Peter Cox (left) and David Jasper said stepping back into the fire station their fathers worked at was like going into a time capsule
Two firefighters' sons have taken a tour of their fathers' abandoned station, which was found untouched after half a century.
Peter Cox and David Jasper saw their relatives' uniforms on BBC Midlands Today when the former private base in Dudley was featured.
The station was used by the Co-operative Wholesale Society's (CWS) company crew.
"I thought I just need to be there. I need to see," said Mr Jasper.
David Jasper inspects his father's old uniform, which was left hanging in a Dudley fire station for decades
Ron Jasper, pictured with wife Jean, started working with the CWS in Dudley in 1951
Mr Jasper, whose father Ron started work at the co-operative in 1951, said: "When I saw [the fire station] on the telly it was quite poignant.
"It's like a time capsule - nothing's changed.
"It's really nice to see my father's uniform and bring back some happy memories."
'Stopped me in my tracks'
Rob Silk got in touch using Your Questions when he saw his late father's name marked on the wall in a photograph on BBC News Online.
"The thought that this place may be connected to my father's history stopped me in my tracks," said Mr Silk, who grew up in Netherton and now lives in Stratford-upon-Avon.
"I immediately sent the link to my only sibling - my sister who lives in Lancashire.
"Because I lost my father when I was 10 I have always felt that I missed out on so much.
Some caps and jackets still have names marked out in chalk above the hooks on which they hang
"His stories of wartime Dudley are one aspect of this. So any link with him now is a wonderful bonus."
Len Cox was in the CWS fire service in the 1940s and 1950s
Peter Cox was "excited" and "apprehensive" to see the fire station his late father once worked at
Mr Cox, whose father Len was in the CWS fire service in the 1940s and 1950s said he had felt "excited" and "apprehensive" to go inside the abandoned station.
"It's 74 years since he was here and to see it as it is - it's unbelievable," he said.
"In this day and age normally this place would have been knocked down and everything would have just gone in the skip," said Mr Cox.
He said he hoped the items could be put on display at the Black Country Living Museum.
Len Cox (back row, fourth from right) and other members of the Dudley CWS fire service
Anna Bamford, marketing manager for the Alan Nuttall Partnership, which owns the building, said other relatives had also been in touch about the old station.
- Published5 October 2016
