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