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Windmill gains TripAdvisor Excellence Award

TripAdvisor CertificateHeage Windmill’s visitors have recognised the windmill’s wonderful customer experience, gaining us a TripAdvisor® Certificate of Excellence award.

Now in its fifth year, the award celebrates excellence in hospitality and is given only to establishments that consistently achieve great  reviews on TripAdvisor.

When selecting Certificate of Excellence winners, TripAdvisor takes into account the quality, quantity and current nature of reviews and opinions submitted by travellers on TripAdvisor over a 12-month period.  To qualify, an attraction must maintain an overall TripAdvisor bubble rating of at least four out of five over a 12-month period.

Piers Bostock, Chairman of Heage Windmill Society said: ‘There is no greater seal of approval than being recognised by one’s visitors. We always have tried to offer a great experience but this is the crust on our loaf when our visitors themselves declare how well we perform. I congratulate all of our team of volunteers for their tremendous and consistent  efforts.’

Mills ‘On The Air’

Nunsfield 2015Coinciding with National Mills Weekend, we hosted the Nunsfield House Amateur Radio Group who were taking part in ‘Mills On The Air’, when amateur radio groups set up radio stations at mill sites all over Britain and the world. This year the Nunsfield House group brought a mighty mobile aerial mast, which must have been 60 feet tall.

Over the two days they broadcasted to and received messages from other mill sites.

A very successful weekend and thank you to them for letting the country and Europe know about the wonderful mill at Heage.

A Major Minor Event

Morris Minors 2015 001Members of ‘Mad Mog’ (Mansfield and District Minor Owners Group) and the East Midlands Morris Minor Owners Club dropped in at Heage Windmill on the last Sunday in April.

Around 15 cars arrived, dating from the 1950s onwards.  Many types were represented, including the old  split windscreen, four door, two door travellers with wooden framing,  etc.

There was also a good selection of traditional Morris Minor colours including the well-known Clarendon Grey and others such as Almond Green, Bedouin, Almond and Empire Green.

 

 

 

Fire Drill at Mill

Fire Drill 004The fire crew at Alfreton came to our mill for a training exercise, seeking to get a ‘casualty’ from the upper floor of the mill. The team of five, led by Incident Commander Andy Lee, arrived in a very shining Scandia fire engine and quickly sorted how they could best use the mill sack hoist shaft  to get the casualty down to ground level.

It was  an interesting visit for everyone involved and one we hope never has to be carried out for real!

Opening Ceremony – April 4

Heage Windmill 2015 Opening 012Our windmill is now open for 2015, with the opening ceremony ribbon being cut by John Boucher, a former Heage Windmill volunteer who played a vital role in bringing the windmill to life.

Prior to the opening, John drove down to the mill  on a 1948 Fordson Tractor, loaned for the occasion by John Allsop of Heage. Mr Boucher, who was the Project manager  for the restoration of the windmill in 2002, was welcomed by the Town Crier of Belper; Piers Bostock, Chair of Heage Windmill Society; and Angela Ward, Chair of the Friends of the Mill. Angela spoke at length of the debt the mill owed to John for his expertise in the bringing the mill back to life, and becoming a major Tourist attraction in Amber Valley. She also thanked the diminishing band of volunteers who keep the mill open, appealing for any potential new recruits to come and join  in the good work.

John was presented with a specially made book by John Hunter of the Friends to mark the occasion, illustrating his work over a 50 year span in working on various mills, including Heage.  In 2003, John was responsible for producing the first flour at the windmill for almost a 100 years and, in front of a sizeable gathering of supporters, said he was immensely proud and delighted to be invited to declare the mill open for its 14th season.

See Gallery below for more photos.  See photos here from the Derby Telegraph.

 

 

Display of Artefacts at Windmill

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Heage Windmill now has a display board showing artefacts discovered during the restoration of the windmill between 1996 and 2002.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhen the site at Heage was cleared, many artefacts – mainly made of iron – were found buried in and around the mill. In addition there were numerous pieces removed from the mill as they were either broken or worn out (see photo). These were collected together and in due course moved into covered store where they have been conserved but not displayed.

As they represented something of  the mill’s past, a number of the mill maintenance team felt ‘something should be done’ with them on a more permanent basis. The various items were therefore carefully identified and the concept of a display was born. There is no spare space inside the building so a large board, mounted on posts, was conceived and the various piece mounted onto it.

All the pieces have been treated with preservative and the board itself can be demounted for internal storage during the closed season. Our guides have all been briefed and are able to explain in more detail than the small labels on the board can offer and what they represent.

 

The result  is the current display board and our thanks are extended to the volunteers who assembled and presented  this collection of our mill’s heritage.

 

 

Photo shows a collection of roller tie bars, as removed from the mill during restoration in 2002.

American Dream Truck at the Windmill

DSCN2717When most folks decide to tie the knot, they get a car to take them to and from the various venues.  Kerry Fradley and Darren Ashley had the same thoughts. But they thought ‘big’ and hired an American Dream Truck as their wedding transport. This was a huge, gleaming and polished, road haulage unit which dwarfs most other things on the road; we had to trim a tree on the road down to the windmill to ensure there was a free passage!

DSCN2731The truck is 13 years old, has a 14 litre engine, a potential top speed of 110 mph, and has done almost a million miles (at 11 miles per gallon!). Behind the cab is a special unit where the happy couple could settle back and feel mighty!

The pair were married at Heage church last Saturday and then made their way down to the windmill for an unusual photo shoot, before heading off to Horsley Lodge for the reception. The whole unit, and the couple, posed in front of the mill, and many official, and unofficial photos, were taken. They were presented with an engraved wooden spoon made by Freda Stallybrass, of the Friends of the mill, and also, of course, a bag of Heage flour!

Would you like your wedding to include a photo shoot at the windmill?  Click here for more details.

Classic Motor Bikes on Show

Bike ChatSunday July 27th saw Classic Motor Bikes on show at the Windmill.

The Classic Motor Bikes club, led by Colin Clements, brought  almost 30 old restored motor bikes and put them on display.

In almost perfect weather conditions, the bikes simply gleamed in the bright sunlight.

 

 

Like to be a Volunteer?

Keeping a 200 year old windmill in full working order, particularly when it has  become a major tourist attraction in  the Amber Valley area – and even more so when it is the only complete working windmill in Derbyshire – demands a lot of effort.

Heage Windmill is run by a charitable trust but the trust depends on a small army of volunteers to keep her operating. Over the 14 years since the mill was restored, time has taken its toll on the original team and we are in urgent need of some new recruits.

Heage Windmill Portraits 004We need some new guides and shop workers and, maybe with time, some might even become millers. But even when the mill is closed, there is always work to done to the mill and the surrounds, and here a team of maintenance workers give their time  during the week.

Full training is given so you do not need to be an expert on windmills when you join us – but you will soon learn a lot about them!  Being a volunteer is something open to both sexes and  all ages; providing you are reasonably active a place for you can be found.

Heage Windmill Portraits 016It’s fascinating to be directly involved in keeping ‘the old lady’, as we call her, in trim working order and, at the same time, making her open to our many visitors.

If you think you can spare the odd day to help out why not contact Lynn Allen on 01773 715 177 and find out more?