Thirty fire engines spanning the past century of firefighting gathered at the Rural Life Living Museum near Tilford as part of an interactive display by the Fire Service Preservation Group.

Enthusiasts shared the history of the machines and their functions when they still served the communities they were based in.

A hose reel challenge allowed young visitors to experience a little of the fireman’s role in putting out fires, as they aimed a jet of water at targets simulating a blaze. Demonstrations throughout the day saw a 1950s Leyland Turn Table vehicle save a cat from a tree, a team using a pump unit rush to rescue a man trapped in a saw pit and firefighters travel in a 1967 Dennis F106 engine to Mill Wood Station to put out a blaze and save a drunken man from injury on the rails.

Next up at the Rural Life Living Museum is a traditional village fête on Sunday, July 24.

PHOTOS: RUSSELL SACH