The Royal College of Science Motor Club was set up in 1955 to maintain "Jezebel", a 1916
Dennis N-Type fire engine and a mascot of the students of the
Royal College of Science, one of the founding three colleges of
Imperial College London, in
South Kensington.
Jezebel
Jezebel is a
Dennis
Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius.
The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...
N-Type fire engine that was one of a batch of ten vehicles ordered in October 1915 by the
London County Council for the
London Fire Brigade
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992staff, in ...
.
It was delivered in April 1916 and initially based Vauxhall,
but sometime around 1919 was moved to Pageants Wharf Fire Station, Rotherhithe Street, London.
In 1932, the London Fire Brigade upgraded to new appliances and Jezebel was sold to a
Joseph Crosfield
Joseph Crosfield (5 October 1792 – 16 February 1844) was a businessman who established a soap and chemical manufacturing business in Warrington, which was in the historic county of Lancashire and is now in the ceremonial county of Cheshire. T ...
, a subsidiary of
Unilever that manufactured chemicals and soap and was based in
Warrington, Cheshire.
The company's in-house, private fire brigade operated the engine until 1955, when it was donated it to the
Royal College of Science Union for use as official transport of the Union President.
Since then, the engine has been maintained by current and past students of Imperial College London. With the objective of keeping maintaining it in its original condition. While it was at one time painted purple (one of the Royal College of Science colours) with RCS livery, it is now painted
fire engine red with a London Fire Brigade livery. In 1979 it was fitted with a working, 1923 Dennis water pump. This replaced the original
Gwynnes pump that was removed during World War Two.
Jezebel attends many rallies and shows throughout the year, as well as
pub crawls and charity events. These regularly include trips to
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
and the Isle of Wight. The Motor Club philosophy is that the Jezebel is there to be run (it travels everywhere under its own power, never on a transporter) and the engine's ''raison d'etre'' is to amuse and engage both students and the general public.
Jezebel has appeared on TV, including the BBC's ''
Blue Peter
''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...
'' children's programme in 1982
and an episode of
Downton Abbey. It also appeared in the 1967 film ''
The Jokers'', directed by
Michael Winner.
See also
*
Alexander Dennis
*
Dennis N-Type
References
{{reflist
External links
Official web siteImperial College Union Clubs and Societies* http://www.fire-engine-photos.com/picture/number3869.asp
* http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=1092&inst_id=3
* http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/reporter/previousissues/issue1691november2006/centenaryupdate
* http://www.imperial.ac.uk/centenary/memories/sykes.shtml
* https://web.archive.org/web/20080405061816/http://www.greenbeltrelay.org.uk/route.htm
* https://web.archive.org/web/20110518205939/http://www.londonparade.co.uk/history/participants/details.asp?id=1963
* http://archive.dailyecho.co.uk/2006/8/14/102233.html
Video
* http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8887367788319028328
* http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5051816900535098507
Trucking subculture
Firefighting equipment
N
Individual vehicles