Another interesting item rescued from one of York’s places of work is http://yorkstories.co.uk/glassworks-clock/. It’s good to know these things are kept even though we’ve in many cases lost the places of work where they were used.

The bell, which sits in a cupboard gathering dust, was originally attached to a York fire engine but I’m unsure if the vehicle would have been motorised or horse-drawn. It’s possible it saw service on both types. All I know is that, as a toddler, I drove my parents bonkers by constantly ringing it (it is, unsurprisingly, astonishingly loud), and so it has become quite used to being hidden away.

When the new fire station was being built, my dad and I considered donating it to the new base in case there was an interest in displaying it as an objet d’art. However, we concluded that, like with most dusty, old heirlooms, it would probably – and quite understandably – end up taking up space in a cupboard in Kent Street rather than my own.

However, if a York firefighter is reading this and would like the bell free-of-charge for decorative purposes at Kent Street, they are welcome to contact me through my place of work (BBC Radio York). In a coincidental twist, it would be very easy for me to bring it over as I live in my great granddad’s house that he built in Fishergate, which is literally a thirty second walk to the new station.

A final request if you do take it though: painful as it may be, you should indulge any visiting toddler’s wish to ring it, if only for a short time. Almost forty years on, I still remember what enormous fun it is!