Blake Stonebreaker – Ashton Under Lyne, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 28.979 W 002° 05.980
30U E 559744 N 5926377
This portable stone breaking machine is on display outside the Portland Basin History Museum on the banks of the Ashton Canal.
Waymark Code: WMGVKE
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/12/2013
Views: 6
The canal was originally built in 1796 to transport coal to Manchester. The canal was very successful in the early days, but competition from railways and roads led to the decline in commercial use of the canal. By the 1960s there was talk of closing the canal and covering it over but leisure boating had become popular and this canal forms a vital link with other canals in a large network.
After campaigning by canal boat enthusiasts and using volunteers the canal was renovated and opened to leisure boaters in 1974. Around the same time this old mill on the canal bank was converted into a local history museum.
Outside the museum on an old canal wharf are pieces of machinery that were built at nearby factories.
This piece of machinery was a mobile stone breaker and was manufactured in the nearby town of Stalybridge.
The machine has the following metal faceplate on the front of it.
ROBT. BROADBENT & SON
MAKERS
STALYBRIDGE
ENGLAND
PATENT IMPROVED
BLAKE
STONEBREAKER
This
webpage of the British Industrial Society has some details of the company.
This type of machine was used to crush rock into aggregate used in road building. It was invented by Eli Whitney Blake in 1857 and this
Wikipedia page has more details about him.