Made in Stamford: A history of Blackstone's engineering firm
by Stuart Hodgkinson from Stamford, an innovation design engineer at Baker Perkins in Peterborough.
From its potato diggers to its diesel engines, Blackstone has been a driving force in British engineering and was the backbone of Stamford's industry and a main employer for many years.
The business began 183 years ago as 'Henry Smith and Co', famed at the time for cast iron equipment and designs such as the 'horse-rake', a piece of farm machinery so popular in its day that it secured the future of the fledgling firm.
By the 1860s Smith employed 150 people and, as partners came and went, the firm underwent several name changes to reflect the involvement of Thomas Ashby, Robert Luke and George Jeffery.
In 1877 Edward Blackstone joined with Jeffery and the firm became Jeffery and Blackstone of Rutland Terrace Ironworks, with a 4.5 horse power vertical steam engine, a grass mower and a hay-maker among their designs.
At this stage the works was located in an incongruous position on the western end of St Peter's Street - next door to the elegant 'Rutland Terrace' homes in Tinwell Road.
However, it was to outgrow this site and in 1886 a new site for the iron works was found off Ryhall Road. In 1889, the name Blackstone & Co was used - and stuck for the next 80 years - until the company became Mirrlees Blackstone through a takeover in 1969.
Several of the early products survive, occasionally being used at country show demonstrations.
The farm machinery seats were made from cast iron and, according to one farmer, were ‘baking hot’ in the summer and ‘freezing cold’ in winter, but "nothing that couldn’t be sorted out with a folded hessian sack".
There are a few of these seats around Stamford - although these days they are generally seen as wall art rather than serving their original function.
During the 20th Century, the farming machinery side of production moved to a subsidiary in Somerset, leaving Blackstone to focus on its oil engines.
These became the mainstay of the business and some of the early examples can still be seen running at country shows and steam rallies - a testament to their reliability.
Early oil engines were developed over time into high-speed diesel engines, and Blackstone's diesel engines were sold all over the world.
The Middle East being a particularly lucrative market, it was said that "one could stand anywhere in Iraq or Iran in the quiet of night and hear the beat of a Blackstone engine at work".
For those growing up in and around Stamford, the opportunities provided for a career in engineering were exceptional. Blackstone, which in 1960 employed more than 1,200 local people, was considered one the best companies in the country for apprenticeships, alongside Peter Brotherhood and Baker Perkins in Peterborough.
For many years, Blackstone was one of the town's largest employers, and after more than 100 years in business it finally closed in 2002. However, the Blackstone name lives on in Stamford through its Lincoln Road-based football club.
More history: Pick Motors helps to turn car-free Stamford into the town it is today
