Yates & Thom Ltd, or Yates of Blackburn, was a British manufacturer of

stationary steam engine Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam car ...

s and

boilers A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central ...

at the Canal Ironworks,

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. The company had its origins in a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

's shop started by William Yates in 1824. Leigh Spinners cross compound steam engine In the 1860s, the company supplied a cam operated, drop valve compound engine operating at 100 psi to the India Mill,

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

. Other mills supplied by Yates and Thom included the Durban Mill,

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

. This was an 1800 hp triple-expansion four-cylinder engine built in 1906. It had a 24" HP cylinder, a 29" IP cylinder and two 38" LP cylinders with a 5 ft 6 in stroke. At 180 psi, it drove a 27-ft, 67-ton flywheel with 38 ropes at 65 rpm. It used Corliss valves on all cylinders. An engine, one of a pair supplied by the firm, survives at Leigh Spinners. The company supplied a 3,300 horsepower twin tandem compound engine, which survives in the engine house at the Astley Green Colliery Museum. It was the largest steam winding engine used on the

Lancashire Coalfield The Lancashire Coalfield in North West England was an important British Coalfield#Great Britain, coalfield. Its coal seams were formed from the vegetation of tropical swampy forests in the Carboniferous period over 300 million years ago. The Rom ...

. In 1928, the company became Foster, Yates and Thom when it was acquired by Joseph Foster & Sons. The company continued to manufacture boilers until 1964, with the remainder of the works closing in 1973.

References

Notes Bibliography * *

External links

Foster Yates and Thom on the Cottontown site
Steam engine manufacturers Textile machinery manufacturers Companies based in Blackburn Defunct engineering companies of the United Kingdom {{industry-company-stub