Everybody knows about the dangers of eating wild plants, and even experienced nature-lovers have to be careful when picking woodland mushrooms, berries or flowers for a foraged feast. I know from personal experience that eating a funny mushroom is absolutely not funny at all! These days we like to stick to good old reliable Tesco…
Author: Lucy Noble
Smugglers’ Mills and Nefarious Thrills
Throughout the ages, the role of the miller has been subject to all sorts of stories and stereotypes: millers have been slandered, satirised, respected and romanticised all in equal measure. Langstone Mill, Havant. Photo: Ashok Vaidya Oft-times in literature, the miller has been the recipient of a similar treatment to smugglers and pirates, his contemporary…
Gems of the Archive: Milling Miscreants
Have you ever heard the phrase ‘an honest miller has hairy palms’? Or perhaps the old expression ‘safe as a thief in a mill’? Or maybe you’ve read The Miller’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer, and are familiar with the less-than-trustworthy character of the miller who was not only “a quarrelsome swaggerer”, “arrogant” and “sly”, but…
The Mills Archive receives a grant for our project, Mill Makers: The Wright Records
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we have been awarded a grant of £9,944 from the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust for our new project, Mill Makers: The Wright Records. Here at the Archive we hold 26 millwrighting collections, containing unique and vital records of Britain’s milling heritage created by the skilled men who were…
Gems of the Archive: On a Mission for Mills
As the nights are drawing in and the misty mornings are covered with a dusting of frost, most of us are enjoying passing the wintery nights by curling up by the fire with a warm blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. The last thing we want to do is venture off into even colder…
Your invitation to our ‘Caring for your Collection’ Workshop
On Monday 25th November 2019, we are holding a training workshop at the Archive, on the subject of ‘Caring for your Collection’. Whether you are an individual collector with just a handful of items, or part of an organisation with a room full of photos, letters, diaries, drawings and documents, we can help you to…
Gems of the Archive: Giants and Germans
It’s likely that you are familiar with the well-used idiom ‘tilting at windmills’ – you may even have used it yourself to warn someone not to be foolish or irrational. But have you ever stopped to wonder where this strange expression originated from? The phrase was coined in Don Quixote, a 17th century novel by…
Power to the People: another successful Heritage Open Day!
Following the resounding success of last September’s event, the Mills Archive was delighted to once again participate in Heritage Open Days, England’s largest festival of history and culture. Each September, thousands of volunteers across the country invite the public to visit over 5,000 events to celebrate England’s fantastic heritage. The festival keeps expanding, and this…
The Mills Archive attends the QAVS Presentation Ceremony
After a very exciting summer of being named as a recipient of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service and enjoying all the ensuing celebrations, this week the day finally arrived for us to officially receive the much-coveted award! On Tuesday, nine smartly-dressed representatives from the Archive, including staff, volunteers, and one of our nominators, Dennis…
Visiting our Heritage Partner, Wimbledon Windmill!
Last Friday, Liz, Mildred and I had a delightful visit to Wimbledon Windmill, one of the Mills Archive’s Heritage Partners. On our arrival we were greeted by a friendly bunch of trustees and volunteers who help to look after the mill, headed by their Chairman, Asif Malik, and their curator Norman Plastow, a mill enthusiast…