MILL TRIP 11TH SEPTEMBER 2005
On September 11th a group of 14 of us did a mill tour of Kent. Setting off in our bright yellow mini-bus our destination was to be Crabble water mill, Willesborough, Woodchurch and Wittersham windmills.
Crabble watermill is about 2 miles from Dover harbour, built in about 1812 and last worked commercially in 1893. Fully restored in working order and producing flour. Our guide was Paul Jarvis (ex- chairman of the now defunct Kent mills group) who showed us all over the mill and set the waterwheel turning to demonstrate the flour producing - even tasting it!! To hear the rumbling stones and knocking damsels was music to ones ears. The only down side was all the machinery encased in perspex and glass, - health and safety at its grimmest! None the less a superb mill with beautiful surroundings and with swans on the mill pond. Wonderful.
Our next visit was Willesborough windmill near Ashford. A large smock mill built 1869 and again completely restored (except for the sweeps which are waiting to be refitted). The base holds some wonderful models, one of which is of Winchelsea post mill, at one time restored (or rather destroyed!) by the National Trust and now gone for ever. There is also a room which has been furnished to show how it was in the old days. We were guided around the mill and shown the superb gas/oil engine that is still used to turn a stone. As time was pressing, as it invariably does on these trips, we quickly got to the top and clambered up into almost unreachable parts of the cap, with Bob managing to get out into the very cramped fan staging.
With the weather staying fine we sat on the mill field and had lunch before embarking onto our last 2 mills.
Woodchurch windmill is not one that most people are familiar with, so driving around the countryside in a minibus and slowly getting lost, our anticipation was getting frustrated. Then, from what seemed from nowhere, Woodchurch mill came into view. What a breath taking view it was. Once in the village, the mill is approached by a small footpath between 2 pubs. The mill, one of two mills that stood here and with the base of the other still in situ, was built in 1821. The mill has been completely rebuilt in the 1970s/ 80s and is a great example of the whole community getting behind the project. Our 2 guides showed us around and again it was not long before we were scurrying around in the top reaches. This remarkable mill looked pristine with most of the original internal machinery having been saved and put back. The gallery is held up by vertical posts, which is fairly unusual. Time was not on our side and before long we had to make tracks for our last mill. Woodchurch mill is a testament to all those who have worked on it, and the village should be really proud.
Wittersham windmill or Stocks mill as it is normally known is a post mill, believed to date from 1781. Again, one of two mills that stood here, the mound of the lost one still survives. When we arrived at Stocks mill we were met by Paul Jarvis who previously entertained us at Crabble (that’s mill enthusiasm for you!). He, together with another member of the ‘Stocks Friends’, who incidentally could not believe his eyes when he saw 14 of us as apposed to the normal 2 visitors he usually entertains, took us over this lovely mill. This is another example of a rural outback where the villagers were behind the restoration all the way. The mill does not work and its sails do not turn but it looked splendid. After the tour our guide even drove us down to the old mill mound site.
The weather during the day was kind to us, but on the journey home we encountered a severe thunderstorm with torrential rain at Maidstone. We thought at one point we would end up floating back!
Our thanks goes out to all those people who gave up their time to accommodate us at the mills we visited, especially Paul Jarvis and of course Fords Motor company for the loan of the minibus.
All in all an enjoyable day
Trevor Watts