Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum blazes the trail for tourism success

The fire museum is based on the grounds of Rochdale’s fire station in Maclure Road

Rochdale’s fire museum is a great place to visit – and that’s official.

The Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum has retained its status as a member of Enjoy England’s Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme (VAQAS) for the second year running.

The museum, which is staffed and run entirely by volunteers, is the only dedicated fire and rescue museum to receive the honour, which means that it has been rated as an excellent visitor attraction following a gruelling assessment process.

The museum came through with flying colours following an unannounced inspection at its May open day.

Councillor Jacqueline Beswick, Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “This is even more good news for our tourism offer following the fantastic recent announcement that Rochdale has more 3-5* accommodation than anywhere else in Greater Manchester outside of Manchester city centre.

“This museum is a unique place which gives visitors an insight into fire fighting through the ages, including the Blitz. There are lots of things to do and it’s great place to take children. Even better, it’s free!”

And the awards are stacking up for our borough, with four other venues - Touchstones Rochdale, the Town Hall, Ellenroad Engine House and the East Lancs Railway also members of the VAQAS scheme.

The borough also has four buildings in the Place of Interest Quality Assurance Scheme (PIQAS), a similar gold standard from Visit England which recognises smaller attractions.

Our quartet of buildings in PIQAS are St Leonard’s Parish Church, The Queen Elizabeth I Grammar School, the Olde Boar’s Head and the Edgar Wood Centre, which collectively make up the Middleton Golden Cluster.