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Mills come in all shapes and sizes: sometimes they even come with a camel. This postcard shows a camel-driven Saqiya or Sakia. They were once a common sight across the Middle East and Asia, and in some areas are still in use today. They were animal-driven machines, with which water could be raised from one…
Transport links are the lifeline of milling. This photograph shows a steam wagon outside Sonning watermill. The wagon is called Catherine Cooper; it was produced by E R Foden, a British truck and bus manufacturing company, and is an overtype steam wagon. The man on the right is the mill owner Mr Witherington with his son, whilst…
This photo is an important reminder that without a range of extraordinary enthusiasts these collections would not exist. This Gem is a black and white glass plate negative, from a series taken by David H Jones, a specialist in watermills. During his research, David came across an account written by a soldier stationed on the Faroe…
Stereographic images allowed the Victorians to explore the world from the comfort of their own home. This amusing Gem, a stereoscope, was a popular Victorian device used to view optical illusions. The stereoscope was a pair of lenses through which picture cards, or stereographs, would be viewed. The cards had two almost identical images next…
This minute tintype photograph of the Holman family firm 150 years ago combines a farewell to a vanishing historical trade with a rare fashion in photography that disappeared within 20 years. 150 years later, modern technology has helped researchers reveal its secrets. This photograph, one of the oldest in our archive, is part of the Geoff…
