FROM THE SECRETARY
A very Happy New Year to you all.
The following is an update on the Repairs to the Mill, which is partly based on notes that Paul Kemp has given me.
Since the last Open Day in October our working party, led by Paul, has been very busy. I showed the pictures of the fantail being taken down in last issue’s supplement. We have now purchased the timber, cut it all to size and shape, assembled it together and drilled all the mounting holes and lettered and numbered each piece. We then disassembled everything and had them pressure treated with preservative. It is now stacked in the Mill to dry out thoroughly. When it has dried out, which will take some time with the weather as it is, it will all be painted with linseed oil and then given three coats of linseed paint before being reassembled in position.
We have saved one of the old blades and stock, and cleaned and painted them to show visitors what the fantail looks like.
While this has been going on Vincent Pargeter’s team has completed the fitting of the new sails and repaired the damaged petticoat.
Fitting the Striking-rod through the centre of the Wind Shaft turned out to be a lot more difficult than expected. It was inserted from the back of the Mill and could not be persuaded to go in more than a couple of feet. When we realised that the Striking Rod would not go in any further, it was lowered down to the Gallery.
As the shaft is inclined downwards to the back of the Cap, rain water, from the Upper Sails, must run down the Striking-rod and collect internally, carrying dirt from the sails. Just in front of the rear bearing there are 4 holes in the Wind shaft to let any water escape, these were probably blocked for many years before we started doing our weekly maintenance checks etc.
Previously, the Striking-rod had no taper-block on the front end of it, and was attached to the Spider hub by means of a pinch bolt in a sleeve welded to the hub. This meant that the Rod was smaller at the front end and would have easily gone back in with no problem. Vincent had to cut off the damaged end of the rod, and he decided to return it to how it was when the mill last worked with a tapered square block and studding welded on the end. It was this block that caused the jamming up on the initial fitting and it was decided to just relieve the corners of the block to aid re-fitting the next day. Vincent made up a flat-bladed bit to go in his drill that was the same dimension of the taper block diagonal across the corners. You should have seen the stuff that he got out of the bore! The Striking-rod was then was inserted into the Wind shaft and fitted to the spider.
The two new Roller-board supports that Gerry and Paul had made up recently were then fitted in position, then the iron ties fitted to the Fan Stage and supports. This was done from a cherry picker that Vincent hired for the day. The weather was extremely cold with a bitter north wind blowing in the back of the cap! The Roller-board was then hoisted up and fed in to the aperture below the Fan Stage only to find that it was four inches too long, but we managed to pull it back out and feed it into the Tail-hatch so that the offending excess could be sawn off.
After the Roller-board was successfully fitted, the Striking-rack was attached to the end of the Striking rod, then the Chain-wheel and Pinion fitted up.
Vincent then turned his attention to repairing the damaged Petticoat at the front of the Cap, and moved the cherry picker to the south side of the mill. By this time it was now getting dark and really cold. Paul had to make up a spotlight on a lead and dangle it out of the Storm-hatch, so that Vincent could see a bit better! An hour later we packed up for the day, with only half hour left for him to return the hired cherry picker back to Basildon.
The next day Vincent returned to attach the Spider and Reign Irons, connecting up the rest of the Striking gear to the Sail-shutters fitted to the new pair of Sails, and completing the insurance work.
When the weather is kinder for outside work we will give the sails another two coats of paint and then refit the shutters that we have repaired or remade to the older sails and connect them to the spider.
I must praise our seemingly tireless working party for their work during the recent very cold weather. I was hoping to take photographs for our records and it was simply too cold for me. Paul took some pictures, but between pushing the button on his camera and trying to download them they got lost, so I cannot show how the Striking-rod was inserted. - JW