SLATE ROOFING MANCHESTER

Slate has been quarried or mined throughout the United Kingdom for many centuries in mountainous locations, sometimes in hazardous working conditions. Due to the difficulties of transportation, slates were only used to roof houses close to the source of supply. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, however, transport and technical innovations meant that the slates were able to be mass-produced and sent to all parts of the country to cover the roofs of new houses being built in the rapidly developing industrial towns. Many engineering achievements were made in the main slate producing areas and machinery was installed to cut the slate, haul it to the surface and transport it by rail to the various outlets.
A new building trade developed and craftsmen emerged to fix this newly found and most adaptable form of covering. Most of the slated roofs in this country are well over eighty years old; the slates themselves are in excellent condition and, if left untouched, will remain so for many years to come. In some instances, however, the fixing nails have perished allowing the slates to slip, but modern methods of securing slates have now eliminated this problem.