AT the Heritage Awards to mark the 25th Anniversary of Service Dealer and staged at IOG SALTEX at Royal Windsor Racecourse in September 2013, editor Chris Biddle unveiled a special commemorative Blue Plaque, commissioned to mark the life and achievement of Edwin Budding, inventor of the lawnmower.
He said “I was recently struck by a remark on a US lawn and garden website that, given the importance of his invention, it was strange that there was no reminder his achievement in his home town of Stroud.
“Although there is no longer a formal Blue Plaque scheme, I thought this the best way to remember someone whose contribution to our social, sporting and cultural life has been immense. It is clear that Edwin Beard Budding should be recognised as a pioneer to rank alongside Edison or Bell.”
Edwin Budding is also recognised by the US-based International Golf Course Equipment Managers Association (IGCEMA) through an annual Edwin Budding Award sponsored by Ransomes Jacobsen
The plaque was handed over to Stroud District Council and Brimscombe and Thrupp Parish Council, the location of the Phoenix Textile Mill where the young engineer came up with his idea for the world’s first lawnmower.
The Phoenix Textile Mill is longer standing, but on the same site are a number of specialist businesses, including the Award-winning Stroud Brewery – and with thanks to Stroud DC, the Parish Council and to Greg Pilley, founder of Stroud Brewery Company, the plaque was mounted to the outside of the brewery last week.
It is located just yards from the mill where in 1830 Budding would have been burning the midnight oil to fine-tune his invention. He and his partner, John Ferrabee made a quantity, supplying one of the early machines to Regents Park Zoo before selling the first manufacturing licence to Ransomes in 1832.
Stroud Brewery brewed its first beer in 2006, the Budding Ale and has since gone on to win many awards, and has a very strong community following. Founder Greg Pilley says, “We strive in every way to make our business as sustainable as possible – financially, environmentally and socially. It is not just the process of brewing beer – minimising our resource use, using local and organic ingredients, re-cycling our waste (as feedstuff for pigs and cows on local small holdings) and delivering locally – but also the way we do business.”
The Budding Ale is still one of the brewers top selling beers. At an ABV of 4.5%, it is described as having a ‘grassy bitterness, sweet malt and luscious floral aroma’.
A formal unveiling of the Budding plaque at Stroud Brewery is being planned.
