Mill news and topical information - Archive page 4

Windmill Talk - a book by Derek Harris

Derek Harris has been visiting and giving talks about windmills for 35 years. He has recently distilled his material into a book called Windmill Talk, which as well as his local Cambridgeshire mills, covers mills in Mallorca, Malta, and the Netherlands.

News report.
Item: #99, Posted: 25/6/03.

Retail park in Goole at Timms mill

The 150 year old family firm, Timm Grain Ltd, which ran a mill in Goole, closed the mill with the loss of 72 jobs in April 2001.

A planning application for a 40,000 square foot retail area is about to be submitted, which incorporates the windmill at the Boothferry Road site. The site is still owned by the Timms, who are developing the site.
Mills: [Goole]
Item: #98, Posted: 24/6/03.

Report on House Mill, Bromley By Bow published

Martin Watts' report "A Report on the Working Parts of the Mill" covering the House Mill at Three Mills, Bromley-by-Bow has recently been published by the River Lea Tidal Mill Trust. You can purchase a copy from the mill, or via Amazon.co.uk.
See also:Item #86
Item: #97, Posted: 24/6/03.

Polegate windmill renovations

Fundraising continues on behalf of Polegate windmill, with recent events including a table sale, and a coffee morning. The objective is to eventually get the mill grinding again, though recent renovation work has been to repaint all the shutters, and to replace floorboarding. The educational room has also had new chairs and carpet. The Heritage Lottery fund has been applied to for a further £40,000 grant, for the mill which is open every Sunday from Easter to October.
Mills: [Polegate]
Item: #96, Posted: 20/6/03.

Latest Robertson windmill completed at Kendallville, USA

I'm losing count, but I think that the replica Robertson post mill at Colonial Williamsburg has itself been replicated in 3 other locations. (Well when you have a good set of blueprints, its worth reusing them!)

The latest version has recently been completed at the Mid-America Windmill Museum, Kendalville - a location more generally associated with American wind-engines. The museum is holding its 4th Annual Windmill Festival from 27-29th June, with lots of activities including crafters, music, and Civil War reenactments.

The mill was constructed with much help from the Timber Framers Guild, and there are more details on the museum site

Update: Another report puts the number of replicas at 3, but I reckon they are just counting replicas in the USA - I think there's another in Japan.
Item: #95, Posted: 16/6/03.

The best romantic escapes in Britain

Amongst the Observer's list of the 10 best romantic escapes in Britain is included the Old Windmill at Bradford-upon-Avon. Now a B+B, the Damsel room at the top of the tower, with its waterbed, patchwork quilt, Gothic windows, and whirlpool bath is singled out for its romantic effect.
Mills: [Bradford on Avon]
Item: #94, Posted: 15/6/03.

Windmills and football

Any football fan who really follows their team (rather than just watching them on TV) gets to see quite a bit of the country when travelling to away games. One such fan has noted that " the majority of the surviving windmills in the UK happen to be located within the confines of the Dr Martens Eastern Division."

There follows an amusing and informative look at some windmills near or on route to some non-league football grounds. A further article on Footie windmills is also available, and The Footie Windmills Directory lists windmills in Sussex open to the public.
Item: #93, Posted: 12/6/03.

Flour mill factory museum will tell the story of Minneapolis

The huge Washburn "A" Mill in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota was completed in 1880, and used the power of the Mississippi River to produce enough flour to make millions of loaves per day.

After a fire in 1991, the mill factory became partially ruinous, but after years of work, it is due to open as the Mill City Museum on 13th Sep 2003.

See also a press report.
Item: #92, Posted: 9/6/03.

Newly built dummy mill in Wraysbury

A newly built, but essentially dummy windmill, has recently been completed as a house extension by Glyn Larcombe in his garden at Wraysbury, near Windsor.

The structure, modelled on Lacey Green smock mill, is 60ft tall, plus another 10ft for the boat shaped cap. Eight 50ft main timbers weighing 2 tons each were recycled from the Tall Ships sidings at Tilbury (via specialist supplier Ashwell Recycling) whilst much of the rest of the timber is also recycled, giving a build cost of around £45,000. Inside are 5 floors, with a kitchen and dining room on the ground floor, 3 floors of bedrooms, and a bathroom, all with gas central heating.

The cap turns on casters, and the plan is to add some lightweight polycarbonate sails which will drive a wind turbine, to complete the building.

Update: There's another report about this property, which reports that it was substantially completed by 1996, with the sail stocks added in 1997. A fuller article appears in the August issue of Homebuilding & Renovating Magazine.
Item: #91, Posted: 8/6/03.

Upminster windmill May 2003 newsletter

The May 2003 newsletter from the Friends of Upminster windmill reports steady progress with the mill. Of note are that the sails turned in April after adjustments to the brake, and over 200 people visited over Mills Weekend. More work on the sails is reported, and shutters are being put back in place.

The mill's bicentenary will be celebrated on Sunday 13th July from 2-6pm. Mill helpers will be in 1803 costume, and lots of exhibits and activities are planned.
Mills: [Upminster]
See also:Item #14
Item: #90, Posted: 29/5/03.

Where were Blake's "Dark Satanic mills"?

A short thread on Usenet, remembers (from an unnamed William Blake biography) the suggestion that far from referring to large industrial mills, Blake probably was merely talking about windmills when he referred to "dark Satanic mills". Blake lived in Felpham, Sussex, and would not have seen the industrial mills of Northern England, but in 1808 when he wrote the words, there were a couple of black tarred windmills in sight of his cottage.
Item: #89, Posted: 29/5/03.

Steven's Mill, Burwell refurbishment complete

Steven's Mill, Burwell has just had a minor refurbishment - plaster on the tower has been repaired and painted with 2 coats of tar, sail shutters have been replaced with stronger ones which should last longer than the previous ones, and external woodwork (including the sails) has been repaired where necessary and repainted. The work was done by millwrights R Thompson & Son of Alford, Lincolnshire, who were also asked to quote for supplying and fitting a second pair of sails - the museum hopes to raise the money to add these in the next few years, though the mill works quite happily on the two sails it has now!
Mills: [Burwell]
Item: #88, Posted: 28/5/03.

Outwood windmill for sale

Several news media, such as The BBC and The Daily Telegraph have picked up the repeated press release that Outwood post mill is for sale.

There's an accompanying picture of Sheila Thomas, the present owner, who is ready to retire and move on, after 43 years at the mill.

Update: The same news also picked up by some unlikely local papers: Yorkshire Post; The Northern Echo
Mills: [Outwood]
Item: #87, Posted: 27/5/03.

Three Mills and the House Mill in "Sublime Suburbia"

Lucinda Lambton's latest TV outing is a short series of 4 programmes on the buildings to be found in the London suburbs. Produced by Carlton, and shown only in the London region, the 2nd programme in the series, to be broadcast on Thursday 29th May at 7.30pm on ITV1, covers the East of London, with coverage of Three Mills and the House Mill in the Lea Valley.
Item: #86, Posted: 27/5/03.

Camera installed at Willesborough windmill

Facing the problem of how to show the machinery in the cap of Willesborough windmill, since it's rather inaccessible, the mill has had a camera installed that relays pictures to a TV screen on the floor below, where a tour guide can explain how the machinery works.

The mill opens for Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays from 2 to 5pm, and offers refreshments in the adjacent barn.
Mills: [Willesborough]
Item: #85, Posted: 25/5/03.

Moulton mill Heritage Lottery Grant

A £702,000 grant has been made to Moulton mill, Lincolnshire, by the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the mill to working order.

With sails, the mill is the tallest in the country, though it hasn't had sails since the gales of 1895! The sails will have 208 shutters, and sponsorship of £50 a shutter is sought. (Contact Byron Hahn, chairman of Moulton Windmill Project on 01406 373368 to sponsor a sail).

Restoration will also create a meeting hall, exhibition centre and tea rooms, with a lift for disabled access.

The last miller, John Biggadike retired in 1995, when the mill was producing animal feed by electrical power. The mill passed to Broadgate Homes, who have granted a 200 year lease to the Moulton Windmill Project charity. They and the Friends of Moulton Mill have been working for years to fund the restoration, at the same time as opening the mill 3 times a year since 1995. This year's opening on 13-14th Sept will be followed by the start of the works, which may take 3 to 4 years.
Mills: [Moulton]
See also:Item #56
Item: #84, Posted: 25/5/03.

Turkish Windmills On Verge of Extinction in Balikesir

Research by the Balikesir Culture Center has located 37 windmills in the Balikesir area, of which one is still operated, by Alparslan Ayral a former Balikesir mayor), in the village of Karakol (Camlik). The mill is officially registered by the Bursa Council for the Preservation of Historical Objects, but over the past 20 years many windmills have still been destroyed despite being designated for preservation. There is still much indifferent to their fate, but some full sized replicas have been built in recent years, in an attempt to preserve this cultural inheritance.
Item: #83, Posted: 25/5/03.

Tracing the history of northern Greece's watermill technology

The refurbished Folk Art and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia and Thrace, reopened on the 11th May with a exhibition entitled "Mills of Macedonia and Thrace: Watermills, Water-powered Saws, Fulling Devices and Beetling Mills in Traditional Society".

The museum had been closed for 8 years, due to lack of money for a needed refurbishment.

Copies of water powered machines were built at the museum, and now produce flour and demonstrate the fulling and beetling processes.

Museum research has located 2081 water-mills, mainly in Naoussa, Edessa and Rhodope, (with 31 working); 138 water-powered saw (3 in use); 140 beetling mills plus 165 fulling devices (very few in use, mostly for washing carpet ecologically).
Item: #82, Posted: 25/5/03.

Wellesbourne Watermill events for the season

Wellesbourne Watermill near Stratford-upon-Avon has announced details of its events this season.

The working mill, on a Doomsday site, was rebuilt in 1834. After the Second World War it fell into disuse, but in 1989 the Walton Estate which owns it restored it to full working order. The waterwheel, on the River Dene is one of the largest in the country, and an 18th century barn offers teas, and a filmshow of the mills restoration.

Special events in 2003 include a historical re-enactment weekend by the Sealed Knot's Living History section on June 7 and 8, when visitors can experience life in a 17th Century Civil War army camp.

The mill will host the Warwickshire Rural Show on Sunday, July 13, a charity event where rural craftsmen display their skills and steam engines can be seen in action along with many other attractions.

For further information, visit www.wellesbournemill.co.uk
Item: #81, Posted: 25/5/03.

Bob Wright, miller at Friston Post Mill

Bob Wright at 88 now works with the trust aiming to preserve Friston Post Mill, near Saxmundham, at which he was miller till the mid 60's. It had been in his family for 4 generation, since 1837 when his great, great uncle Joshua Reynolds bought it. It has been owned for the last 30 years by a local enthusiast, and other trustees are Piers Hartley and Rodney de Little. English Heritage has agreed to fund 20% of the cost of repairs to the Grade II * Listed mill which dates from the early 19th century.

Bob remembers milling for animal feed, and flour, which made the mill dusty (no masks in those days), and work was hard lifting sacks of up to 18 stone. As the windmill trade declined, Bob went to work at the large scale milling operation of Paul's in Ipswich, which brought with it the advantages of a regular wage, rather than having to work hard to collect money from farmers who only paid after the harvest.
Mills: [Friston]
Item: #80, Posted: 22/5/03.

Living in unusual homes

An article in the Daily Mail money section considers the problems of financing and living in unusual buildings. It covers a dovecote, glasshouse, narrowboat and two mills.

The watermill is at Aberfeldy in Perthshire. Here Kathleen and Tom Rodger bought a derelict mill in 1983, and spent £200,000 of the profits of their modern mill and shop in Cupar, to restore it to a working state milling oats. With the death of Tom last year, the mill is on the market along with a visitors centre and tearoom in the adjacent barn, for £250,000 through Pavilions of Splendour.

The windmill covered is at West Chiltington, Sussex. Converted to a home in 1923, it now has 4 beds and an annex, but only retains 2 sails to reduce the weight on the wooden structure. This has just been sold by Kathryn and Colin Johnson who lived there for 22 years, for £550,000.
Mills: [West Chiltington]
Item: #79, Posted: 22/5/03.

New guidebook to Shirley Windmill

Frank Paine has edited a guide to Shirley windmill, recently published by the Friends of Shirley windmill.

The guide covers the post mill from 1808 (destroyed by fire in 1854), and the subsequent tower mill built with recycled machinery. It also mentions the mill being hit by lightning in 1899 and 1906, and some restoration work in 1927, followed many years later by the current work which has restored the mill to working order.
Mills: [Shirley]
Item: #78, Posted: 20/5/03.

Quarry Bank celebrates 25 years of opening this June

Quarry Bank Mill formally opened to the public as a working mill in 1978. Prior to its acquisition by the National Trust, the mill had been operating for 175 years. To mark the anniversary the National Trust are planning a range of activities throughout the month of June to make the most of the story of the Mill and the cotton industry. The Mill Manager's Office (restored to its 1900's glory) will be opened. Other activities include Morris and clog dancing, traditional children's games, and folk music.

June 16th will be a free entry day to anyone who has worked in the cotton industry on production of their union card or other written proof.
Mills: [Styal]
Item: #77, Posted: 20/5/03.

Steam engines for Mills Weekend

Windmill Hill windmill was visited by 500 visitors, and a selection of steam traction engines and tractors on the Sunday of National Mills weekend.

The mill is about to be completely dismantled and rebuilt at a cost of more than £1M. As the largest surviving post mill in England, it was used as a landmark by ships on the Channel and by WWII British bomber pilots returning from France.
Mills: [Herstmonceux]
See also:Item #72
Item: #76, Posted: 19/5/03.

Cartoons from Punch magazine

I've just come across the catalogue of cartoons from Punch magazine. There are few cartoons about mills (perhaps it not a very cartoony subject!), but it does include one great image:

Watermill cartoon by Rowland Emett

A turn about on Don Quixote

A comment on wind energy

Item: #75, Posted: 19/5/03.

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Last updated 19th March 2008