Chairman's report AGM April 2007
We have had a successful year and I thank all members of the Friends who have supported our efforts at mill openings and work days. Thanks also to those who have helped with parties of visitors to the mill and have represented us at Planet Havering and the Havering Show. These two events are occasions when we have the opportunity to tell the public what we are trying to achieve. On the Friday of Planet Havering, which is for school parties to attend, many of the children were obviously becoming aware of ‘green’ issues, which is the purpose of the event. Often children who have attended on Friday with their schools come back on the Saturday bringing their parents.
Special thanks are due to Jane and Richard Moorey for organising the Craft Fair last June. This took a lot of time and effort and we cannot expect them to run an event of that magnitude every year. Richard’s success in obtaining the £5000 grant from ‘Awards for All’ has provided us with plenty of tables and easily erected tents. Thanks also to the members who helped with setting up the tents and operating side-shows. Perhaps some-one could organize a different type of event for this summer – perhaps a kite festival?
Unfortunately the Ford minibus was not available on a convenient date last summer and we were not able to run the usual outing. We shall run this again late in September. Trevor is thinking possibly of going to the Buckinghamshire area. Brill and Pitstone windmills, two of the oldest post mills in the country, are possibilities.
Our Christmas Sale was the usual successful occasion even though one or two visitors managed to get their cars stuck. First suggested (and continued) by Jo, this is now a regular event.
Another highlight was the Quiz Night run by Gill and Stephen Roome in February . This is a firm favourite and is one of our major fund-raising (and brain-torturing) events. My table failed (only just) to be the lowest scoring table this year - perhaps we shall do better next time! Another of their quiz nights produced a £100 donation towards the repair of the sails from the Lions Club of Romford.
We did not seem to suffer from the activity of vandals quite so much last summer, so maybe the previous summer was exceptional. The security lighting promised by the Council has not yet materialized but will be provided when the necessary funding is available. I must also thank a lady who lives in Highview Gardens near the mill and keeps a look-out for untoward incidents. She describes herself as not wanting to be a busybody but to me she is the best busybody I know!
As you are probably all aware, one of the stocks supporting the sails was broken in the exceptionally high wind on January 18th. I was advised of the damage shortly after it happened by a gentleman who was visiting his mother in Highview Gardens. I immediately went to the mill and was joined by Nigel Oxley who I had informed. Nigel arranged for Council’s contractor to come to the mill on the Friday to decide on emergency repair action. The millwright Vincent Pargeter had heard of the damage and also came to advise. On the following Tuesday the contractors arrived with a crane and under Vincent’s supervision the damaged sail was lowered. Good use was then made of Richard’s chain saw to cut through the stock and remove the undamaged sail. The cost of replacing the damaged sails will be borne by the Council. The mill is covered by their buildings insurance and this cover will continue when the Trust has the lease as part of the support package to which the Council is committed. The damage has raised people’s awareness of the mill and many individuals and groups phoned, wrote supportive letters and made donations towards the repairs. These ranged from small amounts raised by children to the donation from the Lions Club of Romford and £500 from the Residents’ Association social group.
The year ahead
The Havering Amateur Radio Club will again run a ‘ham’ station at the mill on the second week-end of May which is National Mills Week-end, using call-sign GB2UW. This is now a big event in the world of ‘ham’ radio and started at Upminster when a then colleague of mine at GEC-Marconi first obtained the call-sign and ran the station. We shall also have a visit by the Romford Tractor Group on Sunday 13th. They have also been supporters of the mill for many years and we have seen many of their superbly restored tractors and stationary engines.
In June we shall again be at Planet Havering which is an important event and we shall also be at the Havering Show on the August Bank Holiday week-end.
The other major event will be Open House London weekend on the 16th/17th September. This is always a very busy weekend and we shall certainly need a number of roving stewards on this occasion. The Tractor Group will probably be with us on the Sunday of that week-end
As I have said before, we need a larger reserve of people to help with open days so that we are covered during holiday periods. We were short-staffed on a number of occasions last summer and extra helpers would be most welcome for the future. Expert knowledge of the working of the mill is not required - there are other jobs such as sales which are equally important.
After this meeting I shall no longer be Chairman of the Friends. Roger Fuller has been proposed as my successor and I am confident he will receive the same level of support which I have experienced.
For some time Sheila and I had been thinking of moving from Upminster towards the end of this year or early in 2008. Sheila’s accident has changed our thoughts and our family also feel we should bring our plans forward. Accordingly we shall be moving to Lymington in the near future. We shall, of course, remain members of the Friends and shall probably come up for some open week-ends, particularly Open House London week-end. I shall also maintain my interest in mills in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk, although friends in the SPAB Mills Section and the Hampshire Mills Group are aware of our move and I shall probably find something to do in that area as well.
I have been involved with the mill for just on forty years and I thank all who have supported me over this time. I am grateful to those who, as well as becoming Friends, helped form the Trust. There were many meetings with the Council before the Friends and Trust were formed and I particularly thank those who helped in those formative stages. I have every confidence that we shall see the mill restored and the visitor centre created in the near future. The latter will, of course, require a great deal of support from Friends and there will be many different jobs to be carried out in order to ensure its continuing success. - Bob Sharp.