This month’s image from our windmill archive is of a war-damaged windmill near Calais in northern France. This mill was photographed in 1916.
Thaxted Windmill
This is the so-called John Webb’s Windmill, which was built in 1804. It has been restored and is open to the public on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and on Bank Holidays, from Easter to end of September. The mill is currently owned by the local Parish Council and staffed by volunteers.
The low thatched building in the foreground was built as a Priest’s House but converted into an almshouse building in the 18th century. The building on the right was built around 1711 as an almshouse and is still used for that purpose to this very day.
Weare Tower Mill in Allerton
A photograph of what was left of the Weare Tower Mill in Weare / Stone Allerton, Somerset, c.1910. Shortly after this photograph was taken the mill was converted into a private dwelling house and remains such today. Legend tells of a horse rider being thrown from his horse and killed after it was frightened by the whirling sound of the sails. The mill was last worked in 1880.
Compare this with a recent photograph of the same Allerton mill with attached house (taken from the opposite direction).
Windy Miller and Camberwick Green
Perhaps the most famous miller is Windy Miller from the late 1960s children’s television, Camberwick Green. Not so long ago Windy popped up in a new advertisement for Quaker Oats. Here he is in one of what I think were four different versions. The advert finishes with Windy getting in a sports car and putting his arm around Molly, the barmaid from the Feathers pub!
See our previous post on Windy Miller!
Old Windmill in Kerridge
Derelict Essex Windmill
A scan of an old photograph of the derelict mill in Orsett, Essex, England, as it looked in 1971.
Stelling Minnis Windmill
An interesting photograph, sent in by Gary Morse of Folkestone, showing some maintenance being done to the sails of the windmill in Stelling Minnis, near Canterbury, Kent. The windmill was built in in 1866 and unusually was in commercial use until the late 1960s. It is now owned by Kent County Council and open to the public every Sunday afternoon between Easter and the end of September each year.
Etching of a Fenland Windmill
High Ham Windmill
Here is a short film made by a visitor to Stembridge Tower Mill in High Ham, Somerset. Interesting views of the interior and the sounds of the Jackdaws nesting under the thatched cap. Thanks Lesley!
Edmonton Windmill
A scan of a reproduction postcard featuring Edmonton Windmill, Middlesex around 1914.
Click to see an enlarged version of the image. Loads of great detail!