Author: Peter King In the high winds of last weekend, 8th-9th November, Maud Foster mill in Boston had one of its sails snapped off, and fall through the roof of the neighbouring building. As Maud Foster is a 5 sailed working windmill, the loss of one sail means the mill will be out of action…
Author: Mills Archive
Kent Millers’ Tales
Authors: Luke Bonwick & Alan Stoyel Kent Millers’ Tales was a Heritage Lottery funded project carried out in 2005 with the aim of cataloguing the Mills Archive’s Kent collections, as well as those of Kent County Council. You can read the seven ‘Millers’ Tales’ here, or view an archived copy of the original site (though note that the links to…
Arthur Carlton Smith (d. 2013)
Author: Michael Harverson Arthur and his bike Arthur Smith worked at the cutting edge of modern technology in the aircraft industry, but has always been happiest when out in the countryside. “Natural history is my main motivation in life. It was through a field study that I became interested in windmills. I found little had…
Historical introduction to mills and milling
Author: Luke Bonwick Overview Traditionally, a mill powered by wind, water or animals would have served every community. The study of milling from ancient querns to the steam mills of the Victorian era has fascinated historians for many years. The Roman architect Vitruvius (ca.70-25BC) wrote a detailed description of the use of waterpower in ancient…
Evelyn ‘Eve’ Logan (1950-2000)
The following biography was written by Eve Logan’s husband, Bari M Logan, in 2002: Evelyn Logan (née Elkin) was born in Lenton, a suburb of the city of Nottingham, on the 2nd October 1950. Her father, Robert Elkin, was a coal miner haulage-man who worked at the local pits of Wollaton, Clifton and Cinderhill, whilst…
J Kenneth Major (1928-2009)
J Kenneth Major was born on 21 October 1928. In November 2002 he wrote the following account of his life: My parents were John William Major of South Shields and Katharine May Ridges of Taunton. My paternal grandfather was John William Major, a joiner and undertaker of South Shields, and my maternal grandfather was John…