It was probably the brightest, sunniest, but maybe coolest, time that Santa has visited the windmill on Sunday.
A small crowd of admirers were waiting when he arrived on the Belper Rotary club motorised sledge.
They queued patiently to meet him inside the mill, which had been converted into a sparkling grotto.
Just over 100 children of all ages saw him and told him their needs – the youngest was only 2 weeks old- a record for the mill!
Whilst waiting their turn, the guardians and children had a variety of activities to enjoy, including ‘hug a husky’ , a huge bric a brac stall and lots of good things to eat and drink.
Angela Ward (Chair of Friends of the windmill) said: ‘It’s been a great day and everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves’ . She went on to particularly thank the many mill volunteers who had turned out to operate the various events and to look after Santa.
The family from Nether Heage with Santa are Rose (Rudolf hat only) and Daisy Mulchinock with mum, dad and grandma
Rob Johnson, a local metal detectorist, has donated some fascinating artefacts to Heage Windmill, many dating from the working life of the windmill. Some pre-date the mill and others are more recent.
A few of the artefacts items have a direct link with the mill, such as an old trowel which dates from around the time the mill was repaired following the 1894 storm when the cap blew off.
The whole collection reflects the agricultural history of the area, with evidence of trade and travel through the area. There are also interesting personal items that point to the sort of lives people lived, such as the love token (was it discarded or lost by the recipient?).
To read more about Roy’s pursuit of metal detecting and his interesting finds, click here
The weekend of May 13/14 is National Mills weekend, organised by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), when our windmill will be one of the hundreds of wind and water mills throughout the country which will open its doors to visitors, many of which are not normally accessible to the public.
The theme this year is ‘Engineers and Engineering’ and so, apart from the marvellous old machinery to behold in our 220 year old windmill, we will be welcoming dozens of vintage cars – old power in plenty indeed!
The cars, which are taking part in a rally, will be of assorted makes and models displaying the early motoring technology which led to the well engineered and reliable vehicles most people drive today.
There will be a steady stream of them arriving throughout the day, starting from 9-00am and continuing until 4-00 pm, although a core of them will be on site all day.
It will be something like a lucky dip as to what will be there at any particular time, depending how long one stays on site.
Throughout the weekend radio clubs from all over the UK will be based at windmills and water mills, seeking to make contact with other mills in this country and across the world. Over the entire weekend we will once again be hosting the Nunsfield Amateur radio Club, based in Derby, who will set up a temporary transmission station and will try to carry the name ‘Heage Windmill’ to the far corners of the world.
The windmill, of course, will be open for tours on both days , from 11-00 until 4-00 pm, with the last tour starting at 3-30 pm.
In what has now become a tradition, Heage Windmill was once again put to rest for the winter by the spinning of a spider’s web.
Volunteers turned up to assist in the spinning of the web, working under the instructions of our ‘Queen Spider’ (Lynn Allen).
It’s always amazing to see the strands of knicker elastic grow rapidly and eventually emerge as a complex web, large enough to ensure the mill will be well protected through the cold winter months.
Tractor day at Heage Windmill on Sunday September 4th was a roaring success, and even the sun came out later in the day.
Some two dozen carefully restored tractors – of a variety of well known makes – were lined up in the paddock area and visitors were able to examine, discuss and in some cases sit on them!
We were also pleased to be able to fly, for the first time, the 2016 Flag of Excellence , provided by Trip Advisor, marking our second year in that category as a tourism site.
The Nunsfield House radio club were in attendance and were making contact with other amateur radio stations round the world.
They had some special news to impart: one of their members who was on site, Stephan Latimer, was the winner of a prize draw made at the mill, at noon. His prize, a week in a holiday cottage in Belper, had been donated by local man, Barry Lewis, and all proceeds have gone into the mill repair fund TAMA (Trouble at the Mill).
Also on the day, we were presented with a scale model of the windmill, made by Mr Michael Nunns, which took 8 months to make and used approximately 5,500 match sticks.
This excellent model will be on regular display at the mill.
The ever popular bric a brac stall was particularly busy and, again, proceeds went to the mill repair funds. Keeping a 220 year old Grade 2* listed machine in working order needs a lot of money!
On a perfect, blue sky, breezy Sunday, Heage Windmill Society held a memorable event to celebrate the completion of mill repairs.
For the first time ever the mill was closed to the general public for just the afternoon in order that the Trustees could properly thank all those who had contributed to the repairs being accomplished after severe wet rot was discovered nine months ago.
Unfortunately, as many donors had not given contact details, the Trustees were not able to invite everyone but still wished to offer a huge thank you for their vital contributions.
Chairman of the Heage Windmill Society Piers Bostock welcomed the invited group of over 120 people attending the event.
They largely consisted of groups and individuals who had helped in any way – by donations, effort or time – in the concentrated fundraising period.
The donations came from all over the country – including a few fellow mills – along with some international help.
Piers especially thanked the local businesses who had contributed by either providing facilities or work space.
He thanked Neil Medcalf from Traditional Millwrights, who carried out the major repairs but he particularly full of the praise for the mill volunteers who put in hundreds of hours of work over the last eight months, fund raising or working on the repairs.
It was their efforts, he said, that meant the repair had been completed in less than nine months and for which the costs were largely covered.
Other Speakers included: Robert Kirkland, representing Bowmer and Kirkland; Cllr Steve Freeborn (Chair of Derbyshire County Council) as the mill owner; plus local MP Nigel Mills.
All of them praised the mill volunteers for their concerted efforts to bring this now famous Derbyshire landmark back to life again.
During Piers’ speech, Founder Trustee Alan Gifford ceremoniously cut the fund raising wristbands worn by both Piers and volunteer Lynn Allen to symbolise the end of the fundraising period.
The windmill was decorated with bunting, strung between the sails, which turned slowly in the gentle breeze.
A full hog roast, and other refreshments, including two huge iced fruit cakes – one of which was decorated with the image of the windmill – was then enjoyed by all.
The Derventio Choir sang their hearts out in the background, providing lovely entertainment, enjoyed by all.
Tractor Days are always popular and we are again pleased to welcome the ever popular collection of Vintage and Veteran Tractors to Heage Windmill this Sunday, April 30th from 11-00 am until 4-00pm.
These old pieces of farming equipment complement the 220 year old windmill and helped change the farm industry for ever , making horses almost redundant.
They include 60 year old Ford and Massey Fergusons and have mostly been restored to pristine condition.
There are many photo opportunities and even the chance of sitting on board one! Tours of the mill and light refreshments will, of course, be available.
Local author Glyn Jones has published ‘A brief history of the trials and tribulations of people living and working in and around Heage Windmill.’
Entitled Life Under the Sails, Glyn documents many colourful characters including members of the Shore family who owned Heage Windmill from 1846 to 1934.
Here is an extract which explains the origin of two oft-quoted local phrases…
In 1842 three men from Heage set out to burgle a house on Stanley Common. Samuel Bonsall, William Bland and John Hulme – the latter was actually a tinker from Leek – attacked Martha and Sarah Goddard in their home. Martha was beaten to death and the fate of the killers gave rise to, not only the reference to ‘hanging em in bunches in Heage’, but also the rather brutal assertion that you could tell a man from Heage ‘by the rope mark on his neck’.
The publication is available from the Visitor Centre at Heage Windmill.
This Sunday, classic motor bikes will once again roar into Heage Windmill.
The bikes will be of all types, from tourers to out and out racers, and should include most well known makes, such as BSA , Honda, Royal Enfield and even some very immaculate Harley Davidsons.
Come and see, touch and snap these lovely machines.
All these photos are from previous Classic Bike days.
Heage Windmill recently enjoyed a visited by 16 cars of pre-1940s vintage.
But more than that: all the occupants were dressed in 1940s style and they came prepared, with picnic tables – some with table cloths – and food to match.
The cars were a variety of makes including Alvis, Austin, Rover and Triumph, and all gleamed in the sun light. They came from all parts of the UK, too
There was a further attraction: one of our visitors produced a wind-up gramophone and proceeded, much to the delight of the other visitors, to perform 1940s type dances.
It was such a success our visitors said they intend to come again as soon as they can arrange it, so expect to see this event billed for 2017.
What made the day even more complete was the fact that the windmill sails turned all day for the first time since last August. Truly a memorable day.
Heage Windmill is open every Saturday and Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday from April to the end of October, 11am to 4pm. For Admission Prices, Details of Group and School Visits and Where to Find us, click here >
It was probably the brightest, sunniest, but maybe coolest, time that Santa has visited the windmill on Sunday.
A small crowd of admirers were waiting when he arrived on the Belper Rotary club motorised sledge.
Whilst waiting their turn, the guardians and children had a variety of activities to enjoy, including ‘hug a husky’ , a huge bric a brac stall and lots of good things to eat and drink.
