Heage Windmill recently hosted a visit from the Hare and Hounds Classic and Vintage Car Club from Marple in Cheshire.
During the day, about 80 to 100 of these beautiful vehicles and their drivers called at the Mill (now complete with her 6 sails) as they were taking part in a Peaks and Dales Charity Run.
All the cars have been lovingly restored and maintained and it was marvellous to see the two old forms of machinery coming together.
Once again, Heage windmill supported the local church, St. Luke’s, in their annual flower festival, to celebrate the onset (we hope!) of summer.
The display in St Luke’s on behalf of the Mill were all done by Celia Straw and Ruth Vickerstaff. Thanks to all who contributed – as these photos show, there were wonderful displays everywhere.
The day after the freshly painted sails were returned, the fantail was set in place. We now have a fully working windmill. Flour will be on sale soon!
Here are the photos from that day…
When wet rot was discovered last August in major structural parts of the windmill and a potential cost of around £100,00 had to be faced, it seemed as though all was lost.
However a site meeting of Trustees and Friends took only a few minutes to decide: ‘We will get her repaired’. Fund raising and volunteer inputs brought the costs down to a more manageable £75,000 and the repair work started in November.
Monday, June 6th saw a major event in the repair programme: the six sails, which had been painted and repaired by mill volunteers, were put back on the Grade 2* listed mill.
Work started at about 9.00 am, our volunteers working with, and under, the direction of our millwright Neil Medcalf.
The final sail was put back on shortly after 3.00 pm.
The fan tail is now to be fitted with some quite detailed work needed to connect with the controls and mill stones.
However all this should be completed by the end of June and flour milling will then recommence.
Piers Bostock , Chairman of Heage Windmill Society said: ‘We are delighted to have the six sails back in place in such a short time and would like to thank everyone who has made this possible.’
Heage Windmill celebrated National Mills Weekend, co-ordinated by SPAB (Society for Protection of Ancient buildings), by staging its always popular Tractor Day.
The sun shone all day so it was pleasantly warm for the big crowd of visitors who came to the mill.
On site was a very wide range of some 30 vintage tractors, most of which had been lovingly restored.
There was also a large gathering of stationary engines, some of which were working.
In a tent, the Nunsfield Radio club was hard at work, making contact with numerous other similar groups located at other mills also open over the weekend.
In addition the Friends of Heage Windmill ran a fund raising bric a brac stall which attracted a lot of interest and helped the restoration funds.
Also on display were the refurbished sails, waiting to be fitted, and some of the large rotten timbers which had caused the mill to stop working and producing flour.
Replacements have already been fitted and although some more work still is needed, it is getting closer to the date when the sails will turn again.
Santa Claus is coming to Heage… this Sunday. He will be on site at 12 noon, with the visitor centre open from 11 am.
This year the cost is £5 per child to see Santa. However, there is no need to book.
There will other things available – raffle, tombola, and some activities for children. There will also be hot food on site. No need to book to see Santa.
All these photos are from last year’s successful visit when Santa saw over 160 youngsters. Here’s hoping for another great day!
Derwent Mills Cottages are kindly boosting our Trouble at Mill Appeal by offering a 7-night stay for two at Strutt Cottage in Belper, which you can win by buying a raffle ticket for only £2.50.
This early 19th century mill worker’s home, described as ‘a welcoming, cosy cottage with vintage touches and a relaxing feel’ contains a ‘well-equipped kitchen, clean pleasant bathroom with new electric shower, a surprisingly spacious double bedroom and a cosy living room with a convincing but easy to use cast iron real flame gas fire. All linen and towels are supplied and even free WiFi is also available.’
If you win the holiday, you can choose a week inbetween October 1st this year and March 31st of next year.
Tickets are £2.50 and are available at the Windmill or from volunteers.
The raffle will be drawn at Autumn Tractor Day on September 4th at 12 noon.
To read more about Strutt Cottage, click here
A wonderfully generous donation of £10,000 by Bowmer & Kirkland has helped Heage Windmill Society achieve a challenging fundraising target to repair the 220-year-old mill.
When hidden wet rot was discovered in the windmill last August it seemed that the mill would be out of action for a very long time.
The Trust funds couldn’t match the initial estimates of about £90,000 for the repairs and other essential routine maintenance jobs from its own resources.
Time was of the essence, as the Trustees wanted to get the repairs completed for the 2016 season. They quickly realised there was no fast track route to obtaining support from major funding bodies and, together with the full support of the mill volunteers from ‘The Friends of Heage Windmill’, they decided to go it alone.
Certain work could only be done by a professional millwright, but other work could be done be the volunteers, particularly servicing and painting the six sails and the cap – so they set about doing this. As a result of 500 hours of volunteer work on the sails alone over almost 16 weeks through the winter this has indeed been accomplished.
At the same time traditional millwrights, from Lincolnshire were tasked with the major repairs to the cap sub structure and with making a new fan tail assembly, both of which are still going on.
To fund all the repairs, the Trustees launched a web appeal, ran concerts, sales of donated goods, functions etc… anything they could think of. Slowly the new established target for costs of £60,000 was being reached – but had somewhat stalled around at £42,000.
The fundraising effort needed a huge push and it came in the form of a donation from Heage-based construction firm Bowmer & Kirkland.
Chairman John Kirkland is the Patron of Heage Windmill and his office looks over the site. He has supported the work at the mill from its initial restoration in 2002 up to the present time and felt that he could help further with the funding efforts.
He presented a cheque for £10,000 to Piers Bostock, Chairman of the Heage Windmill Trust, to boost the funding of the repairs, in front of a small gathering of those who had worked so hard to date to get mill repaired.
John Kirkland said: ‘I have always loved seeing the mill and it has been part of my life in Heage- I want to see her working again’.
Piers Bostock replied: ‘This magnificent contribution brings the funding target within the resources of the Trust to complete the repairs and they and the volunteers together will have her turning again as quickly as possible’.
Many thanks to Amber Valley-based BelCanto Chorus who performed an evening of contemporary music in aid of Heage Windmill’s Trouble at Mill Appeal at St Luke’s Church, Heage.
The event raised a huge £508, so thank you also to all who came and swelled our coffers!
Extra funds were raised through the sale of refreshments, coordinated by Heage Windmill volunteers including Chairman of the Trustees, Piers Bostock, who introduced the concert and said a few words about the tremendous fund-raising effort which will soon see the sails turning again at the windmill.
It was a red letter day for Heage Windmill just days before the opening of a new season.
Friends of supporters of the windmill gathered to welcome Cllr Dean Collins of Derbyshire CC who presented a cheque for £10,000 to Heage Windmill’s Trouble At Mill Appeal.
Cllr Collins said it was important to get this popular tourist attraction, which is run entirely by volunteers, back in action as soon as possible.
He also delivered to the Trust a formal 99 year lease for the mill, which helps ensure the long term future of the mill.
During the morning the sails, which had been re-furbished and painted by mill volunteers, were brought back to mill site on a special lorry, loaned by local company J.C Balls.
They will be hoisted into position as soon as the millwrights have completed their work. It is expected the mill will be in action again before the end of April.
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 |
 |
20°C broken clouds |
|
Wind
12 mph, NE
Humidity
70%
Pressure
1.01 bar
|
||
| Day | Cond. | Temp. | Wind | Humidity | PressurePres. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sat may 18 | |
19/14°C | 12 mph, NE | 71% | 1.01 bar |
| sun may 19 |  |
18/8°C | 11 mph, NNE | 77% | 1.02 bar |
| mon may 20 |  |
16/6°C | 13 mph, NNE | 93% | 1.02 bar |
| tue may 21 | |
16/5°C | 6 mph, N | 78% | 1.01 bar |
| wed may 22 |  |
12/11°C | 11 mph, NW | 96% | 1.01 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
