MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Wendyf]

I think it's a cream pot made for Western Counties Creameries. ( Detective work not image search!)

[Stanley]

Wendy is right and could be right about the user. They were used at West Marton Dairies and there were a lot under the site of the boiler house. I had several but over time they have vanished so I didn't have an image of our home grown article....
Next one for shaving?

[Wendyf]

You can just make out the word Westbury on the maker's stamp. It turned out to be Aplin & Barrett of Yeovil, Marston and Westbury.


https://www.yeovilhistory.info/aplin%20 ... arrett.htm

[Stanley]

Better eyesight than me Wendy! I shall try another one!



Can you tell me why this antique teapot is potentially dangerous?

[Steeplejerk]

The glaze

[Stanley]

I need to know why it's potentially dangerous Tom.

[Steeplejerk]

I remember something on antiques roadshow that there's poison in the brown glaze either cyanide or arsenic.

[Big Kev]

Lead or cadmium?

[Stanley]

You're near enough. Most brown glazes used pre 1900 were based on Uranium Oxide and are mildly radio-active. I was made aware of this when the fire brigade told me that if we cut any of the brown glazed bricks in the engine house we should get them in to deal with the dust. They said that if you stared at the bricks from a foot away for 6 months you would almost certainly get cataracts.
Next object?

[Stanley]

What is it?

[Tizer]

Maintenance on a bottle kiln/oven.

[Stanley]

Curses! Quite right Peter. I shall have to find a better one!

[Stanley]

If you were a steeplejack and saw this.... What are you looking at and what is it telling you?
(Hold back Tom, let them have a stab at it.... )

[Gloria]

Is it some sort of tie around a chimney?

[Stanley]

yes Gloria you are right. It's an iron band 4" wide and 1/2" thick that reinforces the structure of the chimney. In this case queen Street at Harle Syke.
Now, tell me what it's saying to us.... It's giving a clear and specific message.

[Big Kev]

Looks like it's under a fair bit of tension. Has it been done up too tight or is the chimney on the move?

[Steeplejerk]

[Gloria]

The chimney is in the move?

[Stanley]

You're doing well Gloria and tension is right. But what's the most likely cause of the tension?
(She's doing well Tom!)

[Gloria]

Expansion due to lack of use and water getting into the joints?

[Steeplejerk]

Water is partly the cause

[Tizer]

Cycles of freezing and thawing?

[Gloria]

Cycles of freezing and thawing?

I agree with this.

[Stanley]

That doesn't help Peter but not the main reason. Tom has given you the best clue. Look carefully at the picture and you can see the evidence despite repeated coats of paint.

[Tizer]

The shaft of the bolt is bent and the threads are probably destroyed.