DEAR SIR,--When I was an under-graduate at Balliol more years ago than I
care to remember, I not only took part in the road-making experiment
carried out under RUSKIN's supervision, but assisted in the erection of
a model cottage, the walls of which were made of "bap," a compound which
is still used in parts of Worcestershire. The receipt is very simple.
You mix clinkers, wampum and spelf in equal quantities and condense the
compound by hydraulic pressure. I have a well-trained hydraulic ram who
is capable of condensing enough "bap" in twenty-four hours to provide
the materials for building six four-roomed cottages. I am sorry to say
that the "bap" cottage at Hinksey was washed away by a flood a few years
ago, and the spot where it stood is no longer identifiable. But the
facts are as I have stated them.
Truly yours, Roland Phibson.
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