The next “autumn” meeting of the SPAB Mills Section is being held on Saturday 26 November outside London to reduce the cost. The venue is the Mills Archive in Reading and the theme (appropriately) is Mill Memories
The theme of the day is Mill Memories. The title was selected as it may mean different things to different people. Memories could be of a mill itself, the millers, the machinery or even the decline of an industry. New uses such as electricity generation are now as topical as corn mills for providing “real” bread.
The six talks during the day will take members back to what we have lost and, in some cases, underline what we have saved. They say that time stops for no man and this is illustrated by how quickly a mill can go from full working order to become a derelict ruin. Rapid changes in the state of mills emphasise the importance of collecting and preserving records of how mills used to look. These in turn can help to inform mill repair and restoration.
The variety of technology covered during the day includes horizontal and traditional watermills, turbines and Archimedean screws, a vanished roller mill as well as two prominent post mills and a range of other windmills. Mills of Kent and the Home Counties are supplemented with one from York as well as much older sites in further flung parts.
Towards the end of the day time is provided for members’ contributions on the theme of the day, or some equally interesting topic.
Registration and the bookshop are open from 9.30am for a 10.30 start. Coffee will be available on arrival and a miller’s lunch and afternoon tea (with cake) are included in the £35 cost of the meeting.
Full programme and booking form is on the SPAB site: http://www.spab.org.uk/spab-mills/courses-and-events/