Blue plaque for lawn-mower inventor Edwin Beard Budding

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-32427078

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The inventor of the lawn-mower has been honoured with a commemorative plaque on the site of his workshop.

Engineer Edwin Beard Budding patented his world-first design in 1830.

A plaque marking his achievement has been put on a wall of the Stroud Brewery in Thrupp, Gloucestershire, which stands on the original workshop site.

He got the idea from the cross cutting machines used to finish woollen cloth in the Stroud valleys' textile mills.

The plaque was donated to Stroud District Council by Chris Biddle, editor of trade magazine Service Dealer, and was unveiled by David Withers, president of lawn-mower manufacturer Ransomes Jacobsen.

Ransomes acquired the first manufacturing licence for Budding's lawn-mower in 1832.

Mr Withers said: "It's amazing that his invention is pretty much unchanged, nobody's found a better way of doing this than he found in 1830."

Mr Biddle said: "The visual impact of Wimbledon, Lord's, Wembley or any golf course, they are immaculately turned out, and it's all down to this guy's vision nearly 200 years ago."