The Mill

Newsletter of the Friends of High Salvington Windmill
December 2011

Worthing's Youth Mayor Liam Mills
at the Mill's Fete on 10 July 2011.
Photograph by Lucy Brooks
 

Carols
The final event on the calendar for 2011 is the Mill's annual "Carols round the bonfire" that will be held on Friday, 16 December, commencing at 7.15 p.m. A collection will be made on behalf of St. Barnabas and Chestnut Tree House hospices. Free hot chocolate and mince pies will be served.

ooOoo

Successful fete – but help needed for the future
Bright sunshine and a field packed with stalls greeted a thousand or so people who visited the Mill's Annual Fete on 10 July. VIP guests included the Mayor of Worthing, Councillor Ann Barlow, and the Youth Mayor Liam Mills (pictured above). Stalls manned by the Worthing Spinners, Dyers and Weavers and the Wey and Arun Canal Trust highlighted the Mill's strong links with other organisations dedicated to preserving our heritage of buildings and skills.

Books, souvenirs, bric-a-brac, garden plants, home-made cakes, etc. also were available along with stalls offering bottle fishing, tombola, raffles, shove ha'penny, and crockery smashing. As usual, tours of the Mill proved popular as did an exhibition prepared by the Mill's archivists and the Morris dancers from Switzerland (with alpenhorns) and the USA.

Takings of over £3250 were recorded, of which £2548 was banked towards the support and maintenance of the Mill.

Although successful there is concern among Mill supporters about the future of the Fete. John Tripcony, who has headed the Fete organisation for over ten years, has retired and the search is on for a replacement. Anyone who is interested should call John (262443) or Bob Potts (260218).

ooOoo

West Blatchington Mill Sails
Work has been carried out at High Salvington on the sails of the West Blatchington Mill. Peter Casebow believes that the work carried out by the millwrights will serve as excellent training for similar work that may have to be done on the High Salvington mill. The West Blatchington Mill, in Hove, was painted by John Constable in 1825.

• During the summer work has been completed on building a set of dummy sails based on the original design. It was found that the laminated timber for the whips was substandard so new ones had to be made in Germany. This delayed the project by about eight weeks.
• Initially only two sails were removed without their corresponding stocks. This meant that separate large patterns of the fixing hole positions had to be made and transferred to the exact positions on the new sails. The holes could not be drilled on the last two sails, which were being tantalised, until afterwards as more patterns had to be madefrom the last pair of sails.
• On 11 October the two new sails were bolted into position and the remaining pair removed. The back stays - which had to be fitted individually to the stocks - were installed in the following week.
• The fixing holes have been drilled in to the last whips and work on fixing the pads has started.

ooOoo

Work completed

• New stanchions have been obtained to surround the wind pump. They have been modified to accept an upper and a lower rope.
• The roof of the round house has been partially repainted.
• Drain covers near the barn have been repointed
• The walls of the kitchen have been repainted and a new floor is to be fitted. A large amount of earth near to the kitchen has been removed.

ooOoo

New Vicar enjoys his visits to the Mill
A frequent visitor to the Mill during the summer was Father Graham Whiting, Vicar of the Parish of All Saints Findon Valley. "The Windmill is in an area of High Salvington that became part of the Parish just over a year ago", explains Father Graham. "We also took over the running of the little church of St. Peter's – just along the road from the Mill – at the beginning of 2011."

"As the Vicar of this newly enlarged Parish I have enjoyed getting to know the people and organisations that make up the life of High Salvington."

One thing that has given Father Graham "particular joy" has been visiting the Mill on some of the Sunday Open Days and attending the Summer Fair. "I have been impressed by the positive atmosphere and fellowship and unity with people working together through a common love of the Windmill and a desire to make its existence more widely known, and to share this interest with the wider community."

Father Graham will be at the Christmas Carol event on 16 December and looks forward to other visits to the Mill in the future.

"In addition I am keen for the Church of St. Peter's to be used more by the community. I understand that it is already used by the Mill for meetings. I want to work together with the Mill in other ways where we can share our resources. During the past year a great deal of work has been done on the grounds at the rear of the Church. I want to improve the outward visual appearance of the building during the next year. I hope that people connected with the Mill can help us."

ooOoo

Archive now well established
The High Salvington Mill archive - housed in the refurbished gatehouse - is now up and running. A purpose designed system has been established and a first batch of information has been processed.

Any information, photographs, drawings, etc. are welcome – contact: Wendy on wendemfnel@tiscali.co.uk

ooOoo

Board changes and a plea for volunteers
Changes to the Board of The Mill Trust Ltd Board have been announced:

Val Sutton, who has served for many years, has stepped down from being Chair and has been replaced by Tom Wye.

Jeff Best, a Board member, has retired. Jeff has helped with event organisation, with computer matters, and has been a "hands-on" steward for some years. Many of his responsibilities will be taken over by David Start, the new secretary.

Ann Lynn, who has given her support and assistance to many organisations in the past, has retired from the Board. The presentation of an engraved vase was made at the Mill to thank her for her dedicated service.

• The Board has stressed the need for more volunteers "otherwise a number of events each year will no longer be held". An example of the problem is indicated by the fact the annual Barn Dance was not held in 2011 due to the fact that there was no one to organise it. In addition, help is needed for maintenance and other work from any persons with the necessary skills. Those interested should contact David Start (232585).
• The Mill has an excellent safety record and checks of its risk assessment are made on a regular basis, and safety drills are carried out. However, the Board feels that a volunteer with specific health and safety knowledge and experience should be recruited. Anyone prepared to give some of their time should contact Tom Wye (267227).

ooOoo

Membership

The cost of an Annual membership is just £4 (£7 for dual membership).

The cost of Life membership is £40.

ooOoo

'The Mill' is edited by Bob Brooks.
Email: bobbrooks@btconnect.com

Go to Miller's Talk >