fireman A Bloxham was to be paid for the transport used on drill nights. The use of his coal lorry to pull the Manual Pump was agreed at £0-9-6d per year, the old lorry to be used if the coal lorry was out of the village and therefore not readily available. The monthly drill was altered from Wednesday to Thursday nights. Engineer’s expenses were agreed at £0-6-0d.
1935
Permission was obtained from Lord Northampton to sell the old lorry, which was purchased by Lord Bearstead at Upton House, Edgehill for the sum of £10-0-0d. The old Manual Pump was sold for £0-5-0d.
The Engine House was hired to the Village Band for their practice at £0-5-0d per year.
Six patches were bought, with straps attached, to stop small leaks in the older hose, for £0-0-9d. Engineer’s expenses were £0-6-0d.
1936
The annual Supper was held on 31 January.
New gates and posts were needed for the Engine House. An interview was held with Lord Northampton’s agent to discuss the issue, which was then held in abeyance until the owner of the approach wall and gates could be identified. (It would appear to have been either Lord Northampton or Mr H Heritage)
A chimney lamp for use in fighting chimney fires was desirable, in view of the greater number of these small fires in the past year. This was purchased for the sum of £0-0-6d.
The Brigade funds were deposited in Tysoe Post Office for safe keeping.
The fine for a chimney fire was £0-2-6d. Engineer’s expenses for the year amounted to £0-6-0d.
1937
Mr H Heritage offered to erect new posts for the entrance gates, and to put the approach in order.
Mr N Wilks kindly offered to obtain a horse and cart, and members volunteered their services to remove the accumulated dirt and rubbish, and to clean up the entrance approach.
Electricity poles and wires were erected into the village right up to the end of 1938. The first street light was erected in Upper Tysoe in March 1939 for £3-0-0d. Engineer’s expenses were £0-6-0d.
1938
The annual Supper was held on Friday 25 February. The Pig Club had asked if they could join the firemen at the Supper. The request was turned down, as the firemen felt that the Pig Club had the wrong image.
A lorry overturned and caught fire on Sunrising Hill. Three children were killed, their bodies being put into the old barn on the end of the Peacock Inn in Tysoe as this was used as the village morgue. This old barn now forms the end of the bar within the pub.
In July the Air Raid Precaution scheme posters were put up around the village, and a siren was positioned on a scaffolding tower at the end of a barn which was located in the garden of a bungalow close to the station.
1939
New recruits were again required for the Brigade as the number of members was getting low. Mr Percy Hibberd joined the brigade as a boy of 14 to clean the equipment, as a runner to go to the Peacock Inn for beer on drill nights, and to help at fires. He left during 1943 when he was called up into H. M. Forces.
A telephone was put into the Engine House; the first bill for calls amounted to £0-0-8d. The Parish Council asked Post Office Telephones and the AA to put a public telephone box at the top of Sunrising Hill, in an effort to speed up response times for all of the accidents taking place on the Hill. The AA would not do this as they already had two boxes on this road, and the Post Office said it was not justified by the expected traffic, but the Parish Council could pay £4.0.0d per year for 5 years as a fixed rent to have a box erected there.
Kineton Fire Brigade was offered the sum of £21-0-0d per annum by Southam Rural District Council to attend fires in the parishes of Edge Hill, Upton, Ratley, Radway, etc., which meant that Tysoe Brigade attended incidents in those villages only if help was required by the Kineton Brigade.
1940
The sum of £4-2-3d resulted from a dance held to raise funds for the Brigade.
The Manual Engine needed repairs costing £0-6-9d. A stirrup pump with hose was bought for £1-16-0d.
On 22 June 1940, at 1.40am, a fire was reported in Tysoe windmill on the top of Windmill Hill. Two firemen went up to the mill fire on a motorbike with hand equipment, and the rest of the crew, together with the Kineton crew, had to go on foot. The fire was confined to the chimney and to some of the wooden working wheels. The Home Guard used the mill as a lookout post during the war.
A problem in the village around this time was that, because of the need to comply with the wartime ‘blackout’ restrictions, villagers were tending to walk into telegraph poles, and from time to time even into the new pool near the village hall. It was therefore decided to add suitable areas of white paint up to a height of six feet, to help alleviate the difficulty.
On 11 August 1940, two ricks were reported to be on fire at Cherry’s farm, Radway. The Brigade was sent to help the Kineton crew, as there was a shortage of available water and manpower.
On 14 November air raids were taking place over Coventry. The Tysoe crew did not attend the blitz over the city, but were supplying cover and manpower in the local area, as they still had a Hand Manual Pump.