On this page are reports, in reverse chronological order, on talks that were given at SWAAG monthly meetings in 2025. To jump to any one report, click the relevant link:
Nov – Uncovering Roman Carlisle 2025 – excavation of the Roman Villa at Carlisle Cricket Club, by Nick Henderson
Oct – The history of the Marske Estate and some local comparisons, by Stephen Clark
Sep – Marie Hartley by Sue Nicholson.
Jul – Medieval Lead Mining in Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, by Alan Mills
Jun – The British Upper Palaeolithic with particular reference to Creswell Crags, by Professor Paul Pettitt
Apr – Looking for Arthur – finding Arthwys, by Alistair Hall
Mar – The copper mines of Richmondshire, by Jane Harrison
Feb – The legacy of the Kearton Brothers, by Helen Guy
Jan – Archaeological sites for investigation, by Mike Woo
November – Uncovering Roman Carlisle 2025 – excavation of the Roman Villa at Carlisle Cricket Club, by Nick Henderson
November’s speaker was Nick Henderson, Economic Regeneration Officer for Cumberland Council and a trustee of Uncovering Roman Carlisle, an ongoing community archaeology project. He spoke about the amazing discoveries at Carlisle Cricket Club. The site is between Stanwix fort and Hadrian’s Wall to the north and the Flavian fort to the south.
The discovery of a hypocaust system led the site to be described initially as a bathhouse, but further excavations have shown that it was part of a much larger complex with courtyards and a ritual area, possibly with a temple. It is thought to have originated in the early third century when the headquarters of Emperor Septimus Severus were based in York. The Severan bathhouse was massive and replaced an earlier bathhouse on the site. It is the largest single building discovered on Hadrian’s Wall.
The bathhouse was richly decorated with painted wall plaster and over 190 hypocaust tiles, bearing the Imperial stamp ‘IMP’, have been found. Further indications of an imperial connection come from a lump of imperial purple dye and a stone inscription, thought to be to Empress Julia Domna, Severan’s wife. Septimius Severus’ presence in Carlisle is also mentioned in the Historia Augusta, however the length of the imperial visit remains unknown. The site continued to be used after Severus’ death in AD 211, although it was remodelled and repainted. After the Romans left, the site was partly robbed out.
The artefacts recovered have filled endless archive boxes. There have been over 7,000 small finds. The site has yielded 75 intaglios, which are small carved gemstones. They were easily lost from their fixings, and many were recovered from the drains on the site. It is the largest collection from a single site in the UK, suggesting there was school of engravers based in Carlisle. Nearly 300 hair pins and needles have also been found, together with 247 glass and amber beads and over 76 gaming counters. There are also beautiful intricate brooches, an indication of the high status of the people on the site. Over 900 coins from different periods have been found. Shards of window glass have been recovered which were imported from Egypt and Syria. Recent discoveries include two monumental stone sculptures from recycled stone work.
A small portable altar, like one found at Catterick, was discovered, as well as other items of personal religious significance. One part of the site probably had a ritual and funerary function. As well having areas of burning and postholes, this area had carefully placed broken pottery bowls and layers of broken amphora. The burned remains of wooden box containing a military diploma was also found.
Lead seals have also been recovered which would have been attached to official documents or grain sacks. These show evidence of Carlisle’s links with auxiliary units in other parts of Britain. For example, ‘GCSE’ on a seal indicates contact with to the 6th Legion, who were based in York.
These are just a few of the discoveries mentioned in Nick’s fascinating talk. The excavations will continue and more information can be found on the website: https://www.uncoveringromancarlisle.co.uk/
J. H.
October – The history of the Marske Estate and some local comparisons
Our AGM was followed by a talk given by SWAAG member Stephen Clark, who has been researching the history of Marske. His talk focussed on the Huttons and the Marske estate.
The association between the Hutton family and the estate began in 1597, when Timothy Hutton (1569-1629) bought land at Marske. His father was Matthew Hutton (1529-1606), by then a wealthy man, who had risen through the offices of the church. He became Bishop of Durham in 1589 and went on to become the Archbishop of York in 1595.
Timothy Hutton began building the hall at Marske and acquired further properties in Richmond, as well as land elsewhere in the county. He was appointed High Sheriff of Yorkshire and served as Alderman of Richmond. He was knighted by King James I and appointed as a “bow bearer”. For wealthy individuals, particularly those living outside London, land was a good investment. It offered a return of around 4% to 7%, which compared favourably with interest rates from other investments. Income mostly came from tenant farmers.
Not all the Huttons were successful landowners. The second Matthew Hutton (1597-1666) was a gambler and ran up huge debts. He was described as causing “great havoc” to the estate. He had to relinquish ownership of lands at Marrick and Richmond and his wife Barbara was forced to sell land at Wharram Percy.
During the Civil War Hutton made the mistake of siding with the Royalists. Fortunately, another branch of the family had married into the Fairfax family, which probably saved him from losing the estate or even from execution. Hutton was fined £1,000, although this was later rescinded. After his death in 1666 a succession of four John Huttons took over the Marske estate. There was a period of investment and improvement which saw the building of the stable block and later Cordilleras Farm and the Gothick Barn. The obelisk commemorating Matthew Hutton (1777-1813) was erected at Deer Park in the early 19th century.
Until the middle of the 19th century, the estate continued to provide a good rate of return. Timothy Hutton (1779-1863) was the last Hutton in direct line from Archbishop Matthew Hutton. After his death the inheritance passed to a distant cousin and from then there never seemed to be same interest in running the estate or living at Marske Hall. The wider economy did not help the situation. The repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 and the growing competition from imported food stuffs from North America contributed to a country-wide decline in the agricultural economy. Comparing the Marske estate to others in the North Riding, in the late 19th century, it seems Marske had the lowest rate of return per acre. The quality of the land might have been a factor.
There were further setbacks in the 20th century. When Catterick Camp became a permanent army base after the First World War, nearly 2,500 acres of the Marske estate were compulsory purchased. This land was to the south of the Swale, around Downholme and Walburn. In the Second World War, a further 6,000 acres was compulsory purchased around Feldom, thus considerably reducing the size of the estate.
The estate was gradually sold between 1957 and 1965 and the link with the Hutton family ended. Local farmers were able to purchase the land that they had farmed for generations. Marske Hall itself was sold in the early 1950s but was fortunately not demolished as originally planned. It has since been converted to apartments. Buildings such as the stables and the Gothick Barn are still standing.
Other local estates, such as Bolton and Zetland, have not suffered the same demise. Their ownership has remained more within the direct line of inheritance. Business interests elsewhere have possibly enabled those landowners to cushion their estates during harder times.
It was a fascinating and informative talk. There is much more available about Marske on the website: https://marskeswaledale.com/
J. H.
September – Marie Hartley by Sue Nicholson.
Sue gave a most interesting talk on Marie Hartley and her work with her two friends Ella Pontefract and Joan Ingleby.
Marie met Ella when Ella’s parents moved next door to Marie’s parents in Leeds. Both women were of independent means, strong personalities and with a love of the outdoors and soon became firm friends. Marie was an accomplished artist and Ella a journalist. Together they roamed the Dales in the 1930s, a time before tourism had really arrived. They realised that the Dales way of life was rapidly vanishing and together started to document this and collect artefacts reflecting this disappearing rural life. These artefacts formed the basis of the collection of the Dales Countryside Museum (DCM) in Hawes including exhibits illustrating from domestic life of the time such as butter and cheese making, as well as farming, blacksmithing and the already defunct lead mining.
The museum now also has a special exhibition area, including archaeological finds such as the bronze age spear found at Semewater and a rather impressive Viking ring as well as a family history unit. It also contains Marie Hartley’s diaries which Sue quoted from at various intervals during the talk. These gave insight into the thinking of Marie, her desire to preserve the past and her love for the dales – especially Swaledale.
Their first venture into publishing was a book about their beloved Swaledale in 1934. Sue showed us a copy which includes some beautiful woodcut illustrations of places in Swaledale including Crackpot Hall before it became ruinous. Although their hearts were in Swaledale they moved reluctantly to Wensleydale in order to produce a book on that Dale. Books on Wharfedale and Yorkshire churches followed shortly afterwards. Overall, Marie was co-author and illustrator of some 40 books.
Ella Pontefract died in 1945 and Marie eventually teamed up with Joan Ingleby to continue the work of preserving the artifacts and documenting the way of life. Their collection was given to North Riding Council, who founded the Hawes museum to house the collection. Ironically this is in the railway station at Hawes, the railways being one of the major causes of the demise of the rural life of the dales as they enabled the beginning of mass tourism.
A well researched and well presented most interesting talk.
Judith Mills
July – Medieval Lead Mining in Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, by Alan Mills
On July 8th, SWAAG members were treated to an interesting talk by Alan Mills on medieval lead mining in Swaledale and Arkengarthdale and how that compared to pre – Medieval techniques. The talk was based on work carried out by the Northern Mines Research Society to “Compare and Contrast Post and Pre Medieval Mining Techniques”.
Lead is found in veins and not in seams. The heavily fractured limestone in the Yoredale series is the prefect configuration for finding lead deposits. Veins run in a SW to NE direction.
Medieval techniques were used up until the late 1800’s, and would feature
Hushes – in principle open cast mining following a vein. Use water to wash the debris down the hush.
Shafts (not Bell Pits) – approx. 100ft deep. To move the ore to the surface a Jack Roller was employed (operated by women and children) or a Horse Gin (Whin) for deeper shafts (example at Fell End).
Horse Levels – would move ore out of the mine on rails in small tubs.
Dressing floors, Crushing Mills and Smelt Mills – water powered bellows. Would employ, wood, peat or coal as fuel source. Ore would be formed into PIGS for transport.
Leats (to move water)
Bouse Teams – ore stores, allocated 1 / team (4 to 6 men / team)
Hotching Tubs – used to separate ore from waste (a big sieve in water)
In this period there was much more “infrastructure” buildings, dams, water courses (leats and water wheels), flues, crushing mills, smelt mills, tunnels, rail trackways and mechanisation. The first water powered smelt mill was in operation in 1574/75.
Pre 1600 – in this period there was much less construction and mechanisation. Everything was on a much smaller scale, very manual, hands on work.
Ore extraction was by open cast methods or shallow shafts. At these sites, it is possible to follow the line of the vein where a series of shallow depressions with waste heaps surrounding them.
Ore dressing – was by hand, women and children using rocks and breaking the ore into small fragments.
Smelting – was carried out in Bales (or Boles) – these were round structures (6ft diameter and 4 ft high), where layers of wood (or charcoal) and ore would be burnt. There would be gaps / hole in the sides to allow air to flow to generate the fire and heat. These sites are usually found it windy locations.
There is no evidence of the use of Hotching Tubs, instead Buddles were used to separate the ore from waste. These were long sloping boards – similar to a draining board.
There are 10 sites that have been dated, and these dates range from 965 to 1560. Bale sites can be identified by slag and charcoal in area of the bale. Dating can be by charcoal (radio-carbon dating) and pottery.
June – The British Upper Palaeolithic with particular reference to Creswell Crags, by Professor Paul Pettitt
Professor Pettitt spoke at some length about Britain in the Upper Paleolithic, a period which saw Homo Sapiens in Ice Age Britain. A fascinating and very informative talk.
He explained that the ice began to build up around 30,000 years ago; within a 1000 years there were no people at all in Britain. The ice sheets extended as far South as Doncaster, also covering South Wales and part of East Anglia, up to 2 km thick. Further South, the landscape was dominated by gravelly, braided rivers sluggishly flowing through a land devoid of all mammalian life.
De-glaciation began around 19,000 years ago. By 15,000 years ago mammals including reindeer, the now extinct aurochs, brown bears, arctic hares roamed as far North as South Yorkshire, followed by human hunter-gatherers moving across Doggerland from Europe.
Wild horses arrived from Europe around 14,000 years ago and were to become a vital resource for hunter gatherers. This period, known as the Creswellian period, has yielded 35 major archaeological herbivore and artefact find spots in Britain of which Creswell Crags and Gough’s Cave in Cheddar Gorge are the most significant.
Boreal woodland developed around 13,000 years ago, a more difficult environment for Palaeolithic hunter gatherers, now working in small groups. The last throw of the Ice Age was a return to Arctic conditions in the period known as the Younger Dryas, 12,600 – 11,600 years ago, with a brief return of reindeer and wild horses; thereafter we entered the Mesolithic.
After giving a comprehensive review of the Upper Palaeolithic, Professor Pettitt spoke about Creswell Crags in anticipation of our visit at the weekend.
Around 14,000 years ago the stream in the valley of Creswell Crags cut through a narrow band of limestone, providing an ideal route for mammalian prey to pass through and for hunter gatherers to ambush them; the caves on both sides provided good shelter too. The stream was dammed by the Duke of Portland to form a boating lake in the 19th C; one of the caves now known as the Boat Cave was dug out to store his boats. The remaining caves have been excavated on and off from the mid-19th C with major excavations in the early 2000s when Professor Pettitt co-discovered the Palaeolithic art inscribed on the walls.
Wild horses were the primary prey animal here while arctic hare was also important, particularly for their fur. It is no surprise then that wild horse is the most common depiction in art of this period, both here and at Gough’s Cave in Cheddar Gorge. In addition, depictions at Creswell include stylised females, red deer, aurochs and a bird.
Members were most appreciative of the talk and the preparation for the forthcoming visit.
Alan Mills
April – Looking for Arthur – finding Arthwys, by Alistair Hall
Historian and author of historical fiction, Alistair Hall, talked to us about the Roman and post-Roman period in the north of England. Alistair compared the very few known facts about the legendry King Arthur to the recent discovery of the Melsonby hoard, and how our understanding of the distant past can be changed by what we discover.
He asked us to put aside all the speculation about who Arthur was and take a fresh look at who he might have been. Travel in Roman and early post-Roman Britain was difficult and largely confined to the extensive network of Roman-built roads. The hinterland of the country was very vulnerable to infiltration, for trade or attack, along the several large rivers running into the North Sea along the east coast, in particular the rivers Trent and Ouse and old Don. The Romans had made extensive use of Germanic tribes to provide foederati, whom they used to counter Pictish raids from the north-east, along what became known as the Saxon Shore. This policy failed in 367AD in a revolt known as the Barbarian Conspiracy. When order was finally restored control of the north was passed to Coel Hen of the Brigantes: a powerful and Romanised Briton.
There are no contemporary records of this period. The references are distant in both time and geography: Gildas, a C6th monk writing in the south-west; Bede, in the C8th, the Historia Brittonum from Nennius in the C9th. Their evidence for Arthur is scant, but all record a series of twelve battles between the Anglo-Saxons and the British, culminating in Mount Badon in about 470.
Alistair’s hypothesis is that these battles were fought over a relatively short period of time in what is today, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. He has examined the evidence of geography and place-names and finds considerable support for his theory that this is where those significant battles occurred. He considers that the legendary arrival of the Jute, Wihtgils, and his sons Hengist and Horsa, in the early C5th was not in Kent, but by agreement with the British King Vortigern onto the Isle of Axeholme on the south shore of The Humber estuary where they were paid foederati. As their numbers increased, they failed to receive the food and payment promised. A rebellion followed. This was finally suppressed at the battle of Mount Badon.
The Welsh Annals record the history of the northern British kingdoms of which Coel Hen was the progenitor. His great grandson was Arthwys from the central Pennine kingdom of Elmet. Arthwys was contemporary with the battle of Mount Badon. Could it be that Arthwys, a battle-leader of the Old North, became in time the Arthur of legend, his name and reputation increasingly displaced ever-westward as the old British kingdoms were subsumed or displaced by constant Anglo-Saxon encroachment.
Alistair’s books can be seen at: http://www.ravenfell.co.uk
March – The copper mines of Richmondshire, by Jane Harrison
SWAAG member Jane Harrison gave a talk on the copper mines of Richmondshire. She became interested in the subject having frequently walked past the two disused mine entrances below Billy Banks, in Richmond. These workings date back to the beginning of the 20th century, although copper was also mined there in earlier times.
The Calendar of Patent Rolls of Edward IV, in the fifteenth century, mentions four leases, one of which was for a copper mine ‘near’ Richmond. Where exactly the mine was located is unknown. It may have been short lived as it was not mentioned in a subsequent lease.
In the seventeenth century records from the Richmond Corporation mention mineral leases in Whitcliffe Pasture and Richmond Out Moor. A lease from 1718 mentions both lead and copper. There are the remains of a copper mine, just to the north of Richmond racecourse, which dates from a lease in 1758. There are more extensive and probably earlier workings along the Feldom Moor fault. A copper smelt mill was in operation near Whashton in 1728.
Copper mining also took place on Thorpe Edge, near Hudswell. There was a copper mill at Sandbeck, prior to 1753, as its demise is mentioned in a lease of that date. Copper was also found in the grounds of Yorke House, at the bottom of Bargate, although it proved too expensive to extract. The Yorke family may also have mined across the river at Billy Banks where the vein continued.
Copper is very localised in its distribution in Richmondshire. There is evidence that mining took place at the top of Swaledale, in Great Sleddale, but in most of upper Swaledale the ore occurred in very small concentrations. Traces are often found in mine tailings. Most of the copper mines were farther east, along the margins of an eroded upfold in the Carboniferous rocks named the Sleightholme-Middleton Tyas anticline. The mineralisation occurs in a limited stratigraphical range between the Underset Limestone (Four Fathom Limestone) and the Crow Cherts. The origin of the ores has been debated, but they probably formed at relatively low temperatures due to the interaction of local sulphur-rich solutions with metalliferous brines from the Stainmore Trough to the north. Further secondary enrichment occurred under the desert conditions of the Permian.
What is unusual about the copper deposits in lower Swaledale and particularly around Middleton Tyas is the high concentration of copper in the ore. In Middleton Tyas it may have been as high as 66%. The heyday of mining in Middleton Tyas was from 1740s until about the 1770s. At that time the demand for copper was increasing as it was used with tin to make brass and with silver to make Sheffield plate, as well as to protect boat hulls. The invention of the reverberatory furnace made it easier to refine.
In Middleton Tyas today the remains of the shafts and spoil heaps dot the fields around St Michael’s Church. They are very distinct on LiDAR images, which can be seen on the National Library of Scotland’s map website. The copper occurred in veins, flats and sometimes nodules. Much more is known about these mines as documentation still exists and contemporary reports were written by Reinhold Angerstein in the 1750s and Gabriel Jars in the 1760s.
Local landowners exploited the minerals in their fields. The Rev. Dr. Mawer benefited greatly from the copper found on the glebe lands and received £4,000 in royalties by the time of his death in 1763. The grand houses remaining in the village today are in part testament to the wealth the copper created for a lucky few.
Drainage was a major issue, hindering year-round production, a problem resolved by hand or horse pumps and later steam engines. There was an ingenious system of slider rods, supported by cylindrical rollers, that transferred motive power 200m uphill. Once the ore was extracted it was sorted and washed, a process called buddling. There is a field called Buddle Bottom along the river below the church. Processing the ore was a complex process that involved numerous roastings and re-meltings. There were probably four smelt mills in Middleton Tyas, although there are no remains visible today. Most of the ore was sent to Derbyshire for refining, although there were two refineries in the village too.
The Middleton Tyas mines were the most-productive copper mines in Richmondshire. The output was not exceeded by the later mines at Low Merrybent and Richmond, which were both small scale operations. The Billy Banks mine only employed between 6 and 15 men in the early 20th century. A number were ex-lead miners. Little processing was done on site, and the ore was taken away in wagons, hauled by the miners along a narrow-gauge trackway. The mine’s existence was short lived. There were issues with ventilation, and the river swept away sections of the stone causeway used to take the ore along to the Green Bridge. This brought the history of copper mining in Richmond to an end – at least for the moment.
J. H.
February – The legacy of the Kearton Brothers, by Helen Guy
Helen Guy, the manager and a trustee of the Keld Resource Centre, spoke on the legacy of the famous naturalists, the brothers Richard and Cherry Kearton, of Thwaite in Swaledale, where as children they developed their interest in the natural world, going on to become celebrated pioneers of wildlife photography.
Richard Kearton (2 January 1862 – 8 February 1928) and Cherry Kearton (8 July 1871 – 27 September 1940) developed innovative methods to photograph animals in the wild and, in 1895, published the first natural history book to be entirely illustrated by wildlife photographs. Richard was made a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London and Royal Photographic Society. Cherry later became a wildlife and news filmmaker, and friend to Theodore Roosevelt. The Royal Geographical Society created the Cherry Kearton Medal and Award in his honour.
Richard and Cherry were the second and fourth sons of parents Mary and John Kearton. Their father was a yeoman farmer. They were educated in Muker and lived in Corner House in Thwaite. Their initials are carved into the stonework by the front door. Richard was a farmer in Swaledale until 1882 when he moved to London as manager of a publicity department at the publishing house Cassell & Co. until 1898. He married Ellen Rose Cowdrey in 1889 and had three sons and two daughters.
Cherry married Mary Burwood Coates in 1900, with whom he had a son, named Edward Cherry, and a daughter, Mary Nina, known as Nina. They divorced in 1920, and he married Ada Forrest, a South African soprano in 1923. He died in 1940.
Cherry specialised in animal photography, having taken the first photograph of a bird’s nest with eggs in 1892. In the summer of 1896 he and his brother reached the Outer Hebridean islands of St Kilda and many other remote places. In 1898 their famous book, ‘With Nature and a Camera’, illustrated by 160 photographs, was published by Cassell. Cherry contributed photographs to seventeen of Richard’s books, and wrote and illustrated a further seventeen titles of his own. He made the first phonograph recording of birds (a nightingale and a song thrush) singing in the wild in 1900; took the first film of London from the air in 1908, and the first footage of hostilities in the First World War at Antwerp in 1914. Cherry and Richard Kearton are perhaps best remembered for the development of naturalistic photographic hides, including the hollow ox of 1900 and the stuffed sheep of 1901.
Cherry and Richard Kearton shot a number of ‘shorts’ of birds and animals for Charles Urban in the years 1905–1908. From 1909, Cherry moved into the field of wildlife documentary film making, shot on visits to Africa, India, Borneo, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He directed more than thirty films for his film companies Cherry Kearton Ltd and Cherry Kearton Films Ltd.
In the beginning, Kearton used a clumsy Kinemascope film camera on tripod, but around 1911 he switched to an Aeroscope camera, which led to superior results, for this light, one-hand-operated equipment was better suited to wildlife cinematography. More information is available on the Keld resource Centre website: The legacy of the Kearton Brothers.
January – Archaeological sites for investigation, by Mike Wood
Life-long Richmondian and longstanding trustee of Richmondshire Museum, Mike Wood, led us on a fascinating canter through many archaeological sites within Swaledale. Mike has had a passion for archaeology since his father, a member of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society, took him on archaeological explorations as a child.
Mike was involved with the excavation of Cataractonium (Roman Catterick) by Sir Mortimer Wheeler and was present, aged 11, at the discovery of a Roman coffin at RAF Catterick, now Marne Barracks. Finds from this dig are now in Richmondshire Museum.
Mike then showed us examples of the many sites he has explored over the years and which he thinks still merit investigation. These included cup and ring marks on the military range at Feldom, and the remains of the Scorton Cursus that survived destruction during the construction of Scorton’s wartime airfield and the A1 bypass in the 1950s.
A question Mike posed is what was the purpose of Scots Dyke? Was it defendable and when was it constructed? Although an Anglo-Saxon spear has been found on it, was this a sign of a much older structure having been repurposed: luminescence tests on quartz found in the dyke near Gilling crossroads show a date of circa 500BC.
A reflective study of the Swaledale landscape will always raise questions and reveal insights into over 3,000 years of history. These could be a burned mound that Mike showed us on Grinton Moor, the Saxon hogs-back grave marker found near there, an Iron Age hut circle or the massive stone block remains of an unidentified structure. It was also near there that Mike found fragments of a C13-C14 chafing dish – an early form of warming dish.
Other sites that Mike has explored, and raised questions about, include: the Romano-British farmstead on the Applegarth terrace below Willance’s Leap, A possible Roman route from the Applegarth site down to the River Swale, and intriguing lines on an aerial photo that suggest a possible Roman villa south of the river by The Batts. An ancient mine entrance behind the Applegarth site suggested to Mike that this may have been an early Roman lead mine.
His involvement with excavations at St. Nicholas House raised questions about the location of the pre-Norman vill of Hindrelac. Was St Nicholas House the site, or was it at St Edmunds on Anchorage Hill, or was it at St Mary’s. There is evidence to suggest each of these locations. What is certain is that an engraved medieval brass bell, that was sadly stolen from St Nicholas House at the time of its sale by Lady Serena, was not from the late Anglo-Saxon church.
Mike then brought us up to date with a look at some magic-lantern slides from the early C20. They were proof that utility companies were as poor then at reinstating work on gas pipelines as they are today.
