National Mills Weekend at Longbridge Mill

National Mills Weekend 2016 got off to a flying start at Longbridge Mill on Saturday 14 May, despite a bit of delay due to a loose float (board) from the wheel found floating in the water on opening up the wheel pit.

Our youngest visitor was a little lad of just three years old who had chosen to give Longbridge Mill the ‘once over’ from the SPAB list of mills open.  It meant a long drive for his mother as they live in Bedfordshire.  Mark’s mum told us that he is a Young Miller (the SPAB club for youngsters) and that his favourite part of the mill is the machinery.    The next day they were travelling east to Woodbridge to see the tide mill and the tower mill.  What a lucky little chap to have such a willing mum!  (My grandson’s favourite part used to be the taste of the raw flour straight off the stones, which he would lick off his hand.  He is still very interested in food! – Editor.)

Ivor and Jo New’s daughter and two grandsons spent a lively afternoon in the mill and the boys, also armed with bags of Longbridge flour, demanded that their mum have a go at making loaves from the flour they’d seen being transformed from grain.

Six year old Imogen, from Basingstoke, was enthralled with the wheel, especially when water splashed over the walkway.  Excitedly clutching a bag of flour along with her Millers Maid Tea Bread recipe she agreed to pose for the newsletter.

All in all a very satisfactory National Mills Open Day at the mill.

Sheila Viner

Trouble at Mill

Information and photo from http://www.heagewindmill.org.uk/

You may remember that in the Winter 2015 Newsletter I wrote an article on the deterioration of Heage Windmill in Derbyshire.  During a maintenance check it was revealed that there was severe wet rot in the wind shaft and the tail fan.  The group have since raised over £41,800 towards the expected total bill of in the region of £90,000.

In the meantime, the mill volunteers were moving on well with disassembling the shutters on the old sails, and cutting out the dead wood on the whips.  Once this work was completed 3 coats of paint would be needed for each of the six sails.

Ivor and Jo New’s daughter and two grandsons spent a lively afternoon in the mill and the boys, also armed with bags of Longbridge flour, demanded that their mum have a go at making loaves from the flour they’d seen being transformed from grain.

On 23 March the volunteers carried out a lot of hard work transferring the 6 sails to a lorry, and then unloading them back at the mill.

Unfortunately, due to the gales over Easter there was been damage to some other mills in the area and the millwrights had a number of other emergency tasks to attend to before they could continue at Heage. 

During the first weekend of April there was further progress.  The stalwart gang of volunteers completed the painting of the cap.  It is gleaming white now, and ready for the millwrights to start work on the front end repairs.

Andy Fish

Ashlett Tide Mill - an update on the retrieved millstone

You may remember reading about the millstone found in a garden path and the saga of digging it out and transporting it to the tide mill.  That was a couple of years ago;  now, Tim Woodcock has advised us that the millstone has been mounted on a teak plinth made from the old sluice gate that used to control the flow from the millpond and sits proudly on display in the mill’s foyer.  A plaque is being made to cover the concrete-filled eye of the stone.

The 200th anniversary of Ashlett Tide Mill will be celebrated with a weekend of family fun and music on 18 and 19 June.  An excellent chance to see the millstone so why not put the date in your diary and join in the festivities?

Meanwhile, the great grandson of the boat builder who occupied the mill in the early 20th century is writing an extensive biography of his ancestor which may be completed later this year.

Sheila Viner

 Shawford Mill refurbishment

On 3 March the Hampshire Chronicle reported that “Shawford Mill is to be made available to rent for £40,000 a year on a 10-year lease.  It has been restored over the last 4 years by owner Phil Colebourn whose company Ecological Planning & Research Ltd formerly used it as their offices.  The 3-storey building is highly sustainable, principally due to the restoration of the Gilkes-Frances turbine which was installed in 1932.  It is automatically controlled and highly efficient, having a maximum output of 15Kw during the winter and will provide the occupier with extremely beneficial power rates for electricity and for heating through a water source heat pump system, which extracts heat from the River Itchen.”