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Old 16-11-2004, 08:49   #12
Atarah
Senior Member+
 

DYKE NOOK, Whalley Road, Accrington

Hi, The Blake family are a very important part of Accringtons history. Mr John Blake when aged 18 (in 1854) invented, and afterwards patented, a scientific steam pressure reducing valve. He was not a large employer of labour, but he helped to make the name of Accrington known in many lands - his machinery was sent to all parts of the globe. He began working at Christie's foundry (on the site where our Market Hall is)- and then purchased premises in Oxford Street. He then invented a hydraulic ram for raising water - this earned him fame and fortune (his rams are used at Taj Mahal in India, Sandringham Palace, Blenheim Palace, to name a few) He had 3 sons and one daugher, one of his sons, Hubert, built Dyke Nook. The family were greatly connected with Sacred Heart Church.

I have added a photo of Waterflatts. I have read that it stood on the right hand side of the lane, leading from the back of Waterloo House on Whalley Road, to Queens Road. (What was the surname of your ancestors?) There is a chapter on this property in The Old Homesteads of Accrington, page 186. This is all rather interesting stuff, cos ... this is the area where Butch Cassidy's father was born - on the 1851 census he is shown as living at Waterflatts as a 6 year old. (Dont know whether Waterflatts was also the name of the area?) I have more details on this if anyone is interested.
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