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:

The dummy sails installed on Wray Common windmill, Reigate, are made from LVL (laminated veneer lumber). Timber Trades Journal notes that the material, Kerto S LVL by Finnforrest is lighter and more durable than solid timber.
Marton windmill, damaged in recent gales, is to have its sails repaired. The wood will likely be sourced from Europe.

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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Last updated 19th March 2008