Newsletter March 2022

THE MILL

Newsletter for Members and Friends of High Salvington Windmill          March 2022

High Salvington Mill Trust has weathered the first two years of the Covid pandemic relatively well. While we lost all open day income in 2020 and a substantial portion of that income in 2021, the Trust was eligible for Covid recovery grants that made up most of that loss.  Once we were able to open, the postponed events that we ran in 2021 were all very successful.

windmill on a sunny day   We took advantage of 2020’s downtime to completely repaint the mill buck, roundhouse and sweeps and the maintenance team has been in regular attendance keeping the grounds maintained and repainting the other buildings.

What government grants could not replace was the steady loss of volunteers as a growing number felt that after the pandemic break was the right time to hang up their miller’s caps and call it a day. Our summer fete in 2021 was renamed an “Open Fun Day” in response to our uncertainty as to how many volunteers would be available. We hope to go back to a full-scale fete in 2022.

To address the drop in volunteer numbers the Board had planned to hold a public meeting in 2021, but, in the face of the post-Christmas 2020 lock-down, this had to be postponed. We tentatively pencilled in the meeting for the following year, and on 21st January 2022, the meeting finally went ahead. Although St. Michael’s Church hall has a capacity for 90 people, we limited the advertising to mill gate posters and a circular to the residents’ association and local social media so that we could socially distance the attendees.

We had 60 people in attendance who were asked to fill in a volunteering preferences form. The Chairman presented a potted history of the mill and the role of volunteers in restoring it. Peter Casebow then introduced Dave Porter’s film, “Restoration of High Salvington Windmill”. We had a dozen or so existing volunteers fielding questions from the attendees and, from the meeting itself and phone calls before and afterwards, over fifty new volunteers came forward, along with a substantial influx of new members. Relevant names have been distributed to specific rota organisers and some of our newcomers have already visited the mill to help with pre-season cleaning.

We hope to welcome all of you to the Volunteers’ Coffee Morning on 20th March, starting at 10am, so that we can formally induct you and you can meet your organisers and other volunteers.

Volunteers meeting 20 March

All our volunteers are invited to the mill at 10:00 on 20th March for a hot drink, and an update and briefing for the season.

Maintenance report

unfurling the canvas on a common sailOn 26th September, the maintenance team took down the sail cloths. Peter Casebow and Hazel Marsden took the opportunity to carry out a training session to introduce the new sail climbing safety system. Peter started with how to tie the reef knots to safely attach the safety rope to the fencing pins. After this, Adam, Greg and Matt were introduced to the new method for safely climbing the sails. This involves tying a climbing rope around the whip of one sweep, before rotating the sweeps 180° to tie off the other end around the opposing whip. A separate loop of cord is then looped around the rope in a “Prusik Loop”, A carabiner is attached to a safety harness that the sail climber wears which they use to attach to the prusik loop. Should they fall off the sweep they are climbing, the prusik loop will tighten and prevent a long fall. The canvas sail cloths were duly removed in the safest manner employed to date and spread out in the round house to dry off before being stowed away for the winter.

Setting up the village pump      On 10th October, a small group of maintenance volunteers prepared the wind and village pumps for the winter. Water reservoirs were emptied, using a small, portable electric pump. Then, pumps were partly dismantled to remove water inside them before everything was reassembled. The village pump and Nutley wind engine both have additional valves to keep water in the pipes under normal operations so that they will commence delivering water immediately upon operation. The Glynde wind pump lacks this feature, which is why this machine always takes longer to start pumping water once the sails start to turn.

 

Founders Day 7th May

marquee at the millThe Board decided to honour the founder members of the Trust at a special Saturday afternoon opening during the National Mills Weekend. The mill and the grounds will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday afternoons May 7th and 8th. There will be a display and information to explain how the mill was restored and honouring some of our early volunteers and craftsmen who restored the mill in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as those who continue to maintain our wonderful windmill on the hill.

Do come up and view the exhibition, talk to the volunteers, and maybe take a guided tour inside. You are always sure of a warm welcome. The refreshment bar is open for tea, coffee, cakes, and ice-cream in hot weather. The shop sells souvenirs, including toy windmills to demonstrate how a windmill works.

Craft Fair 2022

A stall at the craft fair September 2021The annual Craft Fair is quite a different event these days from its origins many years ago.  Initially it was started to encourage the use of traditional rural skills such as hedge laying and wood turning.  Over the years it has changed as more and more crafters and other people who enjoy traditional skills such as jam making, mosaics and the like asked to become involved. In its modern guise the Craft Fair can have as many as thirty plus stalls ranging from the “Jam Lady” and the “cheese man” to pyrography (yes, writing with fire – also known as poker work), a good variety of craft  exhibitors, mosaics, jewellery, handmade toys and cakes.  We also still have some of the exhibitors who retain our links with the fair’s origins in the walking stick man (who also does a great line in Harry Potter type wands) and the traditional pole lathe, turning wood without any machinery.  And our friends from Sompting Morris Dancers come and perform during the afternoon.

Whilst the Craft Fair is an important source of funds for the Mill, we still run it very much as a great day out for stallholders and visitors and to encourage people to keep traditional skills alive. So all that we ask from Stall holders at the Fair is a “donation based on sales”.  So if you have a bad day then we understand and don’t ask for anything, taking some of the risk away and if you have a good day we are not greedy!!

So do come along on Sunday September 4th between 1 and 5 and see for yourself. The Mill is still open and, of course, there’s still our great selection of cakes to go with your cuppa. If you’re interested in having a table, ask early, it’s a popular event, contact Andy Campbell on 07710 144232 or andyrcampbell@btinternet.com.  We look forward to seeing you there.

 

Card Payments

Last season saw us able to take credit/debit card payments at the gate and in the tea-room. The pandemic seems to have accelerated a cashless society, and we were surprised by how many people now turn up without a single penny in their pockets. The app proved to be easy to use, and several of us have now trained in its use. Cashless payment does not extend to individual stalls at the fete. However, you will be able to purchase bags of cash with a card.  Craft stall holders often have their own system.

If you prefer to pay your membership dues by card, please go to our website. You can also pay your membership at the gate. Or fill in the form on page 5 and post to our membership secretary.

 

Tell your friends about us

Would your family and friends like to join us and support the mill as a member? Members can come into open days free of charge by showing their card at the gate.

 

 

The mill at night

The mill at nightThanks to Peter Hine for this image.

  The mills archive

The Mills archive contains a treasure trove of information about mills. I found this blog post published in February and I thought it would be of interest. I reproduce the blog post below, with permission from the mills archive.

An insight into one of our oldest books – ‘the Moolen-boek’

The Moelenboek - the book of millsIn our special collections here at the Mills Archive, we have an original copy of the Theatrum Machinarum Universale of Groot Algemeen Moolen-Boek, which translates as the Universal Theatre of Machines or Large General Mills Book, produced by Johannis van Zyl and Jan Schenk in 1734, and republished in 1761.

This large folio-sized book was produced as a reference book for millwrights and mill owners in the Netherlands. The book’s focus was on the mills that were located in Amsterdam. Johannis van Zyl was a mill maker (the literal translation of the word moolenmaker which features on the first page) from Lexmond, near Utrecht. Jan Schenk was the individual who engraved van Zyl’s drawings onto copper plate so they could be printed in the text. It is thought that Jan was a relative of the publisher of the piece, Petrus Schenk.

In the same year, another text similar to van Zyl’s appeared on the market. It was called the Groot Volkomen Moolenboek, which translates to the Big Perfect Mill Book, and was produced by Leendert van Natrus, Jacob Polly and Cornelius van Vuuren. We also hold a copy of this moolenboek at the archive.  Both of the texts show how meticulous and detailed the craft of mill making, or millwrighting, was in the early 18th century. Prior to this, mill makers would work from experience and all mills were crafted differently and therefore the knowledge they had was unlikely to be put on paper. In addition, the craft of mill-making was very lucrative in the Netherlands in this period, and therefore mill-makers and their bosses had a vested interest in keeping the process of building wind- and watermills from being widely documented. This text sought to put an end to that, and portray the process of building a mill accurately and clearly.

Follow us on Facebook. Just look for High Salvington Windmill and “like” our page to see news about the mill and the planned events throughout the year.

The entrance fee for non-member adults on open days, giving access to the grounds and the ability to purchase refreshments from our splendid tea bar, remains at £1, but we are now charging an additional £1 for adults wanting to go on a tour of the Mill. Accompanied children remain free of charge. Thank you for your continued support.
1 Stock image – not necessarily on sale

 

 Fete 3 July

We hope that the fete will take place on Sunday 3rd July, but we are in need of a volunteer or volunteers to help coordinate the event. Graham Carthew has run it for several years now and wants to hand over the reins to someone else, though he is happy to support, advise and guide.

 Membership
After many years of unchanged membership fees, the Mill has now decided that it needs to raise its subscriptions and prices. From this season, a single Annual membership will be £6 and £11 for a couple. Life membership will rise to £60. Annual membership rates have not changed for over 20 years, and we feel this still provides excellent value for money.  You can use a credit card to pay on our website, or fill in the form below.

‘The Mill’ is edited by Lucy Brooks. 01903 691945. lucindafbrooks@outlook.com

Newsletter October 2020

THE MILL

Newsletter for Members and Friends of High Salvington Windmill                                                                                                                                              October 2020

Restoration Decisions, by Jeff Best, Acting Chairman

Posting pictures of the buck cladding repairs onto our Facebook page elicited a response from an enthusiast involved in repairing mills elsewhere. Why, he wanted to know, were we replacing with lengths of board shorter than the length of the buck, leading to end-on-end joins which might be more vulnerable to rot?

  The challenge in restoration is to decide to what state you are restoring something. This is as true of windmills, pumps, engines and generators as it is for any other artefact in need of restoration. Should the end result be “as new”? Do you want it to be as it was when it was last used? Are you going to repair using the latest materials and techniques, to give it a new lease of life? At High Salvington the philosophy has always been to aim for the “last use” state, with limited adoption of newer materials and techniques where unavoidable, hence the use of Sadolin to replace tar on the buck and the latest material used to keep the roundhouse roof watertight, which is quite modern but visually in keeping with materials of yore.

  Assuming this philosophy, I sought answers for our Facebook correspondent. If we had chosen to use larch cladding boards of this length then was there some evidence that this was the state of cladding when the mill was last in commercial use in 1897? I was soon put right by our veteran technical advisor, Peter Casebow. The 7” wide larch boards we use were originally as recommended by the members of the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum who sat on our Board in the early days of the restoration. This choice gives us a 55% overlap, so that we had two board coverage of the entire mill buck, and any abutting joints lay over a full board with soakers underneath. Working with boards, the length of the buck would also be a challenge, as the longer the board, the more prone it is to split. Our boards are “tanalised” before use, i.e. they are impregnated with the latest Tanalith wood preservative, using pressure and vacuum, so that it replaces water deep within the cells of the timber to protect it from insects, microbes and fungus. Our Facebook correspondent reported having to replace cladding that had rotted in less than ten years. According to Peter, the small number of boards we are replacing this year have been in place for nearly 36 years! Moreover, there is no evidence of any of the boards suffering from ends rotting.

  All this reminds me that while our objective is the preservation of the windmill, and more recently the additional pumps, engine and generator, an important part of our responsibility at the Trust is to preserve the knowledge of designs, materials and techniques so that future generations can understand how and why choices were made to preserve also the tradition of the restoration. So, while the handy-skilled doers do vital repairs, we need documenters to document choices and our archivists need to ensure that all of this recorded knowledge is readily accessible to the next generation so that they may continue the good work long into the future!

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Major Painting Project, by Ian Fairclough

The painting of the mill by our contractor (Colin Brooker from Littlehampton) and the buck roof repairs carried out by volunteers have been completed and by the time you receive this newsletter, the scaffolding should have been removed, allowing the grand old lady to be displayed in all her glory. I’m sure autumn weather conditions will enable us to give her a quick spin too.

  This is the first time the sails have been painted in situ which presented the scaffolders and the painter with some challenges as only one sail could be painted at a time with it in a perpendicular position. The scaffolding around the sail had to be dismantled and re-assembled for each sail but this process was managed well.

  The Maintenance team have also been busy with their paintbrushes during the summer and all buildings and structures on site have or will have been freshened up with a coat of black (and white where appropriate!). This included re-caulking and the painting with tar of the Roundhouse walls. At the time of writing this update only the two metal wind engines require completion.

  Site gardening has continued throughout so the whole mill site will make a very pretty picture once the scaffolding has gone. What a shame our visitors can’t come and enjoy it until next year (hopefully!!).

  No peace for the wicked – the maintenance team are not sitting on their laurels as their attention has now turned to the installation of the hand pump acquired from a local resident’s garden. The pump will be sited outside of the small mills area so that children – young and old, can play with it. Work has started with a hole for the water tank (a dustbin!) being deftly dug by Ryan Flippance our local (very helpful) JCB driver. It is intended to have the pump installed and working before the end of the year.

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Grain Measures, by Michael Steele

Winchester bushel
Winchester bushel

People didn’t trust the miller! He could “adjust” the measures of grain to his advantage.  Theoretically, there was just one single corn measure in England although individual bushels were often damaged by age or falsified by accident or design.  According to Magna Carta there would be uniform measures across the realm but this did not actually happen. In 1496 Henry VII set up the “Winchester” measures which were also never enforceable and parliament reported in 1758 that the standards were still far from fair and consistent. This led in due course to the Weights and Measures Act of 1824 when standards really were enforced and volume measures had to comply with a standard design of height and width.

Imperial bushel for Essex 1844
Imperial bushel for Essex 1844

  Our understanding of market prices is different today to what it was.  Bread was sold by the loaf and whilst its price stayed the same, its weight went up or down according to the harvest or market conditions and the size was regulated by the authorities. Similarly, a bushel of grain had many different sizes yet all with the same name. Goods were sold by “custom and usage” at a “fair price” rather than by uniform weights and measures.

How (and why) France changed to metric

C18 French bushel

  Let us consider the position in France before the Metric System when every town and village would have its own measures.  There were some 250,000 different units of measure in France in the 1700s and a bushel (boisseau) of grain could be manipulated by the way in which it was filled.  If the sack is tipped into the measure from rim height it is less compressed (i.e. of lesser weight) than if the sack is held at shoulder height – as could be enforced by the more powerful party to the transaction. The measure could be required to be heaped or level so as to influence the volume. A miller could ensure that machinery was running during the pouring so that the vibration shook the grains down and he received more grain than if it were done on a stable ground.  The actual volume of the bushel could also be manipulated by it having to be heaped or level. Also, the heap is affected by its shape (the heap above a wide neck contains more grain than a heap above a narrow neck) and the strickle used to level the grain could be flat or cylindrical (a cylindrical one compresses grain into the measure). There could be an “allowance” for mice depredation or for drying out or even for a higher or lower quality of a particular harvest.

  The bushel’s volume usually depended upon the type of grain being measured so that the same unit name applied to different quantities of wheat, barley or oats for example. There was a different volume for a bushel of small oats to that for large oats.

  Most of the abuses were based on the individual power of the party who could insist on his measure being used and how. The peasant wanted as little grain as possible when he took it to the miller – who wanted as much as he could get from the peasant but give as little as he could to the wholesaler. The miller wanted to pay his corn rent to the land-owner with as little grain as he could get away with. The Church or land-owner wanted as much as their agent could force into the measure (and the agent could extract a percentage for himself often from the heap above the measure itself) but wanted it smaller when paying tax. It was common for the landowner to have two bushels – one for receiving corn rent and one for selling. The king wanted to ensure that his exchequer was getting the maximum extractable from the owners. If bulk grain was rafted down a river to a port, the wholesalers had the whip hand even over the landowners: they could decree their own measures as it was impracticable to ship the cargo back upstream again.

  There was no effective independent check of standards and the size of the bushels even increased year to year as the landowner had larger measures made for corn rent purposes.

  By 1789 there was a build-up of complaints calling for one standard measure for all throughout the country and the Metric System was finally introduced. People didn’t really get what they wanted though as in the market place it is more practical to count in units that are divisible into halves than by 10 and the new system was not immediately effective. For a number of decades the authorities allowed a total confusion of hybrid measures with old names but with new quantities or vice versa. Eventually the old measures were finally destroyed (there are few of the old measures left even in museums) and a system of standardised units finally came in as the scientific and industrial revolutions gathered momentum.

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SPAB Wind report, by Jeff Best

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings recently advertised a Webinar, “Wind and Windmills: Friend or Enemy?” and two members of the board  attended. Steve Temple, SPAB Guardian and Mills Section committee member, addressed an issue of great interest to all windmills: how do we reliably establish the impact of proposed nearby developments?

Burgh Le Marsh mill after Storm Ciara
Burgh Le Marsh mill lost its cap in Storm Ciara in February.

  Steve provided two documents as homework, a Wind Report and a Storm Report. The Storm Report dealt with damage to mills during the recent storms Ciara and Dennis including Burgh Le Marsh which lost its cap and Soham Downfield which suffered a broken brake wheel. Furthermore, the storm-induced reversal of the sails had bent the short piece of RSJ used to sprag the wheel. We have neither a fantail nor a cap so the chance of our mill being adversely winded in a storm due to gusts against shutter sails is reduced. Our vigilant millers also rope the tail pole to reduce the risk of unwanted winding. We chock our brake wheel in both directions using stout lengths of wood which may very well be stronger than a short length of RSJ, eliminating the risk of sails reversing and then smashing back with force to break our brake wheel.

  In his Wind Report Steve showed that with a few months’ anemometer measurements he could calculate, for ten degree intervals, the difference between on-site wind power and the nearest meteorological station’s decades of data and then  transpose the data to produce a windmill “rose” for his mill. He used this to validate and calibrate the Molenbiotoop calculations used in the Netherlands.

  Combining a calibrated Molenbiotoop with heights of trees and buildings, derived from Google Earth 3D, for each ten degree point around his mill he produced a “milling rose” showing the average yearly hours of suitable wind force for milling in each arc. For Impington, he calculated that the 166 milling days his grandfather once enjoyed have been reduced to 23 days. His method simplifies calculating the impact of proposed developments and with SPAB Mills Section being asked to address planning applications every other day, often with only a few days to respond, this is a vital tool.

  I believe we need to acquire and fit an anemometer so that we can transpose wind records from our nearest meteorological station to supply this to SPAB when we are next faced with a planning application threatening the mill.

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Wartime flour supplies

National flour bag during WWII
National flour bag during WWII

At the start of the war Britain was importing around 70% of its grain, but with the demands of war and the risk posed by U-Boats to imported supplies, the government sought ways to make limited grain supplies go further.

  Thus, National Flour was introduced in 1942. Its extraction rate was around 85%, which was much higher that the white bread that was almost universally eaten before the war: a similar rate to today’s brown bread. Extraction rate refers to the amount of flour produced compared to grain – for example, at an extraction rate of 85% per 100kg of grain, 85kg of National Flour would be produced. White bread in comparison is more heavily milled and processed, with a rate of around 70%. In 1941, calcium fortification was also introduced as Rickets was found to be common amongst those joining the Women’s Land Army. Fortification of bread continues today in all bread aside from wholemeal

  Bread was never rationed during the war, but it would come under rationing from 1946 till 1948. Commercial white bread, however, was banned altogether on the 6th April 1942, and sliced white bread wouldn’t be reintroduced until 1950, with the National Loaf abolished six years later. The National Loaf was unpopular and was dubbed ‘Hitler’s Secret Weapon’. It apparently had an unappealing colour and texture, but was much less wasteful than the more popular white bread and saved on limited supplies, as well as being healthier. Furthermore – at least according to the Minister of Food at the time – it acted as an aphrodisiac!

  In today’s health-conscious world, with a backlash against white bread, it is interesting to see the unpopularity of the introduction of what effectively was brown bread. Indeed, the National Loaf didn’t appear to have any lasting effect, and as soon as it was reintroduced people started buying white bread again. From the Mills Archive

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Looking for the skills we need

In a bid to find skilled people to help to maintain the mill, we have sent out a mailing to companies and contractors with carpentry, joinery, engineering and general building skills. The letter asked for volunteers, inviting them to a virtual meeting on 18th October. The meeting needed to be online since we are currently unable to hold a physical meeting in the mill field. We will repeat this exercise – targeting large employers, but we may wait until we can have volunteers physically present.

No Carols this year but let’s support our hospices

As you all know, every year in December volunteers organise a bonfire and carol singing round the fire. We  collect donations from residents and friends who support us each year. All the donations go to St. Barnabas and the Chestnut Tree House hospices. This year, although there will be no bonfire or carols, on Friday 18th December from 8 am to 1 pm and Sunday 20th December from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. the gate house will be open to receive your donations. During the “lock down” the charities lost much of their funding. We are sure they would be pleased to accept our help. Thanks go to Betty Potts for organising this.

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 Annual membership subscriptions can be paid by cheque or by Standing Order, and can be upgraded to Life membership at any time. Members can enter open afternoons free of charge by showing their card at the gate. We currently have 204 members (ten honorary), and would love there to be more.

Any questions: Paul Minter on membership@highsalvingtonwindmilltrust.co.uk

Capt. Paul Minter, Membership

Follow us on Facebook. Just look for High Salvington Windmill and “like” our page to see news about the mill and the planned events throughout the year.

‘The Mill’ is edited by Lucy Brooks. 01903 691945

Newsletter August 2020

THE MILL

Newsletter for Members and Friends of High Salvington Windmill                                                                                                                                                      August 2020

Calling for engineering skills

Welcome to a special extra newsletter published by the High Salvington Windmill. As you know, the windmill has been closed all season. But we have taken advantage of this to carry out some essential maintenance work. We were fortunate to receive a Covid-19 business grant from the Government, and the Board decided to spend it to get some jobs done, and also to help the local economy by giving work to local businesses. It was necessary to hire a firm to paint the buck and the sails, while our stalwart band of volunteers will take care of the outbuildings, We thank them for so willingly giving up their time to paint and maintain these buildings. Our Chairman reports later in this newsletter on the measures the Board needs to consider for the long-term future of the windmill. We are specifically looking for a chief engineer with the right skills and experience to maintain the mill in its pristine condition, as well as a coordinator of works.

  Ever since the Windmill Trust was formed, volunteers have willingly given their time. Reader Janet Pelling sent us some pictures of her husband and son, back in the 1980s, helping with the restoration work. On the right you can see son Ian Pelling, aged 11, standing in front of the newly demolished tea-room, before the new roundhouse was built.

 

A look around the mill field

The millstone leaning against the Scots Pine Tree. This millstone was found beneath the patio of a house on the north side of Lowther Road, off Half Moon Lane. The miller in 1792 William Sheppard also owned Salvington Nurseries just south of Crockhurst Hill and it is possible that he brought the old millstone down the hill – although there are other theories. We think it may have been removed from the mill in the mid-19th century. Although they are very long-lasting, millstones do not last for ever. They are dressed (i.e. the grooves sharpened) regularly but eventually become too thin with the danger of breakage during grinding.  The millstone is of Derbyshire Peak stone which produces the rougher, wholemeal flour we produce today on the current stones.

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The Tailpole and Talthur. The tailpole is the long white beam behind the mill that gives so much fun to visiting children as they move the mill round. The renovation team got the tailpole to the length it should be (as it had been left too short in the 1960s. They also made and installed the talthur, the lever we use to raise the steps, and so release the mill to turn. The image is of a group of visitors enjoying the thrill of moving the mill. Thirty-three tons of mill can be moved by just a couple of people and children enjoy the thrill of such power.

Stories taken from “The Mill Field Story” published by the High Salvington Mill Trust 2013, with minor edits.

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From field to shelf – from the archive

Grain or corn includes most of the cereals – wheat, barley oats, maize, rye, rice, and buckwheat, to mention a few. These grains (apart from oats, which have to be rolled) can be ground as a part of the milling process to become flour – ‘a finely ground powder prepared from grain or other starchy plant foods’. (continued…)

 

Where did wheat come from?

The word cereal comes from Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture. According to myth, it was Ceres who taught humans how to plough, introducing them to grain and the art of grinding. It is believed that grain production began somewhere in or near Mesopotamia and Egypt and could have been growing as early as the 10th century BC. The early grains then crossed with each other to form hybrids, until we eventually ended up with the modern wheat of today.

  The first mills were saddle querns – a flat slab of stone and a hand-held upper stone. Hard work! Next came the quern millstones, similar to the one we have at our mill. On the right you see our own quern being operated by visiting schoolchildren. Querns continued for home use for many centuries but meanwhile, mankind learned to harness animal, wind and water power to turn much larger stones.

  Much later, roller milling began – where the grain was ground on rollers rather than millstones. Today’s flour mills are high-tech affairs, but the principle is the same: the grain has to be broken open and refined to produce a usable food product. To make good quality flour, millers must ensure the wheat is good. After a damp summer, wheat grains can begin to sprout before harvest, and the quality of the seed can degrade quickly. When sprouting occurs, enzymes begin to break down the long chains of starch into simple sugars. This impacts the quality of bread and other baked goods made from sprouted wheat. 

  There is a test called the “Hagberg falling number” to measure enzyme activity in flour. It refers to the number of seconds it takes for a plunger to fall through a mix of wheat flour in water. If the plunger falls quickly, it means that the starch has been converted to sugar. However, if the plunger falls slowly, the mixture is thick with starch and thus of good flour. Grain merchants must test their wheat because bakers will only buy flour with a falling number of over 250 (seconds). So millers must ensure that the grain they buy will meet the standard. Ours has to be higher than 250.

Information taken from “From Quern to Computer” by the Mills Archive, and thanks to Bob Potts for the Hagberg falling number pointers.

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Spicy cheese biscuits

Our flour is produced as souvenir flour. But if you want to bake some souvenir spicy cheese biscuits – here is a recipe. The image is the result of your editor following the instructions. I can report that I put a tad too much cayenne in the mixture for my taste, but they are very cheesy!

2 oz High Salvington Wholemeal flour

2 oz butter

3 oz cheddar cheese (grated)

Pinch of salt and pepper and 2 pinches of Cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon of water

Rub the butter thoroughly into the flour, add the dry ingredients and most of the cheese and mix with the water. Roll out the mixture thinly and cut into a variety of fairly small shapes and place on a greased baking tray. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake at 190oC (375oF, gas mark 5), for 10-15 minutes.

  For more recipes purchase our recipe book from the souvenir shop when we open again.

 

The Cootes – a Family of Millers and Bakers of Salvington

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, our miller would have been purchasing his grain from local grain merchant and baker Coote and Sons in Salvington Road. Although started by Alfred Coote, the business was really run by his widow Rhoda and her sons. As a family, they had worked as millers in various mills in Hampshire and Sussex, including ours. They settled in Salvington Road to create their bakery.

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In memoriam for Quentin English

Quentin English died on 23rd June, after being diagnosed with cancer just two weeks earlier. He was a man who loved life, especially making happy memories for others. From artist to art teacher, motorcyclist to Morgan connoisseur, Balkan tour operator to travel lecturer/ examiner/author – and Classic Car Day organiser at the windmill – he did everything he could to make the world more fun for others.

  He loved telling stories and reminiscing about adventures (or ‘international incidents’ as they were often known!). His cancer was sudden and aggressive and took him quickly. His widow Ann said that she and Quentin have been organising the mill’s Classic Cars open day since 2010 and, via this, have raised substantial funds for the windmill. Ann says she is willing to continue in 2021 – this year’s having been, of course, cancelled. Our condolences go to Ann, and thanks for her continued support for the mill.

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Maintenance Co-ordinator

The current Maintenance Co-ordinator, Ian Fairclough will be standing down from this role at the end of the year and the Board would like to hear from anyone who would take this on. The role is to manage the volunteer Maintenance team and liaise with contractors where necessary to arrange working parties to carry out work at the mill which ranges from gardening tasks to heavy engineering. An interest in ensuring the mill continues to be maintained in good working order for the benefit of the local community and our visitors is essential and an engineering background is desirable.

  If you would like more information about this role please contact Ian Fairclough on 01903 267354 or 07759 650540.

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A word from our Acting Chairman, Jeff Best

Scaffolding erected ready for painting work in August

As I write, we have lost ten open days and events to the pandemic. We have also held a socially distanced AGM with proxy votes and some attendees via Zoom. Work behind the scenes continues. Some of you may have noticed scaffolding going up around the windmill, ready for further repairs to the sails, some cladding replacement and a complete repaint. Less noticeable to passers-by is the completion of the Nutley wind engine with the installation of a pump so we now have two working wind pumps. A few gusty days have pushed the Nutley Wind Generator to produce close to its maximum power output.

  Although we had hoped that we might be able to open the mill grounds towards the end of the season, with the currently reported daily averages of new Covid cases and related deaths per day, the Board has reluctantly decided not to open the mill field at all this season. Nor will we be holding the carol service in December. This is a shame, but we simply cannot take any risks with visitors’ and volunteer’s health. As reported elsewhere, the maintenance volunteers remain busy. They are not painting the windmill themselves but have commenced repainting all of the other buildings. The trustees are also active. We need to organise some effective recruitment of both volunteers and members, to fill some specific vacancies and bolster the skills and confidence within the maintenance team. While spending several months on planning is intended to ensure success, if the planned current way in which the mill is managed. Although prudent management by our predecessors has steadily accrued our current reserves they are insufficient to keep the mill maintained for more than a few years if we lack the skills and confidence to do our own maintenance and we have to be aware that our sweeps have already exceeded their expected life. Ideally, we will find a new chief engineer with the skills and experience to take on the management of the maintenance for the foreseeable future.

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Membership – get your friends to join us

Without you, our members, we would not be able to continue to run the Mill. Do please pass this newsletter to friends, neighbours or family in case they might like to join as members. Perhaps you even consider buying gift membership for someone.

  Our members fall into three categories: Honorary Membership, awarded for long service to the mill; Life Membership, open to all for a one-off fee of £40; Annual Membership: just £4 for a single membership or £7 for a dual membership. A membership application form is included at the end of this newsletter, and please do not hesitate to contact me if you require more information on membership, how to pay by standing order, or how you can support the Trust in any other way.

  Annual membership subscriptions can be paid by cheque or by Standing Order, and can be upgraded to Life membership at any time. Members can enter open afternoons free of charge by showing their card at the gate. We currently have 203 members (ten honorary), and would love there to be more.

Any questions: Paul Minter on membership@highsalvingtonwindmilltrust.co.uk

Capt. Paul Minter, Membership

 

Follow us on Facebook. Just look for High Salvington Windmill and “like” our page to see news about the mill and the planned events throughout the year.

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 Membership
  The cost of an Annual membership is just £4 (£7 for dual membership).The cost of Life membership is £40.

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SUBSCRIPTION TO THE HIGH SALVINGTON MILL TRUST LTD

Annual membership                          per person            £  4.00                  o

per dual couple    £  7.00                  o

Life membership                               per person            £40.00                  o

I/we enclose CASH/CHEQUE payable to HIGH SALVINGTON MILL TRUST LTD

NAME: ______________________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS: ___________________________________________________________________________

Post Code_________________

Signed _____________________   Date ___________________ email: _____________________________

Send to: Membership secretary, 69 Hayling Rise, High Salvington, Worthing, BN13 3AG

email: membership@highsalvingtonmilltrust.co.uk

Data Protection: If you object to your name and address being kept on computer, please raise the matter with the membership secretary.

Registered in England Company no. 4199780                       Registered office: 12 Furzeholme, Worthing BN13 3BS

 

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‘The Mill’ is edited by Lucy Brooks. 01903 691945

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