I first encountered these two beasts on the road from Tetuan to Chefchouen - in Northern Morocco, about 60 km from the coast. The area nestles in the heart of the Rif mountains and perhaps, once the pride of the local administration, the pair of machines appear now to have been somewhat abandoned and forgotten about.
It seems that the local government organisation at one time were the Spanish occupiers of that part of Morocco and had the two steam rollers brought over from there in the 1930s. The machines carried out the job they were asked to do and then they were rested – or perhaps just left to rot after their useful work was over.
They are now to be found on the side of the road and, in parts, have begun to rust, despite the relatively dry climate. However, their location indicates that they are perhaps still seen as a testimonial to times past in the area. They are clearly visible from the local public transport, in the form of a speeding bus - of which there are many - if you know just where and when to look.

The setting sun gives a somewhat eerie look to the pair of derelict Green's steam rollers in Morocco. Photos: David Moser.

I have been to Morocco on a number of occasions and on my second visit to this particular region, I noticed them in passing at the side of the road and this greatly excited my curiosity as I like all things mechanical. So, on my third visit to the country, I got a friend to drive me out to them at sunset and took the accompanying pictures, trying to get them from all angles, for I had a feeling that somewhere, someone would be interested in them.
The friend of mine, a local hotel owner, ‘suggested’ that they could be exchanged for a new operable roller, which, in the end, may be a way of getting them away from their present resting place and back to the UK. However, as with all such things, it is important that the feelings of the local community must be taken into consideration and it would not be prudent merely to turn up and remove them without so much as a ‘by your leave’ or ‘May I?’.

Essentially complete, this Green's roller is just crying out for restoration.
Right: Together, and seemingly originally identical, the two abandoned Green's compound steam rollers have deteriorated gently over the last few decades. How much longer will they remain there?

Having said that, they are not in a place that suggests that they are particularly attached in any emotional way to the populace. The local administration, with whom I am in touch, could possibly be open to the idea of a new roller in exchange for the pair of derelict ones, as much as perhaps selling them. An ‘official’ deal must be done in any case, otherwise the appropriate paperwork would not be available for taking them out of the country. The area in which they are located could not really be considered ‘affluent’, giving me reason to believe that they will eventually find themselves returned to the UK - where someone will hopefully restore them to their former glory.