Britain’s and maybe Europe’s first female firefighter during peacetime took a trip down memory lane when she returned to East Sussex to visit Eastbourne’s Blue Watch and service headquarters.
On a breezy day in May, Mary Joy bravely accepted several challenges that would have scared a number of people (myself included) to view Eastbourne from the top of the station’s aerial ladder platform, twice abseiling down the tower with Battle’s rope rescue team or driving a fire appliance around Eastbourne (for concerned readers, Mary Joy has a HGV licence).
After Mary Joy’s daredevil exploits, Let’s Talk (LT) took the opportunity to talk to about her experiences in joining ESFRS as a retained firefighter way back in the drought-ridden summer of 1976.
This article was published by East Sussex fire and Rescue Service July 2010
Little did 25-year-old Mary Joy realise that by her pioneering act of joining the fire service, she would be paving the way for other women.
“It was only after I joined up that I realised there was quite a bit of interest in me being the first,” she said.
“It was the drought of 1976 and everywhere was tinderbox dry. I had been reading about the strain on fire brigades across the country and thought: ‘I could help out.’ That was really all there was to it.”
“I wasn’t trying to make a statement and it never crossed my mind that I wouldn’t be able to join because I was a woman.”
That did not stop Mary Joy, who worked on her parent’s farm, from becoming part of an all-male team at Battle fire station.
Mary Joy said: “I was incredibly lucky because I hear stories from female firefighters about the difficulties they encountered and I had none of that. I worked with a fantastic bunch of guys.”
But in the Seventies, when Mary Joy joined as a 25-year-old, the service was not equipped for women. “I had a separate loo but that was about it. They were worried about swearing in front of me but I just shrugged my shoulders at it.”
While Mary Joy did not see herself as one of the boys, and her gender did not stop her from some of the most challenging situations.
“In the fire service you have to trust each other with your life and if you can’t the team is weakened,” said Mary Joy.
“I may not have been as strong as the men but I had more stamina, although they would probably have disagreed.”
“There was the odd occasion when being female had its advantages, as I was smaller, I would often have to go up chimneys.”
Despite regarding her time firefighting as one of her happiest times, family issues prompted her to move on after eight years’ service to become a Roman Catholic nun.
Mary Joy, now works at the Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre in London, said: “I love my role working with ponies, children and young people. I am still facing challenges as I did as a firefighter and still use the experiences I learned – from safety to the ability to work in a team.”
“Even today, when I hear a fire engine my ears prick up and part of me would love to be back firefighting.”
You may also be interested in this online articles
- Pioneering Sister Mary Joy Langdon, first female retained fire fighter – Brighton & Hove Museums (brightonmuseums.org.uk)
- BBC Four – Timeshift, Series 17, Blazes and Brigades: The Story of the Fire Service, Britain’s First Female Firefighter
- Sussex’s first fire woman on her days in the brigade | The Argus