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January 2009 - Work is progressing well. The cap
is under wraps for the winter, but almost complete. We've got high
hopes that it will be back in place on top of the mill by summer.
Our new railings have been erected around the edge of the roundabout
and look pretty stunning. The inside of the mill is also getting
a lot of attention, with all the floorboards being replaced and
the inside walls getting a well needed coat of whitewash. All of
the 240 shutters for the sails have also been delivered - in kit
form! All we need to do now is put them together. If anybody has
workshop space where we could construct the sails then we would
be grateful to hear from you. Please call Bob on 01904 795851.
Our
new canvas bags are proving a real favourite and are selling like
hot cakes. If you want one either call Helen on 01904 331402 or
visit our online shop.
Dates
for your diary has been updated with the dates for Summer 2009
open days & don't forget Pancake Day on
15th February for a fun morning at the mill. More details can be
found further down this page.
January
- October 2008: Progress
has not been as fast as we had hoped this year. The lime render
round the base of the mill didn’t set properly in the bad
weather so had to be taken off and re-applied by the Council. We
are still waiting for this to “go off” before the tower
can be painted black. Fingers crossed for some good weather (!)
There has been excellent
progress made to the Stones floor (1st floor). New floorboards have
been laid and a much needed new staircase from the ground floor
has been put in. The millwrights have lifted the top stones on all
four pairs so we could finally see the condition of the cutting
surfaces. Unfortunately, it wasn’t pleasant viewing! As you
can see on the picture here, they were in much worse condition than
we feared. During the last years of the mill’s working life
(in the 1930’s), it must have been driven incessantly under
electric motors, without the necessary maintenance and the cutting
edges have been ground away to nothing, to the detriment of the
stones. Good news was on hand however, as our millwright managed
to find a “new” set of stones which we will be able
to replace our (soon to be) working pair.
There
has also been excellent progress in restoring the ground floor machinery.
All of the hurst frame, tentering gear and the kibbler have been
either restored or replaced and is now looking as good as new.
We have held six open
weekends this year, attracting many locals and visitors to York
alike. Many opted to join the society and we were thrilled with
the huge number of compliments on our progress and on how impressive
the mill looks.
The
cap is under construction and progress is steady. We had hoped it
would be ready by September and it is now a race against time to
get it finished and lifted before the bad weather hits this winter.
The fan stage and fantail are ready, as are the new shears. See
the Restoration page or click on the
picture of the cap for more photos of the cap progress.
In August this year,
we celebrated reaching 500 members, and by October it was over 520
members, not bad for a small charity! Jen Hay’s enthusiasm
has once again paid off this year through her very successful Open
Gardens in July and Barn Dance in September. At the September open
weekend, we held an Art Show for people to showcase items they’d
made out of off-cuts of wood from the new floorboards. We had 35
entries, and these have been on display in the mill for two months.
They have received much admiration. A big thank you to everyone
who entered an exhibit.
We received a surprise in July when we were contacted by a gentleman
living in Malvern, who had been cleaning out his loft and came across
a bin bag full of old, historic documents, mainly about Acomb and
Holgate. The house used to be owned by solicitors who had moved
from York down to Malvern, taking the work of one of the prestigious
land owners of the time, with him. We gave the gentleman a donation
towards his own charity and he sent us these documents, which are
dated between 1774 and the late 1800’s. Many were conveyance
documents, written in beautiful old script, but to us, the most
interesting find among these documents was the original enclosure
map of Acomb/Holgate in 1774, hand drawn with all the land owners
names against their parcels of land. We can clearly see “George
Waud” written on the small rectangle of land where the windmill
stands. This would be only four years after the mill had been built.
The documents have now been preserved in the York City Archives
and would be of interest to anyone researching local history, although
not to our mill itself, unfortunately.
For a full progress log,
visit the Progress Archive page. This
gives a chronological account of our progress so far.
Other
pages you may wish to visit
Dates for your Diary for forthcoming events.
Restoration
for information and photos of recent work
How To Help either
hands on or with a donation.
Millnews for past copies of our newsletters.
Membership
to join the society.
Progress Archive for a full progress
log to date.
Dates
for your diary
Pancake
Day
Sunday 15th February 11 till noon.
Scrumptious hot pancakes, energetic races at the mill. Get your
warm clothes on and join us.
Mill
Open Days 2009
We are now closed for winter 2008/09, but will be open again one
weekend a month from May 2009 onwards. Visit our Open
Days page for more details. The dates are:
May 9th & 10th (National
Mills Weekend)
June 6th & 7th
July 4th & 5th
August 1st & 2nd
September 5th & 6th
October 3rd & 4th
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