Hello everyone! As some of you may already know, National Mills Weekend is coming up. It is on the 9th and 10th of May and is an annual festival celebrating the UK’s milling heritage. Watermills and windmills all over the country that aren’t usually open to the public will be opening their doors to visitors.…
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The Garden Party is approaching!
Hello everyone, just a reminder to tell you that the Friends’ Garden Party is happening on Saturday 13th June. Earlier this week, I sat on the steps in the garden of the Mills Archive for lunch. There was not a cloud in sight and the flowers have now bloomed into enormous red and yellow tulips!…
Have you read Mill Memories yet?
It is time for our Spring Mill Memories newsletter and this issue has got lots to keep all our Friends informed and up to date with what we are up to here at the Archive. Read about our new workshop which teaches people how to properly care for their collections. The staff here are passionate…
Have you seen our new Bookshop?
Nigel Harris’s new book is well worth considering as your next purchase. It leads the way in our featured book selection and we have selected it as the Book of the Month for May. The shop is still being stocked as we write – we only have 430 books so far uploaded in prices varying…
The new website and catalogue are up!
Hello everyone! I am very pleased to announce that the new Mills Archive website and catalogue is now up and running! The best thing about the new website and catalogue is that the two are integrated, in other words, when you search for something on the website, it includes every relevant item from both the…
Rest in Peace: Donald Muggeridge 1918 – 2015
We are sad to inform you that Donald Muggeridge, a major figure in the mill world and whose name many of you will recognise, has died. Donald passed away on 14th April at the age of 97 in San Rafael, California. Donald enjoyed a lifelong passion for windmills and amassed photographs and other material spanning…
Printing Blocks
The latest addition to our archive is a box of printing blocks used to create the images in articles by mill expert Rex Wailes. We’ve got several boxes of these already, and I’ve never been quite sure what to do with them. Are they worth keeping? Can we generate a usable image from them? Or…
Rest in Peace: Brian Eighteen
Brian Eighteen, mill enthusiast, researcher and previous employee at Sindlesham Mill in Berkshire, passed away peacefully at the age of 84 on 4th April 2015 after a long fight against cancer. Brian worked for many years at Sindlesham Mill, and began collecting material, postcards and other memorabilia relating to mills. He was also very active…
Benches and blooms
Sunny weather lifts most people’s spirits, and this week’s weather is no exception. While we’re a cheery group anyway, we’ve been even chirpier than normal. This week the garden has put on a beautiful display of flowering tulips, some of which were planted during the winter by a few of us green-fingered sorts at the…
Upminster: the power of steam
Upminster Windmill, one of our Heritage Partners, was once part of a site that included a steam mill to meet production needs. While the steam house did not remain intact, the team at Upminster have been able to learn about the site and the technology. See a clip of what they have learned on YouTube…