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Other unusual finds included an 18th century set of nutcrackers, shown here held by Kat Baxter, Leeds Museums and Galleries' curator of archaeology.

Other unusual finds included an 18th century set of nutcrackers, shown here held by Kat Baxter, Leeds Museums and Galleries' curator of archaeology.

Other unusual finds included a clay pipe bowl featuring the carefully carved, seated figure of Britannia, thought to date from around the 1840s.

Other unusual finds included a clay pipe bowl featuring the carefully carved, seated figure of Britannia, thought to date from around the 1840s. Kat Baxter, Leeds Museums and Galleries' curator of archaeology is shown here with the pipe.

Archaeologists excavate a drainage ditch with backfill of discarded late 18th to 19th century ‘rubbish’ items like broken pieces of ceramic or porcelain, animal bone, oyster shell, glass and fragments of building material. Credit Wessex Archaeology.

Archaeologists excavate a drainage ditch with backfill of discarded late 18th to 19th century ‘rubbish’ items like broken pieces of ceramic or porcelain, animal bone, oyster shell, glass and fragments of building. Credit Wessex Archaeology.

Excavated section of a boundary or drainage ditch during the East Leeds Orbital Road project. Credit Wessex Archaeology.

Archaeologist excavate a post-medieval boundary or drainage ditch for the East Leeds Orbital Road project

Map of the original planned route of the Stockton and Darlington railway, taken from the prospectus of 1821. Source Wikimedia Commons.

Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, a watercolour painted in the 1880s by John Dobbin showing crowds watching the inaugural train cross the Skerne Bridge in Darlington. Source Wikimedia Commons.

During recent renovation work at Leeds Industrial Museum in Armley, curators happened upon the beautifully carved gravestone of Robert Morrow, more than 160 years after his death in nearby New Wortley. Curator John McGoldrick is picture here with the headstone.

During recent renovation work at Leeds Industrial Museum in Armley, curators happened upon the beautifully carved gravestone of Robert Morrow, more than 160 years after his death in nearby New Wortley. Curator John McGoldrick is picture here with the headstone.