The final weekend in June once again saw magnificent flower displays inside the windmill to celebrate the Flower Festival in Heage. These displays were all made up by Friends of Heage Windmill volunteers.
Below is a gallery of photos.
Controlling and operating a 200 year old machine is not a task for the faint hearted. Apart from learning how to using the various controls for the sails and other machinery, they have to learn to observe the weather, especially the wind, as its direction and force are essential factors to the safe operations of the mill.
Everyone who ‘drives’ Heage Windmill undergoes a lengthy training period and then has to pass a practical ‘exam’ before he or she is permitted to be in sole control of the windmill. However those millers who seek to produce the renowned Heage flours, using the traditional mill stones, still has to continue to gain more experience. The miller is now producing a ‘foodstuff’ so, apart from learning how to operate the mill stones and the feed and processing gear, he/she now has to ensure compliance to numerous regulations, something which the old-time miller never even knew about.
Retired Rolls-Royce engineer Alan Eccleston, who lives in nearby Lower Hartshay, has just met all these exacting requirement and over the weekend was awarded his ‘Flour Miller Certificate’ by Piers Bostock, Chairman of Heage Windmill Society. In making the award Piers said ‘He was delighted to welcome Alan as a fully qualified person who could mill grain into flour –there are not many of them.’ Alan on his part said: ‘Ever since becoming a volunteer at the mill I have aspired to be able to mill and I am now delighted to join the elite group of qualified windmillers here at Heage’.
Don’t forget: Flour is normally on sale every weekend at the windmill, although sometimes lack of wind deems otherwise!
Heage Windmill’s visitors have recognised the windmill’s wonderful customer experience, gaining us a TripAdvisor® Certificate of Excellence award.
Now in its fifth year, the award celebrates excellence in hospitality and is given only to establishments that consistently achieve great reviews on TripAdvisor.
When selecting Certificate of Excellence winners, TripAdvisor takes into account the quality, quantity and current nature of reviews and opinions submitted by travellers on TripAdvisor over a 12-month period. To qualify, an attraction must maintain an overall TripAdvisor bubble rating of at least four out of five over a 12-month period.
Piers Bostock, Chairman of Heage Windmill Society said: ‘There is no greater seal of approval than being recognised by one’s visitors. We always have tried to offer a great experience but this is the crust on our loaf when our visitors themselves declare how well we perform. I congratulate all of our team of volunteers for their tremendous and consistent efforts.’
Coinciding with National Mills Weekend, we hosted the Nunsfield House Amateur Radio Group who were taking part in ‘Mills On The Air’, when amateur radio groups set up radio stations at mill sites all over Britain and the world. This year the Nunsfield House group brought a mighty mobile aerial mast, which must have been 60 feet tall.
Over the two days they broadcasted to and received messages from other mill sites.
A very successful weekend and thank you to them for letting the country and Europe know about the wonderful mill at Heage.
Members of ‘Mad Mog’ (Mansfield and District Minor Owners Group) and the East Midlands Morris Minor Owners Club dropped in at Heage Windmill on the last Sunday in April.
Around 15 cars arrived, dating from the 1950s onwards. Many types were represented, including the old split windscreen, four door, two door travellers with wooden framing, etc.
There was also a good selection of traditional Morris Minor colours including the well-known Clarendon Grey and others such as Almond Green, Bedouin, Almond and Empire Green.
The fire crew at Alfreton came to our mill for a training exercise, seeking to get a ‘casualty’ from the upper floor of the mill. The team of five, led by Incident Commander Andy Lee, arrived in a very shining Scandia fire engine and quickly sorted how they could best use the mill sack hoist shaft to get the casualty down to ground level.
It was an interesting visit for everyone involved and one we hope never has to be carried out for real!
Our windmill is now open for 2015, with the opening ceremony ribbon being cut by John Boucher, a former Heage Windmill volunteer who played a vital role in bringing the windmill to life.
Prior to the opening, John drove down to the mill on a 1948 Fordson Tractor, loaned for the occasion by John Allsop of Heage. Mr Boucher, who was the Project manager for the restoration of the windmill in 2002, was welcomed by the Town Crier of Belper; Piers Bostock, Chair of Heage Windmill Society; and Angela Ward, Chair of the Friends of the Mill. Angela spoke at length of the debt the mill owed to John for his expertise in the bringing the mill back to life, and becoming a major Tourist attraction in Amber Valley. She also thanked the diminishing band of volunteers who keep the mill open, appealing for any potential new recruits to come and join in the good work.
John was presented with a specially made book by John Hunter of the Friends to mark the occasion, illustrating his work over a 50 year span in working on various mills, including Heage. In 2003, John was responsible for producing the first flour at the windmill for almost a 100 years and, in front of a sizeable gathering of supporters, said he was immensely proud and delighted to be invited to declare the mill open for its 14th season.
See Gallery below for more photos. See photos here from the Derby Telegraph.
Heage Windmill now has a display board showing artefacts discovered during the restoration of the windmill between 1996 and 2002.
When the site at Heage was cleared, many artefacts – mainly made of iron – were found buried in and around the mill. In addition there were numerous pieces removed from the mill as they were either broken or worn out (see photo). These were collected together and in due course moved into covered store where they have been conserved but not displayed.
As they represented something of the mill’s past, a number of the mill maintenance team felt ‘something should be done’ with them on a more permanent basis. The various items were therefore carefully identified and the concept of a display was born. There is no spare space inside the building so a large board, mounted on posts, was conceived and the various piece mounted onto it.
All the pieces have been treated with preservative and the board itself can be demounted for internal storage during the closed season. Our guides have all been briefed and are able to explain in more detail than the small labels on the board can offer and what they represent.
The result is the current display board and our thanks are extended to the volunteers who assembled and presented this collection of our mill’s heritage.
Photo shows a collection of roller tie bars, as removed from the mill during restoration in 2002.
Special weekend events at Heage Windmill in 2015:
Sat/Sun 9th /10th May – Nunsfield Amateur Radio group from Derby
Sat/Sun 27th/28th June – Flower Festival.
Sunday 5th July – Classic Bikes.
Saturday 31st October – Giant Cobweb. Close for season.
Sunday 6th Dec – Santa Day.
When most folks decide to tie the knot, they get a car to take them to and from the various venues. Kerry Fradley and Darren Ashley had the same thoughts. But they thought ‘big’ and hired an American Dream Truck as their wedding transport. This was a huge, gleaming and polished, road haulage unit which dwarfs most other things on the road; we had to trim a tree on the road down to the windmill to ensure there was a free passage!
The truck is 13 years old, has a 14 litre engine, a potential top speed of 110 mph, and has done almost a million miles (at 11 miles per gallon!). Behind the cab is a special unit where the happy couple could settle back and feel mighty!
The pair were married at Heage church last Saturday and then made their way down to the windmill for an unusual photo shoot, before heading off to Horsley Lodge for the reception. The whole unit, and the couple, posed in front of the mill, and many official, and unofficial photos, were taken. They were presented with an engraved wooden spoon made by Freda Stallybrass, of the Friends of the mill, and also, of course, a bag of Heage flour!
Would you like your wedding to include a photo shoot at the windmill? Click here for more details.
Heage Windmill is open every Saturday and Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday from April to the end of October, 11am to 4pm. For Admission Prices, Details of Group and School Visits and Where to Find us, click here >
In the early 19th century, Britain had 10,000 windmills. Heage Windmill experienced fluctuating fortunes until the Heage Windmill Society was formed in 1995. To discover Heage Windmill's history and how it was restored to working order, click here >
All our flour is stoneground at the windmill from wheat grown in this country and can normally be bought at the mill during visiting times, and at Bakewell Farmers' Markets every month. For more about our flour, click here >
Heage Windmill cannot operate without volunteers, so why not join us? To read more about the different ways you can help - as a miller, guide, working in the shop or helping out at the farmers' markets, click here >
| Belper, GB |
 |
7°C overcast clouds |
|
Wind
2 mph, ENE
Humidity
73%
Pressure
1 bar
|
||
| Day | Cond. | Temp. | Wind | Humidity | PressurePres. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| thu apr 25 |  |
7/4°C | 2 mph, NNE | 79% | 1 bar |
| fri apr 26 |  |
8/-0°C | 5 mph, NNW | 88% | 1 bar |
| sat apr 27 | |
6/2°C | 12 mph, NNE | 96% | 1.01 bar |
| sun apr 28 | |
9/3°C | 12 mph, N | 95% | 1 bar |
| mon apr 29 |  |
12/1°C | 4 mph, SSW | 90% | 1.02 bar |
Please note the wind speed. If it is more than 5 or 6 mph, then normally the sails will be turning.
Heage Windmill is owned by Derbyshire CC but is controlled and operated by Heage Windmill Society, a charitable organisation (Reg Charity No 1065980), to whom all profits from running the windmill are donated by the Friends to help ensure its continued preservation
