From Dan Holdsworth
Your cartoon on the Feedback page
(17 February)
shows a group of youths about to ignite methane from a reservoir, as a joke.
This sort of thing has a long precedent. Many years ago the outflow of sewage
into the main canal basin of Leeds was such that the entire basin was one huge
fermentation vessel. A common joke played by the local children was to sneak up
to the basin on a still, frosty morning and throw in a lighted match, igniting
the methane that had gathered over the water.
This created a spectacular display of leaping flames and irate bargemen, and
was therefore an effect much loved by the children. The trick only worked,
though, when there was a frost to cool escaping methane to a density low enough
to keep it close to the water, and such mornings were rare.
These days the canals no longer carry raw sewage, but act instead as a
repository for supermarket trolleys.
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Manchester
