Welcome
to the Restoration Update page.
At last we have made a start on
the Roundhouse, although this is in Vincent’s
workshop rather than at the Windmill. I imagine it is
rather warmer in the workshop than at the Windmill
but in fact he has been tapering the aluminium sheets
for the cone like roof and preparing some curving oak
plates to replace existing ones that are damaged or
do not exist! I hope by the time you read this you
will see him working at the Windmill.
Thank you to the many people
who were kind enough to say how good the Windmill
looked in the floodlighting at Christmas and to Peter
Connatty for arranging it and Kevin Curtis for
providing the electricity.
Subject to how the work on the
roof and walls progresses we shall have our “Open
Days” on the second Sunday of each month (10.30
a.m. – 4.00 p.m.) from April to September and
the whole of the weekend of 10th and 11th
May, which is National Mills weekend. We hope this
will be a record year as we expect to have the
structural restoration finished and now have to think
about machinery and maintenance.
The Ashdon Mini Fete Committee
have installed their splendid wooden seat in front of
the Windmill so you will now be able to enjoy the
lovely view in comfort after toiling up the hill! It
is a wonderful spot to see the sunset.
We now also have a “litter
bin” installed in the car park, courtesy of
Ashdon Parish Council and Tony Everitt, who fixed it,
which we hope will keep everything looking tidy.
The Annual Meeting of “Friends
of Ashdon Mill” will take place on Friday 18th
April at 7.30 p.m. when we will give our annual
report, have a light supper with wine and enjoy a
performance of the Saffron Walden Buskers. We shall
of course have a grand raffle, but cannot promise an
auction this year! We have reverted to making a
modest charge (£2.50 per head) which apart from
meeting some of the cost enables us to organise the
catering more easily. Tickets may be obtained from
Andrew Eyles 584 339, Andrew Noakes 584 780, David
How 584 382 and myself 584 404. I look forward to
seeing you then.
John Double
Chairman
March 2008
Although we were
hoping to start on our project to restore the
Roundhouse in October or November, the weather has
played ducks and drakes with Vincent's work schedule
and we have decided to postpone the work to an early
date in the New Year.
We have, however, had a number of planning meetings
on the subject with Vincent and Peter Jamieson, our
Architect "Friend", to check the footings
and the availability of bricks to match those used to
build the Roundhouse wall about 1820. Alan Hardy, our
project leader and Peter Jamieson have been scouring
Solopark, armed with a specimen brick, to see how
many they can find.
We have been promised some support from Ridgeons in
respect of the materials for the Roundhouse and we
also have a skilled volunteer from the Village to
work on the brickwork, which will be a great help in
funding the project, we are very grateful for this.
So although we have not started on the actual work we
have been very busy sourcing material and planning
the project.
When we have been doing things at the Windmill the
spontaneous interest from 'passers by' has been very
rewarding. We are always delighted to show visitors
around and if you would like to visit the Mill any
time, just 'phone David or me and we will arrange.
In the late summer we were delighted to be approached
by Annette Bel, on behalf of the Ashdon Mini Fete
Committee, who plan to have a special wooden seat
made to be sited in front of the Mill facing the
Village, which will be a lovely place to rest and
relax. We are also very grateful to Carl Jarvis of
Linton who has restored our old metal table, used at
our Open Days and drawn a sketch of the Mill on the
table top.
The Essex Mills Group used a picture of Ashdon Mill
on the cover of their Autumn Newsletter, which
includes an article on the four Corn Exchanges that
used to flourish in Essex. The Corn Exchange in
Saffron Walden was built on the site of a magnificent
Medieval Wool Hall that was demolished in 1844 to
make way for the Corn Exchange, designed by Robert
Tress and opened in 1850. It ceased trading in 1971
and has since been used as the library, which as you
know, has just been revamped but remains recognisable
as the Corn Exchange in all its Italianate style. If
you would like to know more the Editor of the Essex
Mills Group, Mrs. Petra Ward, 01376 561 310 will be
pleased to help.
We expect to have the Mill floodlit at Christmas and
the New Year, arranged by Peter Connatty and with the
courtesy of Kevin and Mrs Curtis, who live at the
Mill House.
At the time of writing this article our Windmill
Christmas Cards are being printed and will be
available by the time this is published, together
with the sweat shirts, tea towels and candles (4th
edition) we have on sale. All goods may be obtained
from Andrew Eyles 584 339, David How 584 382 and John
Double 584 404. Sweatshirts £12.50 adult, £10
children, candles £3.50 each, 3 for £10, tea towels
£3 each, and Christmas Cards 6 for £2.50.
Finally, we all hope you will enjoy Christmas with
your family and have a very happy New Year.
John Double
Chairman
November, 2007
The annual meeting of
"Friends" was a great success and we had
over a hundred "Friends" and Trustees,
including our Millwright, Vincent Pargeter, at the
meeting. After David reported on our finances,
Vincent explained some of the more complicated photos
included in Alan Hardy's DVD presentation of the work
carried out during the last year.
Supper was then served by an "army" of lady
helpers, followed by a 'rapid fire' raffle organised
by Andrew Noakes, which included many extra prizes
donated on the night. Two unusual raffle prizes were
a wonderful 14" model of a postmill, made
entirely from matchsticks, by Adrian Cubitt, who is a
paraplegic, and donated by Glen Osbourne and a
brilliant 14" model metal tractor made by Ernie
Arnold and donated by him. The tractor was in fact
auctioned by Michael Snow, who apart from being a
'Busker' is also a professional Auctioneer; this
wasn't in the script but it was very successful.
The evening was rounded off by The Walden Buskers,
led by Michael Snow, playing a medley of country
songs and ballads including a rather 'haunting'
Hebrew song ,sung in Hebrew, which I believe is also
a dance.
The evening raised over £1100 toward the Roundhouse
restoration. This was a good start to our fund
raising and we have since applied to U.D.C. and Essex
Heritage Trust for further grants. We hope we shall
be able to start work on the Roundhouse repair and
restoration, which includes the roof as well as the
walls, in the late summer, so fingers crossed.
Our fame is spreading and Ashdon Windmill was
featured on the front of the E.C.C leaflet entitled
"Visiting Essex Windmills".
The Open Days for National Mills Weekend and The
Three Counties Walk, the following weekend, went
pretty well considering the miserable weather. The
next Open Days will be Sunday 10th June, 8th July and
12th August - you do not have to book yet but if you
would like to have a guided tour any other time ring
David How (01799 584 382) and he will arrange.
I am very pleased to report that Kevin Nicholas has
joined the Board of Trustees particularly as Kevin is
involved with youth organisations and will be a great
help widening interest in the Mill. As we now have
seven Trustees, this will allow one or two of the
senior Trustees to become "non executive"
later in the year.
Our new line in merchandise, the windmill "Tea
Towel", has proved very popular and we have
already had to order more. The fourth candle in the
series is also now available, after some delay, and
if you would like to order these, not forgetting the
sweatshirts, contact Andrew Eyes (01799 584 339). The
tea towel is £3 and the new candle £3.50.
All best wishes.
John Double
Chairman
June 2007
As John Double is currently
away chasing rabbits in Australia, it falls to me as
Deputy Chairman to keep you up to date regarding the
Windmill.
The
Christmas lighting looked particularly effective this
year with the sails installed. We must again thank
Kevin and Mrs Curtis, for their supply of
electricity, it is very much appreciated. The
illuminations are proving popular as I am now being
asked when they will be switched on again.
After
the high note of last year, when we hoisted the
sails, it seems now that we have to deal with some
less exciting things but which are nonetheless
important.
The
constructional matters we have to deal with are
basically the roof and walls of the roundhouse, which
protects the trestle. Unusually we have to deal with
the roof with its complicated conical structure,
before dealing with the round wall that supports it.
We have been working on the design for some time with
Peter Jamieson, our Architect ‘friend’ and,
of course, Vincent Pargeter our Millwright, so watch
this space.
Raising
the funds to pay for all this has started and we hope
to have sufficient by late Spring to make a start.
Also in late Spring i.e. the 28th
April we shall be having our annual meeting of
Friends to give our usual report together with some
information on the roundhouse, a light supper and
entertainment. So that we can cater for this please
let one of the Trustees know you are coming.
Despite the miserable weather
on New Year’s Day the ‘New Year
Stagger’ went well and we have since made a
number of special bookings.
The Mill will be open the
second Sunday in each month (10.30 a.m. – 4.00
p.m.) from April including the whole weekend 12th
& 13th May as this is National Mills
Open Day and we are now listed in the official Essex
Mills Register. We can always arrange special
personal visits for ‘Friends’, if you
telephone David How in advance.
Although
we have been unable to produce a commemorative candle
yet depicting the sails, we have in the meantime
produced a large ‘dramatic’ tea towel of
the Mill, which is available from Andrew Eyles (01799
584 339) or David How (01799 584 382) for the modest
sum of £3. They have been road tested, and have
proved very satisfactory.
Don’t
forget the website: ashdonwindmilltrust.co.uk
if you would like us to post a special photo or image
that you think would look good in the image archive,
please Email it to the website Email address
All best wishes.
Peter Connatty
Deputy Chairman
March
2007
