On the first day of September, a beautiful dry day brought a host of tractors and a stream of visitors to see them.
While several tractors were completely restored, some were in their original state. On display was a wide variety of makers, plus a gleaming steam engine and an assortment of stationary engines, all in steam. A great favourite for the children was a working scale model steam engine with a trailer behind.
The winner of the Tractor Day certificate for the Best Tractor of the Day was Dave Watson with his Fordson Super Major (see below). Also pictured are John Allsopp on the left presenting the certificate with a trophy being presented by Joe Hancock (in the middle).
The little boys enjoying the day are Thomas (left) and Reuben on a Grey Fergie – tractor drivers of the future, perhaps.
All photographs are by Anthony Sharp.
The driver of the Pink Fordson Dextra is Mandy Phillips, whose tractor is sited next to the winning one.
There was enough wind to turn the sails of the 222-year-old windmill and a large number of people enjoyed guided tours and learned how her machinery produced flour. Event organiser Lynn Allen said ‘It’s been a great day and thank you to the exhibitors for coming and supporting the Mill – we are always glad to welcome them to Heage.’
There was a hot food van on site plus the ever popular Bric-Brac stall. All profits from the day will go to the upkeep and maintenance of the windmill.
In spite of other attractions last Sunday, like a certain Cricket World Cup Final, visitors thronged to see a collection of varied Italian cars on display at Heage Windmill.
Red 1970 Fiat 500, owned by Mr & Mrs Byrne from Derby, namerd Best Italian Car. The award was presented by Attila Corsoba (left) from Coffee N Cars
Some 45 cars on display included Fiats, Alfa Romeos, Abarths, Ferraris, and Lancias. One car that drew the eye was a rare red 1972 ‘Justino’ made by Ferrari, which had raced at Le Mans.
A black Abarth 595 Trofeo 1.4 turbo , owned by Rich & Cid from Nuneaton, was named Best Abarth. Attila Corsoba (left) of Coffee N Cars presented the award
Awards were made for the Best in Show along with the Best Abarth model.
A great day was enjoyed by all and we hope to see the Italian cars again next year.
Our windmills two replacement sails are now scheduled to be up and turning by the end of September.
Fitting one of eight arms on Sail B
The story so far… Having found that two sails at Heage windmill needed to be replaced due to wood rot, the Trust made enquires seeking replacements. There are few millwrights able to carry out such work and our enquires showed that the cost would be around £60,000 and delivery would be about 2 years. This was not acceptable to the Trust as we wished to return to our normal 6 sail display as soon as possible.
The frame of Sail E being assembled
The volunteers at the mill felt they were capable of making the replacements themselves and that we were able to obtain suitable pre-cut wooden members from Constructional Timber of Barnsley for less than a third of the above quote. The two offending sails, weighing approximately 1 tonne each, were taken off and the part time work of assembling the new timber into sails was undertaken ‘in house’. We found that no less than 84 pieces were needed for the pair of sails. Also, each piece had to have any knots treated. They pieces were then coated with sealer, carefully painted and assembled in a predetermined sequence.
Volunteers working on the back stay of sail E
The team agreed to carry out the work in our marquee on site and aimed to ensure work was carried out on a minimum of two full mornings a week. To date, some 400 working hours have been expended and much experience gained.
Shows Sail E ready to have shutters fitted with sail B in back
In parallel, all the iron fittings from the old sails were removed and re-painted and the 40+ shutters washed and cleaned prior to them being transferred to the new sails. The first replacement sail (sail E) currently has all the sail bars and the frame in place and will soon be ready to accept the fitting of the 21 shutters taken from the old sail. Due to space limitations, work on the second sail (sail B) could not start at the same time but presently the stage of sail E is such that the sail bays could be turned upright, creating enough space for the second sail to be started. Presently the angled sail bars are being fitted and work will continue in parallel.
Due to weather and holiday limitations we are expecting to be able to complete the assembly of the pair by the end of September and aim to fit them back soon after.
The cost of the work is being covered by money taken from the mill maintenance fund of Heage Windmill Society but, of course, donations will be most welcome as the cost is estimated at some £20,000 for materials alone. We are continuing to mill flour with four sails and our normal range of flour is still on sale at the mill.
Heage Windmill’s floral display inside St Luke’s Church
Floral displays, choral singing and a ‘triumphant’ array of cars made the last weekend of June a memorable one at Heage Windmill.
This particular weekend sees the traditional flower festival at neighbouring St Luke’s church which the Friends of the mill continue to support by decorating not only one of the church windows but also the interior of the windmill.
All types of containers were brought into use and there were floral displays all over the windmill. They were much appreciated by our visitors and amongst the comments was: ‘A perfect match of containers and flowers for a windmill – Royal Horticultural Society watch out!’
Saturday also saw the Derventio Choir from Derby give a musical concert, entertaining us with a wide variety of songs, ranging from folk tunes to big show songs. They were much appreciated by all present.
To round off an excellent weekend we had a visit from the Derwent Valley Triumph Sports Six club which was celebrating its 25th anniversary.
They brought almost 50 cars of assorted Triumph models over the years, with a range of colours sufficient to match the flowers!
Several awards were made with the club presenting the ‘Best in Show’ trophy to the Triumph Renown (made 1949 to 1954), a ‘big brother’ to the Mayflower model. These cars were much enjoyed by all the people on site.
Over 100 classic motor bikes made Heage Windmill their destination on a bright sunshine Sunday.
The crowds flocked in to view and touch these lovely, often gleaming, machines, ranging from tourers to out and out racers, with many well known makes, such as BSA , Honda, Royal Enfield, Triumph and Kowasaki.
The winner of the ‘Bike of the Day’ was judged to be a Kawasaki A1 Samurai 250. The proud owner, John Pridmore (pictured right), was presented with the ‘Dave Cleaver Memorial Trophy’ and a ‘Best Bike’ certificate by Colin Clemens, who organises the bikes coming to the mill.
The fact that it was also National Mills Day brought in other visitors and, to add to the interest, the Nuffield Amateur Radio club set up a mobile transmitter. They were able to make some worldwide contacts but also contacted many other mills in the UK where similar temporary stations were set up, all marking Mills Day.
It was a truly memorable day, judged by long standing members of the Friends of Heage Windmill to be ‘the best ever’.
Our thanks go out to everyone who helped make the day such a success.
In recognition of bringing Tractor Days to Heage Windmill, John Allsop was invited to officially open the mill for our 2019 season.
In what was probably the warmest opening day since the windmill was restored in 2002, John made his entrance in fitting fashion by driving his Fordson Tractor down the track to the windmill, escorted by two other tractors, driven by local men David Hornsey and John Gould.
They were welcomed by a large gathering of people , including Alan Eccleston, Chairman of Heage Windmill Society, and Cllr. Angela Ward, Chair of Friends of the Windmill.
Alan welcomed everyone present and thanked in particular the team of volunteers who make the mill such a great attraction.
He introduced John Allsop, who was born and bred in Heage and has had a long standing love of the mill. It was John who, many years ago, suggested he organised a tractor rally at the mill. This has blossomed into memorable and well-supported Tractor Days which have greatly helped support the mill.
Angela spoke on behalf of Friends and mentioned the continuing need for more volunteers to help maintain the high standards set at the mill.
Alan then invited John to cut the yellow ribbon. In doing so doing, he said he sincerely hoped the mill would enjoy a great season and that that weather would be kind throughout.
It was a cool, but a mostly sunny day, with just enough wind to gently turn the windmill sails, when the first organised visit by Morgan Sports Cars club arrived at Heage Windmill on Sunday April 14th.
Some 30 cars, in a wide variety of colours and models, were displayed on the apron in front of the working windmill and were much admired by the many visitors to the site.
We learnt that Morgan cars were founded in 1909, and have since achieved fame throughout the world due to their unique blend of charisma, craftsmanship and performance and it was easy to see why they were so well loved by their enthusiastic owners.
The Morgan Motor Company, based in Malvern, has evolved over 100 years into a true icon, a darling of the automotive industry and a brand synonymous with unrivalled excitement. The cars displayed true British craftsmanship and their owners are justly proud of their vehicles, regardless of their age.
This Sunday, Heage Windmill will again be visited by a large collection of vintage Tractors.
These machines displaced the horse as the motive power for farms and similar activities and now they are themselves being regarded as ‘collectables’. They will stand displayed adjacent to our 222-year-old wind machine!
Tractors will include 60-year-old Fordsons and Massey Fergusons. John Allsop, who organises the Tractor group, said: ‘We are always happy to come to the windmill’.
The tractors will be supported by some stalls, including a burger van and, if the weather permits, our now quite famous bric-a-brac stall, where one person’s junk becomes someone else’s treasure!
The tractors will arrive from about 10-30 am and will be with us until around 3-30. The mill will, of course, be open for guided tours.
All funds raised will go to the upkeep of the Mill.
It is with great regret that Heage Windmill has to announce the death of Peter Straw who was Chairman of the Friends for 13 years, standing down in 2014 for health reasons.
When Peter and his wife Celia moved to the area, they went to an early meeting of the Friends of Heage Windmill. Shortly after this Peter was voted in as chairman and held the position for 13 years until he stood down as Chair at the 2014 AGM. He took up the post in 2002 which was when the Mill opened to the public. Peter had also been a Trustee for 10 years.
Not everyone will realise the amount of work that Peter did in the background, not just at the Mill itself but attending meetings far and wide to promote the organisation, always looking for opportunities to enhance the mill experience for visitors. Also, Peter was always more than happy to encourage visitors to make the most of their time in Derbyshire by visiting other local tourist attractions. Throughout he was well supported by his wife Celia.
Over the years he worked tirelessly for the Mill. He was very dedicated and enthusiastic in everything he did. He was very caring towards all volunteers and very good at getting the best out of people. The volunteers who worked alongside him had nothing but praise for Peter and they had never known him to lose his temper. He had a calming influence and was always happy to listen to those volunteers with problems.
Until he retired Peter was a regular guide at the Mill, making it come alive for the visitors. He also stood Bakewell Farmers’ Market on occasions on behalf of Heage Windmill.
Under Peter’s chairmanship the Mill gained and successfully retained the 5-star rating from Amber Valley Borough Council for Health and Hygiene.
Again, under Peter’s watch the Mill gained and successfully retained the Place of Interest Quality Assurance Scheme (PIQAS) status.
In his retirement from the Mill he still visited and supported all the events.
All the Friends and Trustees would like to extend their deepest sympathy to his widow, Celia plus all of his family.
Did you know that Heage Windmill has signed up with Easy Fund Raising?
What it means is that every time you – our supporters – use the internet for shopping a small donation will be donated, free of charge to the windmill’s funds. Sounds too good to be true? Well, it’s happening, and it’s working – so far, we have received over £250!
It’s very easy to use. If you follow the link below you can sign up and then help us, with contributions being made from most major online shopping outlets when you make your purchase.
When you shop online, you first click on the Easy Fund-Raising logo which will appear on your phone or other device, and find the outlet you want to use. Then, when you make your purchase, the companies that participate will automatically make a small donation which is paid directly to the mill.
Thank you for helping Heage Windmill.
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 >
On the first day of September, a beautiful dry day brought a host of tractors and a stream of visitors to see them.
While several tractors were completely restored, some were in their original state. On display was a wide variety of makers, plus a gleaming steam engine and an assortment of stationary engines, all in steam. A great favourite for the children was a working scale model steam engine with a trailer behind.
The little boys enjoying the day are Thomas (left) and Reuben on a Grey Fergie – tractor drivers of the future, perhaps.
