Welcome to my web site!

My name is Ronnie Black I was born on 9^th. February 1949 in Alnwick Northumberland , which is situated  in a beautiful rural part of the North East of England approximately 30 miles from Scotland in the North and the same distance from Newcastle Upon Tyne in the South. Alnwick has a population of circa 9000.

What I hope to do on this site is to tell you about my family involvement with the ambulance service , a little bit of history of the ambulance service in this part of the world ,the type of vehicles used over the years , and my own old vehicle.

My Father Taken By Me In 1963

On the 14^th of September 1958 my father who was a painter and decorator to trade and was sick of getting layed off in the cold snowy northern winter went for an interview for a position on the ambulances at Alnwick as a driver /attendant. He was successful in obtaining this position and started  on Station a week later. He was given the uniform of the man whose job he had got and no training was given.

The Old Ambulance Station At Alnwick In 1981.

From that day on my life was ambulances . I would spend time helping my father on Sundays washing and cleaning them inside and out . At that time Alnwick had three ambulances and three staff ,all single manned vehicles working a standby system from home.

As a child  I was always interested in ambulances why , I don’t know, but I was always buying Dinky Toys, Corgi ,Matchbox, Spot on and any make of toy ambulance available.

They were all kept in their boxes unmarked and like new.

With my father being the last man to join the service he was given the oldest vehicle which was a 1951 6 cylinder Bedford Reg No. FNL27 .The other vehicles at that time were a Bedford Dormobile  Registration No. KNL26 and a Morris Commercial Reg. No. KNL27.

The station worked 8.00 to 1600 Monday to Friday and 8.00 to 12.00 Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the time was spent on call in the house . When emergency and urgent calls were not being dealt with the vehicles were allocated day hospital and physio cases as well as routine admission s to local hospitals as well as appointments in Newcastle . All road traffic accidents , which in those days were plentiful on the A1 were handled by single manned ambulances with the assistance of  a police officer or member of the public to lift the injured patient into the ambulance before travelling sometimes for one and a half hours to the nearest hospital.

In April 1960 a new Bedford J1 Lomas ambulance arrived at Alnwick. This vehicle was allocated to my father, and was his pride and joy .This carried the Reg. No. RJR251.

Middle Of Winter And RJR 251 Stands Outside

The Old Station.

Other stations in the North of the County are Berwick Upon Tweed on the Borders between  England and Scotland and Wooler, sixteen miles south west of Berwick .There is also Belford fifteen miles south of Berwick on the A1and fifteen miles north of Alnwick. Another small station is Rothbury which is situated  in a rural village eleven miles west of Alnwick. With the exception of Rothbury and Wooler all of the north stations are now manned  twenty four hours daily.

Myself And My Brother Taken In 1964.

At the time of its delivery I was eleven year old and can remember going to see the vehicle for the first time .From that day I have always been totally interested in Bedford J1 ambulances , to the extent that I have now bought my own  which is a 1975 version which came from the West Midlands.

Please Click On The "Lomas" Link for Photo's.