Tractor Day – September 26th – Gallery of Photos
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Tractor Day – Sunday, September 26th
For the first time since lockdown began, Heage Windmill will be hosting a Tractor Day on Sunday, September 26th from 11.00 am to 3.30 pm.
Tractor Day is always a welcome event at Heage Windmill as these vintage machines complement the 225-year-old two-star listed windmill: tractors were responsible for changing farming practices forever, helping to make horses redundant.
We are expecting about 20 to 30 tractors at the mill. These will include a 60-year-old Fordson Major and some David Browns, together with Field Marshalls and Massey Fergusons, most of which have been restored to pristine working condition.
We are also expecting a steam engine and barn engine to be on site plus an assortment of small portable steam engines. The mill will award a certificate to Tractor of the Day. John Allsop, who organises the Tractor group said: ‘All our group enjoy coming to Heage windmill because we love both tractors and this wonderful old windmill’.
New Trustees
Heage Windmill has appointed two new Trustees.
LUCY JAMES, who lives in Heage, was recently been appointed Treasurer of both the Trust and of the supporting body, Friends of Heage Windmill (FoHW). She automatically becomes a Trustee of the windmill.
JACK EVANS, who lives in South Normanton (but is originally from Heage) and was recently elected as Vice Chair of the Friends, has been nominated as one of the representatives of Friends on the Trust. His nomination has been accepted by the Trust..
We believe both will play a significant part in the future of the windmill and wish them well.
In addition, Roger Hatcher was recently elected as Chair of FoHW. He was already a Trustee by virtue of his previous role as Vice-Chair of FoHW and will continue to be one.
Special Opening to Sell Flour
What a day it was on Saturday, March 21st. So many bakers got in touch with us to ask if there was flour available. It really made us aware that baking is such a popular leisure activity and, that for many, Heage Windmill Flour is the flour to use.
With Saturday March 21st having a good wind forecast, and with it already scheduled as a milling day – plus the fact that we already had about 60 bags of flour on the shelves – we decided to open the mill specially for flour sales.
Amazingly the shelves were very soon all but empty as baking enthusiasts flocked to the mill. It was then that the decision was made to bag and sell the flour which was currently being milled – normally the bagging of the flour would be on a separate occasion.
Over 100 bags were sold in total. The shop closed at 2.00pm but the milling went on until 4.00pm.
While the shop was busy selling flour David Land set up a small bric a brac on a mill wall. This added to the great fun feeling of the morning.
Some visitors were disappointed when the flour ran out but in the lovely sunshine there was a great spirit of joie de vivre, much needed in these anxious times.
Peter Straw Remembered
It is with great regret that Heage Windmill has to announce the death of Peter Straw who was Chairman of the Friends for 13 years, standing down in 2014 for health reasons.
When Peter and his wife Celia moved to the area, they went to an early meeting of the Friends of Heage Windmill. Shortly after this Peter was voted in as chairman and held the position for 13 years until he stood down as Chair at the 2014 AGM. He took up the post in 2002 which was when the Mill opened to the public. Peter had also been a Trustee for 10 years.
Not everyone will realise the amount of work that Peter did in the background, not just at the Mill itself but attending meetings far and wide to promote the organisation, always looking for opportunities to enhance the mill experience for visitors. Also, Peter was always more than happy to encourage visitors to make the most of their time in Derbyshire by visiting other local tourist attractions. Throughout he was well supported by his wife Celia.
Over the years he worked tirelessly for the Mill. He was very dedicated and enthusiastic in everything he did. He was very caring towards all volunteers and very good at getting the best out of people. The volunteers who worked alongside him had nothing but praise for Peter and they had never known him to lose his temper. He had a calming influence and was always happy to listen to those volunteers with problems.
Until he retired Peter was a regular guide at the Mill, making it come alive for the visitors. He also stood Bakewell Farmers’ Market on occasions on behalf of Heage Windmill.
Under Peter’s chairmanship the Mill gained and successfully retained the 5-star rating from Amber Valley Borough Council for Health and Hygiene.
Again, under Peter’s watch the Mill gained and successfully retained the Place of Interest Quality Assurance Scheme (PIQAS) status.
In his retirement from the Mill he still visited and supported all the events.
All the Friends and Trustees would like to extend their deepest sympathy to his widow, Celia plus all of his family.
Christmas Quiz 2018 Answers
What The Dickens!
1) A Christmas Carol
2) Great Expectations
3) Oliver Twist
4) A Tale Of Two Cities
5) Hard Times
Xmas Letter Equations
6) 2 Front Teeth = All I Want For Christmas
7) 9 = Reindeer in Santa’s Sleigh
8) 3 = Ghosts of Christmas (Past, Present & Future
9) 4 = Weeks in Advent
10)0 = Creatures Stirring
Crack The Code
11) Bread
12) Potato
13) Pasta
14) Rice
15) Cabbage
It’s In The Stars
16) Pegasus
17) Orion
18) Sagittarius
19) Ursa Major
20) Andromeda
Oh Carol!
21) Good King Wencelas
22) The First Noel
23) O Little Town Of Bethlehem
24) Ding Dong Merrily On High
25) I Saw Three Ships
Christmas In The Title
26) Wonderful Christmas Time – Paul Macartney
27) Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – Judy Garland
28) Do They Know It’s Christmas? – Band Aid
29) All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey
30) It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas – Johnny Mathis
Pass The Popcorn
31) Jack Skellington
32) A Christmas Story
33) The Polar Express
34) Howard Blake
35) Jack Frost
My Word
36) Eggnog 37) Chestnut
38) Myrrh 39) Toboggan
40) Wassail
Tree-mendous!
41) Norway Spruce
42) Douglas Fir
43) Blue Spruce
44) Normand Fir
45) Fraser Fir
And Finally
46) Auld Fang Syne
47) Elfis Presley
48) They always drop their needles
49) Deep pan, crisp and even
50) Noel Coward
How Did You Do?
46 – 50 Incandescent
41 – 45 Brilliant
36 – 40 Polished
31 – 35 Matte
Less than 30 Black Hole
Timeline at Heage Windmill
The Heage Windmill visitor experience is now enhanced by a Timeline on display beside the windmill, showing the windmill’s history relative to significant world events.
It will hopefully give visitors an appreciation of the age of our ‘old girl.’
Fantail goes back on… Heage Windmill is complete
The day after the freshly painted sails were returned, the fantail was set in place. We now have a fully working windmill. Flour will be on sale soon!
Here are the photos from that day…
Heage Windmill Sails Back On
When wet rot was discovered last August in major structural parts of the windmill and a potential cost of around £100,00 had to be faced, it seemed as though all was lost.
However a site meeting of Trustees and Friends took only a few minutes to decide: ‘We will get her repaired’. Fund raising and volunteer inputs brought the costs down to a more manageable £75,000 and the repair work started in November.
Monday, June 6th saw a major event in the repair programme: the six sails, which had been painted and repaired by mill volunteers, were put back on the Grade 2* listed mill.
Work started at about 9.00 am, our volunteers working with, and under, the direction of our millwright Neil Medcalf.
The final sail was put back on shortly after 3.00 pm.
The fan tail is now to be fitted with some quite detailed work needed to connect with the controls and mill stones.
However all this should be completed by the end of June and flour milling will then recommence.
Piers Bostock , Chairman of Heage Windmill Society said: ‘We are delighted to have the six sails back in place in such a short time and would like to thank everyone who has made this possible.’
Santa Day this Sunday December 6th
Santa Claus is coming to Heage… this Sunday. He will be on site at 12 noon, with the visitor centre open from 11 am.
This year the cost is £5 per child to see Santa. However, there is no need to book.
There will other things available – raffle, tombola, and some activities for children. There will also be hot food on site. No need to book to see Santa.
All these photos are from last year’s successful visit when Santa saw over 160 youngsters. Here’s hoping for another great day!
