Brownwich Farm, near Warsash, S. Hampshire (the only last four square miles of open countryside remaining between Portsmouth and Southampton) was where the monks of Titchfield Abbey (under the auspices of Abingdon Priory) in the 1100's used lead salt pans to evaporate sea water to obtain salt. I assume that the salt pans would have been made from Mendip lead, as I discovered that Mendip lead was transported across to Winchester and then boated down the River Itchen (one of Hampshire's beautiful trout rivers) to Southampton. The Romans also used lead salt pans on one of the islands (name has slipped my memory at the moment) off Portsmouth for the same process of salt manufacture, again I assume that it was Mendip lead as the Roman port in Southampton was at Bitterne and Mendip lead ingots have been found there. The reason why I did this research about salt pans in Hampshire was the County Council had proposed the site of Brownwich Farm for a gravel extraction site, over 2,000 objections to the plan were received. I had to have a valid reason for objection and with the name ending in "wich" immediately made me think of the Cheshire "wichs" indicating salt, and further investigation on the internet came up with this information. There had been an archaelogical dig on the site during the 1950's proving this fact. Needless to say the proposal was dropped.
When we wrote the Bonsall Book, I did a lot of research into the background of salt pans, because the "yuppies" on the book insisted I was wrong when I wrote that Derbyshire lead was transported to the east and north east both by road and water, for eventual shipment out from the Humber. I consulted Doug Nash and Lyn Willies who both told me that I was correct. The "yuppies" had seen a reference about the Romans using lead salt pans at the salt springs in Cheshire (apparently there were no salt mines then) and immediately thought that it had to be Derbyshire lead that was used. My argument was that the N. Wales lead was far more accessible to Cheshire for the Romans to use than the Derbyshire (think of what the terrain between the Peak and the Cheshire plain must have been like in Roman times for transport, it was bad enough until recent times) and of course in Roman times Cheshire was a port wasn't it? I know of course that the salt was transported from Cheshire eastwards to Derbyshire and beyond, but from many records researched (not just by me but many other people over the years) smelted lead from Derbyshire tended mostly to be transported to Hull and the Humber.
Talking of snow ploughs, I remember a very hot day in summer 2005 when I lived at Upper Town, Bonsall and suddenly saw a snow plough with all it's lights flashing parked outside my cottage. I couldn't resist asking the driver if a snow warning had been given! Turned out that he was sanding after the laying of tarmac. Oh well.