Longford men to the fore as Vintage Club to stage a blast from the past at Strokestown Show

Two Longford men will be to the fore as the Mid-Roscommon Vintage Club is to stage a blast from the past at Strokestown Show on Saturday.

Each year Mid-Roscommon Vintage club endeavours to show to the public some type of machine that was once in common use, but is now a relic of yesteryear.

Last year they had a working thresher that evoked a lot of nostalgia with the older generation. This year they have sourced a working stone-crusher that will be crushing some stone on site at the show.

Before the advent of large industrial quarrying plants, stone was crushed in small quarries throughout rural Ireland by local authorities using the small mobile crusher. In earlier times, farmers who had limestone bedrock on their land opened quarry pits and broke stone by hand to sell to the county councils. 

After early attempts to manufacture a machine that could break stones, the first successful mechanical rock-breaking crusher was invented by a man called Eli Whitney Blake in the US in 1858.

Blake’s machine was very popular until in 1881 P. W. Gates (US) invented the gyratory stone crusher. Gates’ crusher was able to outdo Blake’s in production and his device then became the common machine used by companies for the crushing of stone for road-building. 

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At Strokestown show this weekend, Mr Billy Stewart from Killashee, County Longford will have his crusher on hand, the machine was manufactured by Robey Engineering, Lincoln and it is at least one hundred years old. Mr Stewart has agreed to transport it to the vintage site for the purpose of demonstrating how it works.

The crusher is belt-driven and can be powered by either a tractor or a stationary engine. Also on show will be two stationary engines, the property of Mr Kevin Foley, Newtownforbes, County Longford.

One of the engines is almost one hundred years old, being manufactured in 1924. The engine make is a National ‘hot-bulb’, it is run on paraffin and delivers 20 h.p. 

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The term ‘hot-bulb’ refers to the type of ignition system that fired these engines into life. The hot-bulb ignition was the forerunner of the spark plug gasoline and compression ignition Diesel engines that came on stream later. It is hoped to have the display in motion around mid-day and again in the afternoon on Saturday, September 9.

Also at the site will be a blacksmith and mobile forge and lots more.

This year’s display is something that should not be missed, so we advise the public and vintage enthusiasts to make sure and visit our site on September 9 at Strokestown Show. 

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