Friends of Upminster Windmill
Registered Charity Number 1097976
Chairman: George H. Saddington, 6 Tunstall Avenue, Ilford, Essex IG6 3EG
Tel: 020 8501 3361 Email: GHSaddington@aol.com
Secretary: F A J Morley, 42 Gaynes Park Road, Upminster, RM14 2HP
Tel: 01708 703740
Windmill News – October 2003
Editors – Richard Saville and Bob Sharp
Autumn is quickly coming on – dark evenings restrict what can be done in the way of hands on windmill activities, but there is still plenty to do by way of fund raising events and administering the newly formed Friends of Upminster Windmill charity and the Upminster Windmill Preservation Trust.
UPMINSTER WINDMILL PRESERVATION TRUST LTD
The first board meeting was held on the 9th September when two further directors were elected - David Parish and Bob Penfold. A bid for charitable status is well in hand and negotiations with the Havering Council for the transfer of the lease of the Mill is progressing well.
COMMITTEE CHANGES
Owing to the anticipated heavy workload as Chairman of the Upminster Windmill Preservation Trust Ltd, Bob Sharp expressed his wish to resign as Chairman of the Friends of Upminster Windmill at the recent Committee Meeting. It was proposed that George Saddington take over as Chairman and that Bob should become Vice Chairman for the interim period until the next AGM. These changes were agreed. George, in his capacity as Chairman of the Friends, will also be a director of the Preservation Trust.
Bob writes “I would like to thank all the people who have supported the Friends since our inauguration in 2001 and hope you will support George equally. George has been involved with the windmill since the days when, as Chief Librarian for Havering, he was responsible for the Windmill and the Tithe Barn among other heritage matters. When I, with colleagues who have been involved with windmill restoration for many years, prepared a survey report on the mill in 1995 it was George who drew it to the attention of the Council and English Heritage resulting in funding for the cost of the feasibility study regarding the future of the mill.
George submitted the study to the Council in 2000, shortly before his retirement.”
As a matter of interest, line-manager responsibility for the Upminster Windmill and the Upminster Tithe Barn is no longer within the remit of the Chief Librarian.
Our new Chairman has agreed to write a short piece for the next newsletter outlining the key tasks the Friends need to address in the coming year.
WORK AT THE MILL
Since the last newsletter we have carried on with the sealing of cracks in the weather-boarding and with the provision of a guard rail system in the cap to reduce the danger of visitors touching moving parts if the sails are turning. We are also looking at providing an experimental drainage system to carry away rainwater which flows down the mill. The ground floor brickwork is gradually drying out and we do not want it to become saturated again.
We believe that the stocks should be strengthened by the fitting of wooden clamps that will also prevent the stocks slipping in the canister (or poll end) which is the forward end of the cast iron windshaft. It was found that the purchase of new timber of suitable size would be very expensive and we considered making clamps laminated from thinner timber. When we visited Stanton Windmill during our Suffolk tour we were shown a number of lengths of timber that were not used when Peter Dolman made a new laminated stock for the mill. The present owner has no use for the timber and we have acquired it to make laminated clamps which we hope will prove as satisfactory as solid timber.
Work will continue on Tuesday afternoons and anyone is welcome to visit us. Casual passers-by have been shown over the mill and we shall always be prepared to do this provided no major task is in hand at the time.
RECENT EVENTS
Visit to Pakenham, Thelnetham and other Suffolk Mills
On Saturday 30th August a mini-bus full of Friends set off on a tour to the Golden Valley of Mills (Wet AND Windy) and “most rural” Suffolk.
First stop was Pakenham Mill. Sails turning as we arrived, this is a privately owned mill on a farm, alongside a bakery where award-winning bread is sold. Although flour is ground in the mill, the machinery actually used for the commercial activity is all powered by electricity. The windmill has been used for grinding, but not since summer 2002. The mill itself was in a very good state of repair. Although it is a full size mill in its own right, some members of the Friends were struck by the small size of this and, indeed, all of the other mills we visited in comparison with Upminster Mill. As one of the party commented, Upminster is a ‘visitor friendly’ mill. We really do have something of a giant on our hands! Most mills have two sets of grinding stones - we have the capacity for four.
Some of the more observant members were fascinated by an old railway carriage parked towards the rear of the mill – one of the chaps working in the yard told us he could remember when it was installed there – 60 years ago. Apparently it dates from the 19th century, but is in a very bad state of repair – currently used for storing of some sacks of farm supplies. We were also interested in an old electricity generator – still available for use, in a building adjoining the smithy’s forge (ok – engineer’s workshop is a less romantic but more truthful description).
We then called at Pakenham Water Mill* but, as that was closed, we popped across to the wonderful old village of Ixworth to find a place to eat our packed lunches. While your reporter and colleague could not resist a visit to the CAMRA pub for a couple of pints of Green King mild, the majority of the group headed for a very interesting old churchyard.
Next port of call was Thelnetham Mill**. Although the sails were turning when we arrived, one of the shutters caught the lightning conductor at the base of the mill, pulling it out of the ground. Fortunately the area of the sweep was appropriately roped off! We had an interesting tour of the mill and were amazed at the pristine condition of the machinery.
Next port of call was in fact very emotive for some of our members. Stanton is a wonderful old post mill, in the large back garden ‘paddock’ of a character cottage built in the local traditional style, all of which was formally owned by the late Peter Dolman. Peter was responsible for much of the good work in restoring several of the mills in this area, and a number of our members had worked with Peter and knew him well before his untimely death a few months back. The new owner, ably assisted by his young son, is keeping the commercial side going to raise funds to keep this mill in good order.
Final stop was Bardwell Mill. Unlike the other mills visited, Bardwell Mill is situated within the confines of the village. This mill’s unfortunate claim to fame is that the surrounding yard is littered with relics from when the entire cap structure was blown to the ground during the Great Storm of 1987. Fund raising is progressing to enable the mill to be given a set of sails – currently it is strangely ‘armless’.
All agreed that Trevor and Brian had done a great job in arranging this enjoyable trip and driving with such relish - something similar to be repeated next year - please.
**www.thelnetham.freeserve.co.uk/
Richard Saville
Visit to Wimbledon Mill
On Tuesday 23rd September, instead of working on Upminster Mill, we decided to take a day off and visit a restored mill to see what other groups have done and how they attract visitors and generate funds to maintain their mill for the future.
We went via C2C to West Ham, Jubilee Line to Waterloo and then the South West fast train towards Portsmouth, getting out at Wimbledon where we got a bus direct to Wimbledon Common. All our connections fell into place and Bob Sharp knew all the short cuts and bus routes etc.
The journey was so good and the weather so beautiful that we decided, as we were early and our host had not yet arrived, to have a breakfast in the excellent cafe on the common.
When our host, Norman Plaistow, arrived he took us into the mill which is a most unusual structure. The mill was built in 1817 as a Hollow Post Mill. It can best be described as an octagonal, flat topped, two storey brick building with, sitting on top, a smallish smock mill with a very large cap. Originally the mill was built to grind wheat grown by the Free Holders of the common, as the surrounding landowners had a monopoly on milling in the area. It was never intended to produce large volumes of flour or cattle feed. In 1860 the Post Mill was converted to a smock mill for aesthetic effect, the machinery removed and the octagonal base leased as cottages.
In 1976, Norman Plaistow, an architect began restoration with a team of enthusiasts and over the years have preserved the structure, rebuilding the fan stage and sails. The sails do turn but there is no machinery and the base has been converted back from cottages to a museum.
We were particularly impressed with the wonderful models of various mills that Norman has built. There is a superb one of Upminster Mill. In addition to a large collection of carpentry tools on display, Norman has designed an electrically driven replica set of stones – perhaps something we could replicate in our mill.
Overall it was an extremely interesting and worthwhile day, giving us lots of new ideas. Thank you very much Bob for organising it and Norman for hosting us.
Richard Moorey
SOCIAL EVENTS
Our Barn Dance at Hall Mead School on Saturday 18th October was a very enjoyable event. We had a different caller, Dave Bennett from Southend, who showed us some new dances. Ticket sales were a little higher than for last year’s dance and the proceeds of the raffle and Richard’s ‘Heads or Tails’ game were £183. Many thanks to those who generously supported the raffle - there were eighteen prizes on the table.
We are looking at the possibility of visiting Wimbledon again and also perhaps Shirley Windmill, which would also give the opportunity to ride on the Croydon Tramway. If you are interested, please contact Bob on 01708 226040.
Gill and Stephen Roome will run another quiz night on Saturday 13th March 2004 in St. Laurence Church Hall - further details in the next newsletter.
More help with organising social/fundraising events would be appreciated and we would like to widen the scope of these. If anyone is interested in running an event please let a member of the committee know. We would be pleased to hear what sort of events people would like.
NEW MEMBERS
Welcome to the new members who have recently joined our Friends Group. We have had over forty new members since our Bicentenary Celebrations. Our total membership has now reached 224– a significant increase and one that is very encouraging.
One of our new members, Norma Fairbairn, has already received training as a Windmill Guide and is helping on Open Days. Our thanks go to Norma for her willingness and enthusiasm.
The fee is £7.00 per year for Individual Membership and £10.00 per year for Family Membership (for family members at the same address). Please contact the Membership Secretary if you know someone who would like to become a Friend of Upminster Windmill:
Brenda Coombs, Membership Secretary, 1 Highview Gardens, Upminster, RM14 2YU
Tel: 01708 221298 E-mail: bd.coombs@virgin.net
2004 OPENINGS
With Norma working as a guide and Neil Morley preparing to be a guide next season we shall be better off than of late. However, we are short of assistants to help with the sale of windmill memorabilia and the provision of refreshments for the guides. Assistants are also required to supervise the groups of visitors and to keep a check on the number of visitors.
Roger Fuller has provided a number of coloured discs so that we can easily define the next group to go up the mill. People will not now have to remain in a queue whilst waiting. The system has been tried and proved successful on our last two openings. Guides will have 'walkie-talkie' radios next year, which, from trials carried out on our opening on 4th/5th October, should help the general running of Open Days. Equally important, the radios will improve the safety of our visitors. Following the trials six radios have been purchased and we gratefully acknowledge the donation of £675 from the Upminster and Cranham Residents' Association towards the cost of these.
If you would like to help in any way please contact George Saddington (contact details in our letter heading) or Brenda Coombs (address above).