Society General Meeting
6 March 2021
14:30 / 17:00
Talk: Keeping our Feet Dry – A Potted History of Land Drainage
By Roger Backhouse
Roger is a well-known member of SMEE, who has given several entertaining and informative talks to the Society. In this one he will look at the long history of land drainage by machine including how the English learned from advanced Dutch technology, what is a polder and how to drain one, the biggest cylinder in the world in Europe’s most unusual steam engine. why a cast iron post is important, and what happened to England’s largest lowland lake. He will describe how the landscape was transformed by drainage and how land drainage is now being rethought in the light of environmental concerns.