Although there were very few vehicles 100 years ago – mostly carts – the roads still had to be maintained and ruts and potholes filled up. From time to time a steam roller and crew would arrive to do this work. This month we see one such crew but the reason the photo was taken is that it has got stuck trying to cross the bridge over the load (now by the Ploughman Hall). In fact it looks like the bridge is partly collapsed under the weight (10tons). We don’t know how they got it out again! The Steam Roller is an Aveling & Porter “Invicta” build around 1894. An identical roller survives today which you can see by entering “Road Roller 3319” into your search engine.
Nov 2019
