
Mill news and topical information
- Archive page 28
Photos of Marton mill
Thanks to Daniel Stretton, I can show you some photos of the broken sail at Marton Mill, Lancashire.




Mills:
[Little Marton]
See also:Item #683, Item #668
Item: #684,
Posted: 8/5/08.
Windmill sails
A couple of quick notes on windmill sails:
Mills:
[Reigate]
[Little Marton]
Item: #683,
Posted: 22/4/08.
WindmillLand - Promoting the works of Allen Clarke
Allen Clarke used the name Windmill Land for the Fylde and Wyre area, of whose windmills he wrote about in two
books, titled "Windmill Land" and "More Windmill Land".
His granddaughter, Shirley Matthews, is chairman of the Friends of Little Marton Windmill, and has a website
WindmillLand which aims to promote the works of Allen Clarke. The content
is a bit sparce at present, and the navigation a bit of a lottery (the menus don't take you to the same place on each
page), but it's an interesting site to look round.
Of note, because they are hard to navigate to, are
Mills:
[Little Marton]
[Staining]
Item: #682,
Posted: 22/4/08.
Mills Open Weekend 2008
Mills Open Weekend this year is the 10th and 11th May 2008.
There is info at the
SPAB Mills section site,
and also at the dedicated
www.nationalmillsweekend.co.uk site.
Item: #681,
Posted: 20/4/08.
Ideas for house converting Craggs mill, Preston
Craggs mill, Preston has long been empty of its machinery, having lost its sails around 1880, and
according to a report in the
Lancashire Evening Post
has since served as a wartime cinema, a piano workshop, a garage, and a prison. An internal fire a few years ago
damaged the interior still further.
The new owner is Jonathan Ruff who runs a computer firm called MemoryBits, and thought initially of making it the company
HQ, but after financial considerations now plans to turn it into two appartments. A suggestion is to rerender the tower,
and add a three storey glass extension - I hope that that is turned down since it would significantly alter the
historic appearance of the tower, which currently shows as an impressive red rendered tower with three white bands.
Mills:
[Preston, Dowbridge]
See also:Item #47
Item: #680,
Posted: 20/4/08.
Beard Mill, Oxfordshire
The Independent has an article on Beard watermill, Oxfordshire, entitled
A river runs through it.
I'm not sure if this is part of a deliberate series of articles linked with rivers, or simply that this title has been reused
for a number of other articles in the Independent over time.
The article describes the work done by owners Philip and Victoria Basil in converting Beard watermill. The mill has a live
water supply, (it straddles the river Windrush) and the part 16th, part 19th century buildings are described as retaining
"mill pulleys" (whatever they may be!) The architects were Berman Guedes Stretton, who have
more details on the project, which seems to show that
it is now devoid of machinery.
Item: #679,
Posted: 20/4/08.
Encyclopedia entries on windmills
Encyclopedia Britannica has just made it easier for other web sites to link to their content, so that data that
was once hidden away in their subscription only site can now be viewed freely.
Their coverage on windmills is largely comprised of two articles:
The articles cover much of the same ground as each other, but the second one is generally slightly better - it
carries the byline of Rex Wailes and Fred Landis. However, Encyclopedia Britannica makes a big point of its
fact checked and consistently edited content - so it's worrying to see the errors in both that occur in just these
example articles, which include:
- The introduction of the windpump in America is ascribed to David Hallay in the 2nd article (an error Rex Wailes would
not have made), whereas the first has it as Daniel Hallady. The name is in fact normally given as Daniel Halladay.
- The articles variously refer to post mills and tower mills as both two words, and as the hyphenated post-mill and
tower-mill
- The fantail is described as driving on to a track on the ground, which whilst true for post mills, is hardly the
normal arrangement which simply turns the cap into the wind by driving onto the curb.
- The further reading suggestions include "Euclid's Windmill" and "tumble windmill grass", both of which
are totally irrelevant to the subject, but match only in name.
The leading online encyclopedia is of course Wikipedia, and in this case its article
Windmill is now in very good shape. (By being open to anyone to edit,
it is possible to correct and improve the article over time). It's particularly strong on the early history, providing
accurate citations for the claims of Persian origin.
Wikipedia also has an increasing number of articles on individual windmills, many of which are linked together via the
List of windmills page, and the
Windmills category.
Item: #678,
Posted: 20/4/08.
Turning windmills into houses
Unfortunately the sad fate of many of the UK's remaining windmills is the spectre of house conversion.
Two such examples showed up recently on Geograph, where the archive is able to offer before and after (or rather during)
photos of the process.
Llancayo windmill in Wales was
a derelict and roofless tower, which has now been
rendered and turned into a spacious home. The roof of the tower
is totally wrong (and I've no idea what the Jolly Roger is doing there), but the gallery around the mill looks
fairly authentic, and given the state of the tower when this started, this may have been the best outcome for the
building.
On the other hand, Frettenham tower mill in Norfolk, had been maintained in
reasonable condition for years, being roofed (with an
unauthentic cap it must be said) and still retains machinery. The
conversion work here seems to be starting with the attached buildings,
which are being converted into a number of dwellings - let's hope that that means that they will
leave the mill largely alone, and in particular preserve all the remaining machinery it contains. However, the very
fact that this is now incorporated into a private housing development means that even if preserved, these remains become
inaccessible. A far from ideal outcome for this particular mill.
Mills:
[Frettenham]
[]
Item: #677,
Posted: 10/4/08.
Pontoon construction at Hardley drainage mill
The drainage mill at Hardley Marshes is under restoration by the Hardley Windmill Trust. When restored, hopefully later
on this year, the rare internal turbine will once again be able to pump water by wind. Access to the site will be from
the river - and so a pontoon has been constructed for boats to moor up to. There is
an album of photos showing the pontoon construction.
Mills:
[Hardley Marshes]
Item: #676,
Posted: 9/4/08.
North Leverton mill to open on a regular basis again
Jonathan McGuinness informs me that North Leverton mill will be open every Saturday afternoon, from 12th April onwards.
Admission is by a donation box towards the upkeep of the mill.
Wind permitting, the sails should be turning and it is hoped that she will soon be grinding again.
Mills:
[North Leverton]
Item: #675,
Posted: 8/4/08.
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