Hannah Pomeroy After HarvestGone the sun-stained yellowStalks of grain; the sallowClose-shorn fields lie fallow.Stalks and stubble brokenAre a rain-bleached tokenThat the loam is mellow;That the land has spokenTrodden straw lies shattered;Chaff is thinly scattered;Rain-bleached stubble broken.Grain was all that mattered.– Maud E. Uschold Wheat field in Devon, 2007 – SWAT-002 ‘Grain was all that mattered’. That was…
Author: Hannah Pomeroy
Mills in the Second World War – Hannah Pomeroy
This GunWho is this man,This man who holds a gun?His gun is differentYet, it is the same…His has a staff of wood,A blade of steel;A hoe they call it…Yet, it is a gun!His cool nerve can’tRespond to ship or plane;He is needed here!He knows the feel of soil,The feel of grain.His rough palms holdThe bounty…
Mill Fires
October, 1886: After a hard day at work you are asleep in your bed, the chill of the autumn day is negated under your blanket. Suddenly you are awakened. You have heard something that causes a chill to go down your spine…the cry of ‘Fire’. You jump out of bed and rush to the window…
Building a Mill: Workforce
The mill has now been built and filled with the best, new machinery. However, ‘Fine buildings, located on traffic arteries, and equipped with the very latest of mechanical appliances do not, alone, make successful bakeries’, or in this case, mills…
Unusual places to find a mill
This article first appeared on our blog in January 2018. Boat Mill, 19th century (Mills Archive Collection, MCFC-ENG-064) If asked to name traditional mills, most people would probably name windmills, watermills, possibly tide mills, but less would name ‘floating mills’, also known as ‘boat mills’ or ‘ship mills’. These were structures that had the outside appearance…
My final blog…
I have come to the final day of my internship. Little did I think when I started back in the warmth of July last year that I would still be here in February with snow falling outside of the window! My initial three months here flew by, and I was very grateful to be invited…
Milling Families
Those of you who follow The Mills Archive on social media will know that we have recently started highlighting different families on Family History Friday. Therefore, this week’s blog will be focusing on some of the families that were involved in roller milling history. An example of a family run manufacturing firm was Thomas Robinson…
Roller milling romances
With the romance of Valentine’s Day recently past, this blog is looking at some of the romantic stories that have been found whilst researching the history of roller milling. Throughout the early years of roller milling, there is a common factor between many firms, namely that they tended to be family-run businesses. This was true…
The Invisible Gender?
In a week which has seen the celebration of 100 years since women were first given the right to vote, I have been reflecting upon the role of women during the early days of roller milling. My research of the period has been dominated by men, the great manufacturing and milling firms were frequently named…
Six Nations
This weekend sees the beginning of the Six Nations, so whether you’re planning on following the games or doing everything you can to avoid them, this week’s blog should be able to give you some interesting roller milling facts about each of the six nations, to either whet your appetite for the weekend games, or…