Tag: Heage Windmill

Go Online and help Heage Windmill

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.

https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/invite/A99I5M/

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.

Italian Cars – un bellissimo evento!

Our first ever rally of Italian Cars – courtesy of Abarth East Midlands & T.I.M UK Motors – proved a great success.

They also brought one the best days we have known at Heage.  It felt positively Mediterranean, just like being in Italy…

Graham Wickham’s Fiat 124 Spider, judged to be the best car on show

There was a wide assortment of cars on show including Fiat, Maserati , Ferrari and  Lamborghini.  The best car on show was  judged to be a Fiat 124 Spider, owned by Graham Wickham

The event was jointly organised by the mill and Attila Csorba, representing   the car owners – and all profits will go to the windmill maintenance fund.

In addition to the cars, the windmill itself received many visitors who also enjoyed a display of pyrography (burnt wood sketching) and helped swell the windmill’s funds even more at the bric a brac stall.

 

 

 

Radio Derby’s Martyn Williams opens Windmill for 2018

After a night of heavy rain, the morning of March 31st dawned dull and damp but this was not enough to deter a decent sized group of volunteers, friends and visitors gathering to await the  arrival of Martyn Williams from Radio Derby, driving a vintage Fordson Tractor.

At precisely 11-00 am,  the gleaming old machine arrived , driven by Martyn, and parked outside the windmill.

Martyn was welcomed by the Chairman of Heage Windmill Society, Alan Eccleston and Angela Ward, Chair of Friends of the Mill.

Alan announced that Martyn would join a list of distinguished guests who had performed the opening ceremony over the past 16 years – this being the 17th season since the mill was restored to working order in 2002.

During that time, Alan mentioned that there had been some 50,000 visitors round the mill, that we were now into the 47th ton of wheat to be milled (over 30,000 bags of flour ) and that just over £250,000 had been raised, all of which had helped maintain and develop the mill.

This was all achieved by a dedicated team of volunteers who he thanked for their continued support.

Martyn said he was delighted to be at such an iconic location, although a bit of sun would have been welcome!

He praised the work of all the volunteers, all of whom contributed in some way to making the mill an undooubted huge success as a tourist attraction in Derbyshire.

To the sounds of a countdown from the assembled crowd, Martyn then cut the ribbon and pronounced the mill open for 2018, saying he was looking forward to touring the mill in due course but had to dash off to help volunteers plant trees in the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust wood at Alderwasley.

Before he left he was presented with a large Easter Egg by Wosemary Wabbitt, and said: ‘I will be back shortly’!

Mary & Jack Marry – and grab a photo op at the windmill

Shortly after getting married in the Heage area, Jack and Mary Evans – along with dog Geoff – visited Heage Windmill for an extra photo memory of their special day.

Jack originates from Brook Street, Heage and was an active volunteer at the mill before moving away.

Their special wedding spoon was decorated by Freda Stallerbrass of Nether Heage, a current volunteer, and presented by Lynn Allen on behalf of the windmill.

If you are getting married locally – or know of someone who is – the Friends of Heage Windmill offer the opportunity of using our Derbyshire attraction as a backdrop for wedding photos.

Furthermore, every bride photographed at the windmill will be presented with a hand pyrographed and decorated wedding spoon.

All we ask for is a minimum donation of £25 for weekend photos (£50 midweek) which covers the cost of the wedding spoon and helps towards the upkeep of the mill.

If you are interested in booking a photo session, please contact Lynn Allen  01773 715 177 (mob 07973 548 551) or email her at lynnallen13@hotmail.com

Alternatively, you can fill out a registration form which you can download by clicking here – Weddings bookings

 

American Vehicles a big hit

A glorious sunny day was lit up even more at Heage Windmill with the presence of many large American cars, hot rods and trucks.

Thanks to all those who brought their monster vehicles, namely members of the East Midlands Hot Rods.

On display were several Chevrolets, Fords and Plymouth models.

The event was well supported with craft stalls, mobile refreshments and, of course, the mills renowned ‘bric a brac’  stall.

A ‘significant’ amount was raised for mill funds.

Many people toured the mill, too; and the mill bill, which had been recovered after being stolen in the break in earlier in the week, attracted a lot of attention.

E Type Jags at Heage Windmill

Our classic windmill was complemented last weekend (August 6th) by a display of classic internal combustion engineering married with classy design in the shape of the E-type.

We were visited by more than 20 models of that truly iconic car – the E Type Jaguar – built between 1961 and 1975.

It was exhilarating to see various versions of these multi coloured darlings of the 1960’s and 70’s roaring up the drive and coming to rest in the inner car park.  All these sleek, low profile cars were in superb condition, too.

As Richard Eaton – the Derbyshire & Cheshire E Type Owners Club rep – explains: ‘These are sports cars with true pedigree, based directly on the Le Mans winning D type Jaguars of the 1950s. I don’t believe that any other car has made such an impact on the motoring world; even today they remain eye catching and tremendous fun to drive.’

Thanks to Richard for organising this visit.  Hopefully we’ll see you again next year!

Cobweb Closes the Windmill

The now traditional spinning of a spiders web at Heage windmill took place in lovely sunny conditions at Heage on the windmill’s last day of opening.

Friends of the mill and visitors were all guided by head ‘spider’ Lynn Allen along with her assistant, Jack Evans, into the intricacies of making a web from very stretchy elastic and then carrying and laying it on the field adjacent to the 220-year-old windmill.

This year a good number of adults turned up as well as some children proving that this is an event for people of all ages.

The windmill closed for the winter at 4-00pm on the 29th October and re-opens on 31st March 2018.

In spite of her slumbers the Mill will wake up from time to time as Flour will be on sale at the mill, as available, on the second Saturday of each month, from November until March, from 10-00am until 1-00 pm.

The Mill will also be open for Santa Day on December 3rd when we welcome Santa to use it as his grotto. More details will follow on this event at a later date.

 

 

 

 

 

Alan Gifford

 

Trustee HWS

 

The windmill will be open during 2017 (11-00am to 4-00pm) every weekend from

 April 1st until the end of October.

Santa Day Great Success

Over 400 visitors came to the windmill to enjoy Santa Day last Sunday, December 3rd.

After a very cold week the day dawned cloudy but dry and relatively mild which pleased our Santa who was glad to get away from all that snow up in Lapland.

Santa arrived on a motorised sledge, (kindly loaned by Amber Valley Rotary Club) and was greeted by a crowd of happy and excited youngsters. He soon made himself comfortable in his grotto on the ground floor of the windmill and during his visit saw over 100 children, each of whom received a specially wrapped present from him.

All our visitors enjoyed the entertainments and refreshments available in the nearby marquee and on site, whilst they waited their turn to meet Father Christmas.

To pass the time while waiting, there were various games to play, raffles, Hug a Husky and food, including the very popular hot food van providing a range of things according to taste.

Angela Ward, Chair of the Friends of the Windmill said: ‘It’s been a great day.  Every one of our volunteers has worked hard to make it a success and, above all, the profits will all go to keeping the windmill working. It was also good to see so many people on site enjoying themselves.’

Vintage Cars light up National Mills Weekend

The Veteran Car Club made it a memorable National Mills weekend, organised by the Society for Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), and supported by Heage Windmill, who welcomed large numbers of visitors on both Saturday and Sunday.

There were 27 cars from the Veteran Car Club, whose members owned cars dating from the 1930s and earlier.

The oldest car was a 1924 Vauxhall 30-98 Tourer whilst the ‘newest’ was a Riley 12/4, dating from 1937.

The cars arrived and departed throughout the day and attracted much attention from mill visitors.

In a corner of the site the Nunsfield Radio Club set up a mobile radio station and made a total of 114 contacts with places as far away as eastern Russia and the United States. They also managed to contact 14 similar clubs who were based at other wind and water  mills in this country, although radio air conditions did not favour local contacts.

Aleena Naylor opens Heage Windmill 2017 Season

Heage Windmill Opening 2017 - Aleena Naylor 002BBC Radio Derby presenter Aleena Naylor, accompanied by husband Paul and daughter Unity, officially opened Heage Windmill’s 2017 season.

As is usual at our windmill openings, our guest of honour made a grand entrance driving a vintage tractor kindly provided by John Allsop of Belper.

Amidst the celebration was poignancy at the sight of the Derbyshire flag flying at half-mast in memory of Andy Potter, the last Radio Derby presenter to open the windmill in 2014.  Andy died only a few months ago.

Opening proceedings, Trustees Chairman Piers Bostock, welcomed volunteers, friends and visitors and spoke of Andy Potter as a great friend and supporter of the windmill.  Aleena said she was ‘very moved’ to see the flag, then wished the windmill well for the season ahead and cut the ribbon – with a bit of help from Unity.

The Derbyshire flag flies at half-mast in memory of 2014 opener Andy Potter
The Derbyshire flag flies at half-mast in memory of 2014 opener Andy Potter

Heage Windmill Opening 2017 - Aleena Naylor 010Angela Ward, Chair of the Friends of Heage Windmill, thanked all the volunteers for their support and then made an impassioned appeal for more volunteers to help keep the sails turning.

Following a presentation of flowers to Aleena – and a cuddly rabbit and Easter Egg for Unity presented by our own Easter bunny Wosemary Rabbit – Aleena’s family went on a tour inside the windmill, conducted by miller Danny Ashley.  The photos below show what a great family day out can be had visiting the windmill.

The Bank Holiday celebrations continue on Monday when Wosemary Rabbit will lead an Easter Egg Hunt.