Lancashire has a long tradition of sweet making, with a few big names being created here. Fryer & Co, of Nelson are reputed to have invented jelly babies in 1864 and went on to make the Victory V lozenge at their Victory Works in the town. Fisherman's Friend menthol lozenges were created in Fleetwood by pharmacist James Lofthouse to relieve sore throats and coughs in 1865. And in 1898 William Santus began selling Uncle Joe's Mintballs to keep cotton workers in Wigan 'all aglow'. However few things say Lancashire like a little stick of Blackpool rock.

This toffee pulling machine used to make the iconic product was collected from the basement of Blackwood's Rock Shop in Blackpool. It represents a moment when mechanisation was introduced to save the hard manual labour involved in stretching, folding, pulling, and aerating molten sugar, and was used for all types of hard and soft sugar confectionary. However, it is still in the 'hand-made' tradition in that it would still have been loaded and unloaded by hand and not part of a bigger production line. The fact that it is from a Blackpool shop, used to create Blackpool rock makes it a very special Lancashire object.

The makers, Brierley, Collier and Hartley (BCH Ltd), date back to a brass foundry set up by William Brierley in Rochdale in 1844. In 1924 the company specialising in machinery for confectioners, merged with Thomas Hartley & Sons (confectioners). For nearly 70 years BCH Ltd went on to produce machines for making liquorice, marshmallow, caramel, jam, marmalade, and of course Blackpool rock.