Pentiles, seen on roofs throughout Britain, have a distinctive curved shape.
The machine Oldroyd is using dates back to the 1920s. Some of the equipment on the site is very old and the work is not easy.
“The most challenging task for me would probably be picking up soil,” she says.
But she won’t trade her job.
“I’m really happy to be making history.
“When I think about this site and how old it is and that we’re still carrying on this tradition and the fact that a lot of the tiles, if not all of them, will be here for hundreds of years to come.”
The work Oldroyd and his colleagues do today is part of a centuries-old tradition.
Although clay roof tiles were introduced by the Romans, English industry developed in the eastern part of the country during the 12th century.
By the early 1700s, pantiles began to be made, with East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire becoming major centers of production.
According to the Roof Tile Association, there are only about a dozen old school companies left in the whole of Britain today. William Blyth, established in 1840, is one of them.
