A year to show up 120 year + old drainage systems

[Fielder]

Herring bone System with 2inch clay pipes on chalky boulder clay all hand dug over 120 years ago, Photo taken last weekend

 

[Northeastfarmer]

I love those old pot drains….absolute work of art and the blokes putting them in were incredibly skilled

 

[robs1]

I love those old pot drains….absolute work of art and the blokes putting them in were incredibly skilled

And incredibly hard working

 

[upnortheast]

Been giving Grandson lessons on old drains this winter. Patterns visible in most fields.

This farm all drained circa 1850 with 2" tiles at 10 yard spacing with (usually ) 3" mains.

Often 4 ft deep, most still working well. Whenever need to investigate, they are laid very accuratly.
Only thing they didn`t get right,went straight up the hill, been better at an angle.

When our family bought the farm in 1862 they took on 2 loans from a gov agency ( forget the name ) paying off drainage.

 

[serf]

Herring bone System with 2inch clay pipes on chalky boulder clay all hand dug over 120 years ago, Photo taken last weekend

Do you know what depth these drains are done at ?

 

[Wombat]

Herring bone System with 2inch clay pipes on chalky boulder clay all hand dug over 120 years ago, Photo taken last weekend

Mine are easy to spot as the bits in between have no plants

 

[spark plug]

And incredibly hard working

I bet they could eat a big dinner.

 

[Old apprentice]

Have any of you dug into stone drains built in the late 1800s the main drains I have seen are an absolute credit to the me n that built them.

 

[Dave6170]

I love those old pot drains….absolute work of art and the blokes putting them in were incredibly skilled

Real skilful men! They must of practically lived in the drains

 

[goodevans]

Have any of you dug into stone drains built in the late 1800s the main drains I have seen are an absolute credit to the me n that built them.

Incredible workmanship ,and to think they also had to dig the stone as well

 

[serf]

I bet they could eat a big dinner.

Dinner lived off beer you mean

 

[Old apprentice]

In the late 1800s would a lot of them pick and shovel men would have been Irish men?

 

[ridger]

They knew their stuff but if you were digging by hand you would do it once and do it right

 

[Whitewalker]

Always the story about here of a neighbour and the workman spent most of his winter draining fields . You wouldn't be doing it this winter

 

[AJ123]

Also don’t forget they did it all in pretty basic clothing/ footwear. I know they couldn't even imagine what we have now, but it certainly would make the toll on the body far harder.

I don’t like having cold or wet feet!

 

[Goweresque]

Have any of you dug into stone drains built in the late 1800s the main drains I have seen are an absolute credit to the me n that built them.

I have loads of old stone drains. Many still working perfectly, even when the outfall has been blocked you don't have to dig far back to find where they are patent and still running. I think their longevity depends on the soil type, in clay soils the clay slowly oozes between the stones and clogs them up completely, in brashier soils they seem to stay silt free.

I think such drains are older than the late 1800s. More likely to be early 1800s, dug by navvies whose work on canal building had ended and the railways hadn't started.

 

[Salopian_Will]

I was led to believe a lot were laid by Napoleonic prisoners of war. We have plenty which are the old horseshoes laid on oak, which is still there. Plenty of stone drain running too, which often need piping into a more more modern pipe or ditch as they have no outfalls- probably wasn’t an issue when it was all grass…



I seem to spend most winter on the digger and with divining rods piecing together these old drainage systems, I particular on one farm where the previous tenant allowed all outfalls to block, meaning many are totally stuffed with clay.


Generally if I find some clay pipes or plastic from the 1950onwards they will be difficult to repair as they were never laid as well as the old ones. This one was from Monday - there’s a 2 inch clay pipe at the bottom got to be 4ft deep.

 

[serf]

In the late 1800s would a lot of them pick and shovel men would have been Irish men?

Navvies , or would digging drains be below there skill set ?

 

[Goweresque]

would digging drains be below there skill set ?

Other way around I'd say. Navvies were the earth movers of their day, built to shift huge amounts of material. Drain digging on the other hand probably does require some more delicate skills, getting levels right, digging in dead straight lines. After the dry summer of 2022 I'd located what I thought was an old tile drain, lovely straight line across the crop, visible by drone. Dug down and was amazed to see it was a stone drain instead, it ran perfectly, just needed a new pipe to the ditch. The line was so straight I was convinced it was more modern.

 

[bovrill]

They call them Napoleonic drains here, supposedly dug by prisoners of war during the the fight against the French.
But I think any small bore clay pipe gets called that, even early 20th century ones!
I dug an old ditch out once that a lot of '70s/'80s drains run into (via companion drains , whoever dreamt those up to milk the subsidy?) and at about 18" below the bottom of the existing ditch I found a 2" 'Napoleonic' drain, so followed that all the way, and that sorted it out. They knew what they were doing 100+ years ago far better than they did 40 years ago, and without the big machines.