Monument record MDR13330 - Stone crushing building (remains of), Buxworth Lower Basin, Chinley

The Lower Basin Stone Crusher was a very substantial building with a floor of reinforced concrete. The reinforcements were scrap lengths of edge, flat-bottomed, narrow gauge and angle iron sections. There is no definite date of construction, but it may have been c. 1856. This was the time of railway expansion and very large amounts of ballast were required. Power to the stone crusher was initially supplied by a steam boiler; however, the boiler and associated machinery were replaced by a Crossley diesel engine that was still functioning up to closure in 1925. The method of operation was for a 'gang' of loaded quarry wagons to be pushed along the pier that gave access to the crusher floor, where each wagon would be emptied into the 'crusher hopper'. Once full, the crusher was started and the resultant stone ballast was run through a sieve to the chute below and loaded directly into the narrow boats moored alongside the crusher building. The narrow boats would be moved backwards and forwards to ensure that the cargo of ballast was evenly distributed through the cargo hold, prior to the boat being sheeted up, gauged and sent on its way to Prince's Dock Branch at Ashton-under-Lyne. There it would be transhipped to rail wagons for ongoing movement to wherever it was required. (1)