THE sun glistened on the freshly polished brass of the Old Steamer Fire Engine when Alresford Museum opened its doors to visitors for the first time. Over the two days of Heritage Weekend more than 200 people visited the Old Fire Station at the bottom of Broad Street to admire part of Alresford’s heritage.

A number of visitors commented that they never knew the fire engine was behind the big red doors but it had to be pointed out to them that Steamer only arrived a few short weeks ago into its new home.

Since its arrival there has been much activity by volunteers making the brass and copper shine once again and many new artefacts have been donated particularly fire brigade related.

Roy Gentry, chairman of the Alresford Museum Trust, said: “The number of visitors and the interest shown far exceeded my expectations bearing in mind we were only open for two hours each afternoon. Because of the level of interest we will be opening again on Alresford Apple Day, Saturday October 13 between 12 and 4pm so that visitors may ‘Come and see the old Steamer Fire Engine’.”

As well as objects for display an almost new 32” flat screen television appeared which will be used to present a slide show of old pictures of Alresford. There were also donations of £120 which will go towards the future development of the museum.

Mr Gentry added: “Over the winter months we will be working on the display of other artefacts that tell the story of Alresford over the centuries. We are grateful for the financial support from Hellards Estate Agents and we hope to be able to open our doors in early spring as a more comprehensive local museum.”

For further information contact Roy Gentry on 01962 773185 or roy@alresford.org.