Car rescues and birthday shouts in 42-year career

"Horse rescues, cow rescues - we used to get kicked in the head. You'd have your helmet on of course, you'd crawl around in slurry pits trying to rescue them."

Times have changed since Steve Paige became a firefighter in the 1980s - and the most significant difference is to health and safety.

Now 60 and having just retired after 42 years at Church Stretton fire station, he looks back on those times fondly.

"You just did it and you got on with it."

"Technology has come on, health and safety has moved on… training-wise, risk assessments – years ago you didn't have to do that," he said.

For animal rescues - his favourite jobs: "There's a specialist team that do that now, which is a good thing.

"My memorable jobs are always to do with animals."

At 13 years-old, Paige was working for a greengrocer in Church Stretton, opposite the town's fire station.

He would watch the fire engine go up and down the road, and it was then he decided he wanted to work there.

"When you're at school at 16, a careers officer comes around and I remember her saying to me: 'What do you want to do when you leave school?'"

"I said: 'I'm going to work for my greengrocer chap full-time, and then I'm going to join the Church Stretton fire service'."

A soon as Paige turned 18 in January 1984, he went to see the officer in charge and was interviewed at his house.

"By April I had joined and I was riding in April 1984," he said.

Paige remembers one incident well - when a driver on the Long Mynd in March 2006 slid on ice.

His car slid towards the edge of an 800ft (244m) drop, and he kept his foot on the brake for about 20 minutes until help came.

"It was hanging over the edge of the Burway," he said.

"We had a six-wheel off-road vehicle and I remember walking down with the winch, connecting it to the vehicle, we stabilised it and got him out that way.

"Channel 4 got hold of it and they wanted us to re-enact it."

Paige started to think about retiring after seeing that many of his friends who waited longer could not enjoy their retirement, due to ill health.

"Something drastic happened last year - one of my firefighters that I worked with for a long time passed away and he'd just turned 60.

"It really hit me, and I think that's what swung my decision."

Not only that, Paige said it would give his family a break too - particularly his wife, Helen, who was often left behind when he was called out.

"I've left her in restaurants many a time… the children have lost out on days out because we've had a shout, or there's not enough people on call," he said.

"For the last few years we've always had a shout on her birthday and she's always lost out on things like that.

"I haven't had any holidays for the last two years."

Paige said retirement after more than four decades was a "big shock to the system".

"It's very upsetting," he said.

"You don't lose your friends, but when you're working with them day in and day out, it's part of your family.

"It's like an axe coming down and chopping it off, its gone, parted with."

He added: "You see them, you have chats with them, you might see them in the pub but seeing them every day, working with them, communication, chats, jokes - it's gone, it's just something I've got to get used to."

Still an animal lover, Paige now does pet sitting and dog walking, instead of putting out fires.

"I'm out and about walking other people's dogs, looking after their cats, feeding their chickens and rabbits," he said.

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