Mill news and topical information - Archive page 6

Henry Ford museum looking to add wind turbine to exhibits

The Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan wants to acquire one of the Princeton Municipal Light Department's Enertech wind turbines which were installed in 1984, but which will be decommissioned once PMLD's plans are finalized to replace the older windmills with two new wind towers.

The museum has a collection of stationary steam engines, one of the most complete collections of electrical equipment ever assembled, and already has an historic Cape Cod windmill - all as part of its power collection.
Item: #149, Posted: 26/10/03.

Argos Hill windmill neglect and neighbouring development

Argos Hill windmill, Mayfield, Sussex is owned by Wealden District Council but has been neglected for a number of years, so much so that the Friends of Argos Hill Windmill Society have been banned from working on the mill themselves to preserve it, due to its dangerous state. The 1835 mill is currently on the English Heritage list of buildings at risk.

An impending planning application for a neighbouring property is also threatening the mill's outlook, since the extension is planned to be built within the windmill's turning circle.

The friends society was formed in 1999, and now has more than 200 members. It used to have regular work parties to keep the mill building maintained, but after the sweeps were recently removed, safety fears have made the mill off limits. The Council were due to erect scaffolding in June, and swathe the building in a tarpaulin for protection, but this has been delayed till December.
Mills: [Mayfield]
See also:Item #114
Item: #148, Posted: 25/10/03.

Three Windmills screensaver

A Russian company, Elefun Multimedia, has produced an animated screensaver of a row of three tower windmills. This is available both as a traditional screensaver and also as animated wallpaper.

Unlike the very high quality watermill screensaver I've mentioned before, this seems to be a very poor quality product - mostly a static bitmap with a few poorly animated elements. The windmills are turning, so presumably there is a wind, yet the clouds in the sky never move, nor do the light grasses in the foreground. (In fact, since the sails of the mill are common sails, and have no canvas on their framework, perhaps assuming the wind is turning them may be stretching things too far!) A dog stumbles into the screen, casting a sharp shadow, yet the mills themselves cast no such thing.
See also:Item #18
Item: #147, Posted: 25/10/03.

Mills Archive catalogue goes online

After many months of preparation, the Mills Archive has launched its online catalogue, currently containing over 7000 records, including a large number of spectacular historic photographs of mills, such as 1300 images from the Rex Wailes Collection.

The initially available records are particularly strong on watermills in Dorset, and windmills in Nottinghamshire, but cover the whole of the UK, and also selected records of other countries.
See also:Item #3
Item: #146, Posted: 24/10/03.

Amazon.com allows you to Search Inside the Book

Whilst not yet available at the UK site, the US site of Amazon.com now allows you to do full text searches of the textual content of a number of books.

Included in those available, the following are of interest to milling researchers:

Item: #145, Posted: 24/10/03.

Caxton's editions of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

The British Library have made available digital versions of the first two editions of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, printed by William Caxton, probably in 1476 and 1483.

These tales include The Miller's Prologue, and the Miller's Tale - a tale told by a drunken miller.

There is also another presentation of the digital versions of the tales edited by De Montfort University, including a full transcription of the text.
Item: #144, Posted: 24/10/03.

Museums, Galleries and Historic Houses in the UK

There is now a website that allows searching of 1600 Museums, Galleries and Historic Houses in the UK, drawn from the book of the same name. Their "Mills - Water and Wind" category only has 24 entries - so hardly to be recommended on that basis.
Item: #143, Posted: 19/10/03.

Yes2Wind campaigning site

Yes2Wind is a site produced by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and WWF, with the aim of providing information and resources for the public to support wind farm proposals locally. Their Latest News page is a useful resource on an area I don't cover all that often.
Item: #142, Posted: 19/10/03.

Kings Langley wind turbine visible from M25

With all the recent talk in the UK about offshore wind farms, its refreshing to find a new onshore turbine appearing at Kings Langley, just off the M25. The turbine, at the new headquarters of Renewable Energy Systems (RES), is a Vestas V29 model with an installed capacity of 225kW, produced from a rotor 29 metres in diameter, and a hub height of 36 metres. The output of the turbine will power the new offices in the former Ovaltine Egg Farm (an Arts and Crafts building dating from the 1930's), and surplus power from the site will be fed into the grid.

The event was briefly covered by the local media: [1][2].
Item: #141, Posted: 19/10/03.

Chesapeake mill, Hampshire sold to become antiques centre

Hampshire County Council who acquired Chesapeake mill in 1998 to protect it from deterioration and inappropriate use, have finally decided to sell it for use as an antiques centre, despite objections from the Chesapeake Action Group (CAG) who fear such use will restrict public access to the historic mill, and had plans to buy the mill to run it as a museum.

The Grade II* listed mill includes reused timbers from the frigate USS Chesapeake, which was captured by the Royal Navy ship HMS Shannon in 1813, and dismantled in 1820 after service in the Royal Navy.

Taylor Haimes Ltd, the new owners, have given assurances that there will be some public access to the building, and aim to establish a museum in part of it. The rest will be used as an antiques shop and restoration centre.
Item: #140, Posted: 17/10/03.

Calendars for 2004 featuring watermills

I've covered windmills on calendars, so here's a similar list for calendars that include some images of watermills.

calendar towel featuring a drawing of an old watermill.
Discovering Tennessee featuring Alvin York Grist Mill and Cable Mill in Cades Cove
Discovering Arkansas featuring Ware Eagle River and Mill, and an unidentified "The Old Mill"
Discovering West Virginia featuring Glade Creek Grist Mill

You may spot a trend here - it looks as if many of the calendars covering individual States produced in the Discovering series include pictures of a mill or two.
Item: #139, Posted: 14/10/03.

Morris dancers at High Salvington mill

Sompting Village Morris Dancers are a fairly regular attraction at High Salvington windmill. Pictures are available of their visit this year, and the diary shows they will be back again for Sunday 11th July 2004.
Mills: [High Salvington]
Item: #138, Posted: 14/10/03.

Old Mills calendar for 2004

I've split this one calendar out for a number of reasons - it's a dedicated mill calendar, it's watermills rather than windmills, and the sales of it benefit the Society for the Preservation of Old Mills (SPOOM).

The Old Mills calendar features American and Canadian watermills mills, namely Bale Grist Mill, California; Skeenah Creek Mill, Georgia; Graue Mill, Illinois; Beck's Mill, Indiana; Hamer Mill, Indiana; Squire Boone's Mill, Indiana; Wood's Mill, Indiana; Aid-Hodgson Mill, Missouri; Thorp Gristmill, Washington; Pierce Mill, Washington DC; Le Moulin des Eboulements, Quebec; Moulin de Beaumont, Quebec.

You can buy it at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
Item: #137, Posted: 13/10/03.

Calendars for 2004 featuring windmills

I've already commented on the shortage of calendars dedicated to windmills, but I'm noticing a few calendars that have one or two mills featured. These include

Heritage Trust Of Lincolnshire featuring Wrawby windmill
Essex Places featuring Great Bardfield and Tiptree windmills
Discovering Oklahoma featuring the Shattuck Windmill Museum

I'm not aware of any calendars this year that combine mill locations with the fashion for nude charity calendars - unlike the 2002 calendar by Sompting Village Morris Dancers which featured High Salvington windmill.
Mills: [Wrawby]
See also:Item #131
Item: #136, Posted: 13/10/03.

Vandalism at Heage and Thaxted windmills

Heage Windmill in Derbyshire suffered a damaged sail and shutter, and smashed windows in an act of vandalism against the mill, recently restored at a cost of £400,000. A police helicopter was called in after 3 people were spotted acting suspiciously near the mill.

Thaxted windmill, Essex had a door broken down at the mill which is currently unsafe due to bricks toppling from deteriorated brickwork near the cap.

Update: Heage volunteers worked hard to repair the damage, and opened as normal. The weekend of the 25th/26th October is their last opening date this year.
Mills: [Heage] [Thaxted]
Item: #135, Posted: 13/10/03.

Fabyan windmill, Fox River, Chicago, reconstruction work

Much of the mechanism of the Fabyan windmill has been shipped to the Netherlands for restoration, so back in the USA work is now starting on the exterior structure. Work is being done by the Walter Daniels Construction Co, but overseen by Dutch millwright Lucas Verbij, who has been closely involved in the project to restore the mill since 1998.

The mill is 68ft high, and around 140 years old. It was moved in 1914 from DuPage County, to Col. George Fabyan's Fox River estate, when the Colonel bought it. It ground grain, and via a bakery in the basement produced bread which was fed to prize livestock and captive bears, Tom and Jerry, living on the estate.
Item: #134, Posted: 13/10/03.

George Washington's mill gains a waterwheel

The reconstructed grist mill at the site of the mill built for George Washington in 1774-6 in Pennsylvania, has recently gained a waterwheel, added 4 years after the mill itself was rebuilt.

The original mill was built by Gilbert Simpson, Washington's business partner. It was worked by Israel Shreve, and after Washington's death passed to Israel's heirs. Worked until 1918, a storm in 1936 caused the mill to collapse.

Work in 1992 rebuilt the foundations of the mill, using some of the original building stone, and in 1999 the reconstruction was reopened, but lack of money and skilled labour prevented installation of a waterwheel. These obstacles have been overcome now, with a 18ft wheel of white oak built by Rick Komency of Wisconsin, using a shaft from a West Virginia mill, at a cost of $18,900.
Item: #133, Posted: 13/10/03.

Mill House in top 50 most popular house names

As I find to my distraction when researching, Mill House is a popular house name - being applied to both converted mill properties, and also to (say) the millers house, or indeed to properties that had no historical connection with a mill, except perhaps some proximity to a mill site.

In fact, according to the latest Halifax house names survey, Mill House is the 37th most popular house name in the UK (up from 47th in their last survey in 1998). Regional analysis also noted a good number of names echoing the Industrial Revoluton in Northern England, where The Mill joins Mill House in the records. The survey is based on analysing the 2.5 million addresses that The Halifax has mortgage records for.
Item: #132, Posted: 12/10/03.

UK Windmill Calendar 2004

The Yorkshire Windmill Society is publishing a 2004 calendar containing twelve black and white historic photographs of English windmills from different counties. The cost of this calendar is £6.50 for the UK, or £10 overseas.
See also:Item #126
Item: #131, Posted: 12/10/03.

Holgate feasibility study completed

Holgate Windmill Preservation Society now has its own website, at www.holgatewindmill.org. They have acquired Charitable status, and are actively pursuing a leasing arrangement for the building. The feasibility study is completed, with indicative costs of £300K plus, for full restoration.

The mill was covered in a 2 page article in the September 2003 issue of The Dalesman magazine.
Mills: [Holgate Mill]
See also:Item #44
Item: #130, Posted: 12/10/03.

Gibson Mill, Hardcastle Crags plans for sustainable development

The National Trust and Yorkshire Forward have plans to turn Gibson Mill at Hardcastle Crags, into a community and exhibition area, using "sustainable" technologies, generating all operating power on site.

Power sources will include the restored mill turbine, which will be particularly useful in winter to provide electricity. Summer sunshine will power solar panels, and a wood fired burner will provide heat and hot water.

The mill will include a cafe and meeting area in the former weavers' shed and an interactive exhibition on the ground floor. The first floor will provide community and education space, whilst the top floor will display history of the mill and the local area.
Item: #129, Posted: 8/10/03.

Manipulated windmill pictures

The Worth1000 site showcases doctored and manipulated photos, holding regular contests, and often offering merchandise with the images on.

One of the images they used for competition was of a field of American windmills. Check out the sometimes weird manipulations that resulted from this under the title "Windmills of my Mind".

There are other individual windmill images on the site, including:

Item: #128, Posted: 8/10/03.

$750,000 grant for Golden Gate windmill

The California Coastal Conservancy has awarded a $750,000 grant to rebuild the tower of the Murphy windmill in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

The sails and machinery have already been shipped to the Netherlands for refurbishment, so the money will help restore the tower ready for their return, along with landscaping around both the park's windmills. The full cost of restoration of both mills is estimated at $6.5 million. The hope is that the Murphy windmill will be back pumping water in a years time.
Item: #127, Posted: 21/8/03.

Windmill calendar for 2004

I'm often asked about what calendars are available featuring mills. Frankly, I've not come across a good calendar for many years, and so far this year is no exception. The only windmill calendar I know of so far for 2004 is

Windmills published by John F Turner

Item: #126, Posted: 21/8/03.

Watermills of North West Province, South Africa

Mills of Southern Africa have made their first virtual tour available, covering the Watermills of North West Province, South Africa.
Item: #125, Posted: 6/8/03.

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Last updated 19th March 2008