The rise and rise of corrugated iron
The past and present of an unfairly ignored building material
DOWN THE deep lanes that lead to Dartmoor’s granite uplands, in England's West Country, a weather-beaten gap has grown in the hedge marking a Saxon field boundary. One day this winter a battered sheet of corrugated iron appeared, lodged in the gap as if it had blown in. In reality, the middle-aged brothers who farm nearby are probably responsible: their sheep have a habit of busting into others’ fields. In the chilling wind the sheet quivers, like a living thing.
This article appeared in the Christmas Specials section of the print edition under the headline “Gimme shelter”
Christmas Specials December 18th 2021
- A Zimbabwean archaeologist retells the story of a civilisation
- Does good parenting in Hong Kong mean submitting to the Party?
- An economic history of restaurants
- The rise and rise of corrugated iron
- The mathematical method that could offer a fairer way to vote
- How to prevent conflict on the way to Mars
- Scenes from an almost vanished Singapore
- Retracing Julius Caesar’s path through France
From the December 18th 2021 edition
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