Condensed Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Hampshire Mills Group, held at Kingsley Mill, Bordon, on 14^th September 2012.

Members arrived in the evening to find the garden lit by flares and very delicious food and drink being served on the terrace of the mill.   They were able to see this historic mill, its garden and watercourses before the start of the AGM.

The Chairman, Mick Edgeworth, welcomed everyone and thanked Mrs. Szumlicka and her son Richard Hills for their excellent hospitality.   In his turn Richard said that he was grateful for the speed at which assistance had been offered to help him with his ongoing issues with the Environment Agency.

Minutes of the 2011 AGM were agreed to be a true record and signed.

Chairman’s report.  The Chairman thanked the Committee for all their hard work throughout the year, without which the Group could not run.  He thanked Peter Mobbs too for his help.  He particularly wanted to thank Ashok Vaidya for all his work publishing Book 1 of the  ‘Mills & Millers of Hampshire’ and for the recent publication of Book 2 which is now available.  Book 1 is due to be reprinted and any amendments must be sent to Ashok by mid-October.

Treasurer’s report.  Adoption of the accounts was proposed by John Silman and seconded by Carol Burdekin.

Election of Officers.   Our Chairman, Mick Edgeworth is standing down.  It was proposed by Mick Edgeworth and seconded by Eleanor Yates that our present Vice-Chairman, Andy Fish, become Chairman of HMG.   This was carried unanimously.  After a vote Dave Plunkett was elected as Vice-Chairman. 

Mick Edgeworth will serve on the Committee and Peter Mobbs was also elected to the Committee. 

A vote of thanks was unanimously given for our outgoing Chairman.  The rest of the existing Committee were unanimously re-elected.

NOTES ON THE GENERAL MEETING immediately following the AGM.

Whitchurch Silk Mill  Phil. Turner gave members the latest news; he had attended a meeting on 25^th July as a Trustee of the Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust, and has now become a Trustee of the Silk Mill Trust – the original Trustees all having resigned.  An interim Chairman is in place.  Grants have been offered by two Local Authorities with Heritage and Community being very much uppermost in everyone’s minds.   The machinery must be kept running, and it is hoped to produce textiles again but without commercial deadlines.   The waterwheel had been damaged by debris breaking some of the elm boards, but it was working again last week.  The noise in the bearings may have been caused by gritty grease and this had now been dealt with.  They have an AGM on 17^th October and Phil. hoped that more people would become ‘Friends’.

Bursledon Windmill   The old wooden wind-shaft, now rotten, will have to be replaced and money-raising functions are taking place; they have acquired 10 – 12 new volunteers.   A lottery bid will be made and the local Council are being most helpful.  2014 is the 200^th anniversary of the mill and it is hoped it will re-open in time.  There was some discussion about where the large timber that will be needed might be obtained – it may come from France.

Kingsley Mill.   Richard Hills spoke about his family history, and told members a brief account of his father’s life in Poland until the outbreak of war.   His parents bought the mill in 1962 and unfortunately there was a fire in 1976.  Richard Hills wanted to know if any member had a record of when the mill was last working.  Richard Ellis said there was very little water in either stream and both must have been used when milling.  He also suggested there might be evidence in Forest Rolls.

Book 2 “Mills and Millers of Hampshire”.   Ashok said that the book is here, covering the rivers Test, Avon and the west of the county.   He is currently hard at work on Book 3, which will be the final one and covers about 69 mills, all of which must be visited.

Headley Mill.  Richard Ellis said the mill is running well; the recent repairs have been successful, there have been no more tiles broken and the grills over the windows have prevented them being broken.   He is looking into the possibility of generating electricity;  he asked if anyone had information about the feed-in tariff and whether planning permission would be needed.  Dave Plunkett suggested getting in touch with Wessex Mills Group who have expertise in electricity generation.  Andy Fish will send him details.  Somerset have about a dozen mills with micro-hydro.

Beaulieu Tide Mill.   Dave Plunkett has visited regularly and hopes that a group of HMG members may be able to visit before too long.   There is no specific timescale.

Finally, planning permission has been granted to build a restaurant on the site of Cams Tide Mill.

The general meeting finished at 9.30 p.m. with everyone thanking our host and hostess once again for inviting us to their delightful and historic mill and for their generous hospitality.