From the photo, we see a 4 sided wooden structure (which was used as a garden shed), with 4 deeply twisted sails. It looks as if there may be a distinct cap to the mill, so the sails may have been turnable to wind. The mill was to generate electric power to illuminate the garden, and also to pump water for a fountain. Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27657, 13 May 1955, Page 5
The text for the article appears later in the paper than the photo! Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27657, 13 May 1955, Page 12WINDMILL IN HEATHCOTE GARDEN - A miniature replica of a Dutch windmill built by a schoolboy, Ian Ford, and his father in the garden of their home in Heathcote. Ian Ford is seen beside the windmill, which will generate electric power for an illuminated garden and will also pump water for a fountain.
MODEL OF DUTCH WINDMILL
WORK OF FATHER AND SON
A 14ft high replica of a Dutch windmill stands in a garden on Ferry road near the Heathcote bridge. It is the spare-time work of the head boy of Christchurch Technical College (Ian Ford) and his electrician father. As weil as generating electricity for garden illuminations and pumping water from a low-lying corner of the section into a fountain and pond, the windmill serves the very useful purpose of a garden tool shed.
Second-hand packing cases, a bicycle wheel and sprocket, a lawn-mower wheel, a motor-car generator, and various ball races of unknown origin have been used in the construction of the mill. Mr Ford has also devised a centrifugal clutch so that the generator will not be turned until the correct speed has been reached. When they first thought of building the model, Mr Ford and his son hunted about for a photograph of a genuine mill, but one could not be found, so they designed it themselves from memory, and made a remarkably good job.
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