Our Day Out To The Lincolnshire Mills

(Sung to the tune of “Didn’t we have a lovely time, the day we went to Bangor”)

Didn’t we have a lovely time,
The day we went to Lincoln,
We climbed Skidby mill, and at Wrawby mill,
We turned the post around, you know.

Ellis’s mill, gave us such a thrill,
Then we ended up at Waltham,
Milling away, we ground corn through the day,
And the sails went round.

On 6th September 2003, a trip was organised for the Committee to visit several renovated windmills, one in Yorkshire, and another three in Lincolnshire.

Our first port of call was Skidby Windmill, the only working windmill in Yorkshire. It is a 4 sailed mill, built in 1821. It has 3 sets of grindstones, French Burr, carbon composite and Derbyshire millstone grit. At Skidby Mill, there is a gift shop and nearby restaurant, so they are set up to receive visitors and generate income. There is a large open area near the site which made this possible. We were given a guided tour of the windmill which was very informative. [For further information from Skidby windmill, contact the East Riding of Yorkshire Council who own the mill.]



All back on board the bus, we then moved on to Wrawby windmill, just south of the Humber bridge. As it was a calm day, the sails weren’t turning but the staff put on an impressive show by turning the sails by hand as we pulled up into the car park! We were met by Paul who was great fun to chat to (See the film “150 years of English windmills” for his moment of fame!) who gave us loads of info on the mill. Wrawby is a 4 sailed postmill, built between 1760 and 1790, and is most northerly surviving postmill in the country. The whole of its body rotates on a central post which is manually turned to face the sails into the wind. A few of us had a go at turning the mill round and even in very light winds, it was very hard work. Luckily for us, the wind picked up and the sails began to turn, it was an impressive sight. Wrawby mill is a beautifully restored, fine example of a postmill, well worth a visit. [For further information on Wrawby windmill and opening hours, please call 01652 653699].

After the excitement of Wrawby, we headed off into the centre of Lincoln for a pub lunch, then walked to the Museum of Lincolnshire Life, where Ellis’s mill can be found. This mill is now totally surrounded by houses, just like Holgate mill, so from our point of view , it was very interesting to see how it blended in with the nearby area. It was amazing just how quiet it was, with the sails turning in the gentle breeze, it was incredibily peaceful. Inside the mill, the staff showed us round, and connected one pair of millstones to grind us some flour. It was fantastic, the mill really came alive, the sound of the cogs turning, the smell of fresh flour, the dust on the stone floor, and watching the millstones turning, it was a memorable moment. It gave us an insight into how great it would be to capture that sense of achievement at Holgate mill. [For further information on Ellis’s windmill and opening hours, please contact (01522) 523870/ 528448].

The last mill of the day we visited was Waltham windmill, the last 6 sailed tower mill to be built in Lincolnshire (built in 1879). This mill is enormous, being 6 storeys high. It took a lot of effort for us to climb to the top, it's hard to imagine how the millers used to cope! The mill is very well set up to recieve receive visitors, The Museum of Rural Life is next door with an old fashioned sweet shop and a miniature railway running close by,. There is an old fashioned sweet shop, a herb shop and a railway carriage tearoom. Originally there was a balcony which ran all the way around the mill to give the miller easy access to the striker chain with which he could adjust the shutters without having to go all the way up or down the mill.[For further information on waltham windmill and opening hours, please contact (01472) 822425].


After a well deserved cup of tea, we headed for home, well versed in how windmills work and with more knowledge of how other restored mills have managed to generate income to be self financing.

It was a fantastic day out, many thanks to Richard and Chris for organising it all, everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and we can’t wait for another trip next year!