Wedding anniversary years have well-established connections now common to most nations: 5th Wood, 10th Tin, 15th Crystal, 20th China, 25th Silver, 30th Pearl, 35th Jade, 40th Ruby, 45th Sapphire, 50th Gold, 60th Diamond, and 70th Platinum. In English speaking countries the first, wooden, gift was cut on the day of celebration and then presented to the wife as a finished article before the next two quarter days had passed. The modern tradition may have originated in medieval Germany where, if a married couple lived to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their wedding, the wife was presented by her friends and neighbours with
Dartmoor tin-mining documentary evidence also relates: that there was a boom in tin production in the 13th century. The earliest written record of tin streaming comes from the 12th century. By the 15th century, the sources of stream tin were becoming scarce and since the demand for tin was as strong as ever, the direct working of lodes was considered viable despite the greater effort needed in both extraction and refining. "Beamworks" was the name given by the tinners to workings where the lode was followed by digging down from the surface, and the massive gullies that resulted remain prominent features of