Tag: vintage

Tractor Day – this Sunday, Sept 1st

This Sunday, Heage Windmill will again be visited by a large collection of vintage Tractors.

These machines displaced the horse as the motive power for farms and similar activities and now they are themselves being regarded as ‘collectables’. They will stand displayed adjacent to our 222-year-old wind machine!

Tractors will include 60-year-old Fordsons and Massey Fergusons. John Allsop, who organises the Tractor group, said: ‘We are always happy to come to the windmill’.

The tractors will be supported by some stalls, including a burger van and, if the weather permits, our now quite famous bric-a-brac stall, where one person’s junk becomes someone else’s treasure!

The tractors will arrive from about 10-30 am and will be with us until around 3-30.  The mill will, of course, be open for guided tours.

All funds raised will go to the upkeep of the Mill.

Over 300 Classic Bikes at the Windmill

At what is now a bi-annual event, well over 300 classic motor bikes made Heage Windmill their destination on Sunday 13th May.

The weather was very kind and a lot of bright sunshine shone down on the event, with just enough wind to gently turn the sails!

The Bike of the Day, a 1959 BSA A10

Over 600 visitors came specially to see and touch these gleaming machines and many also ended up touring the windmill or obtaining the flour, stone milled by the wind, at Heage.

The bikes were of all types, ranging from tourers to out and out racers, and included many well-known makes, such as BSA, Honda, Royal Enfield and, notably, some beautiful Vincents, Harley Davidsons, and an MV Augusta.

The best bike was judged by a mill ‘expert’ to be a BSA 1959 A10.

Colin Clemens presents Mike Sears, the owner of the wining bike, with the ‘Dave Cleaver ‘ trophy

The proud owner Mike Sears was presented with a certificate and the newly launched ‘Dave Cleaver’ trophy, commemorating a man who just loved bikes. This was presented by Colin Clemens, who organised the bikes on show.

There were a number of back up stalls, including a Tombola and a raffle, whilst refreshments were in high demand.

All in all the day was a great success, with great feedback from everyone involved.

All profits, of course, go into keeping the mill working and improving the available facilities.

Tractor Day – A Great Success

heage-windmill-tractor-day-sept-2016-004Tractor day at Heage Windmill on Sunday September 4th was a roaring success, and even the sun came out later in the day.

heage-windmill-trip-advisor-flagSome 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.

heage-windmill-tractor-day-nunsfield                            heage-windmill-tractor-day-raffle-winner

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).

heage-windmill-tractor-day-matchstick-modelAlso 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!

 

Vintage Car Club Visit

Hare and Hounds Classic Cars 007Heage Windmill recently hosted a visit from the Hare and Hounds Classic and Vintage Car Club from Marple in Cheshire.

During the day, about 80 to 100 of these beautiful vehicles and their drivers called at the Mill (now complete with her 6 sails) as they were taking part in a Peaks and Dales Charity Run.

All the cars have been lovingly restored and maintained and it was marvellous to see the two old forms of machinery coming together.

 

 

Heage Windmill attracts 30 vintage tractors

2016 Tractors z04Heage Windmill celebrated National Mills Weekend, co-ordinated by SPAB (Society for Protection of Ancient buildings), by staging its always popular Tractor Day.

2016 Tractors z06
Tractor Day organiser John Allsop, of Belper (left) with his tractor (right), and an old colleague John Wright

The sun shone all day so it was pleasantly warm for the big crowd of visitors  who came to the mill.

On site was a very wide range of some 30 vintage tractors, most of which had been lovingly restored.

There was also a large gathering of stationary engines, some of which  were working.

In a tent, the Nunsfield Radio club was hard at work, making contact with numerous  other similar groups located  at other mills also open over the weekend.

2016 Tractors z01In addition the Friends of Heage Windmill ran a fund raising bric a brac stall which attracted a lot of interest and helped the restoration funds.

Also on display were the refurbished sails, waiting to be fitted, and some of the large rotten timbers which had caused the mill to stop working and producing flour.

Replacements have already been fitted and although some more work still is needed, it is getting closer to the date when the sails will turn again.

2016 Tractors z09

 

 

 

Photos of Vintage Tractors & Brough Bikes

Tractor Day 2014-04Heage Windmill celebrated National Mills weekend by welcoming vintage tractors, ‘superior’ motorbikes and a radio club.  In spite of the showers, visitors turned up in their numbers to enjoy the vintage transport.

The vintage tractors are a popular annual attraction and it was a pleasure for visitors to see such gleaming, beautifully restored tractors on display alongside their proud owners.

Brough 01

 

We also had a first-time visit from the Brough Superior Bikes Group, based in Winster. On display were some of the few Brough Superiors remaining in this country.  Some of them have been known to fetch up to £250,000.

These vintage bikes, which were manufactured in the East Midlands between 1919 and 1940, were dubbed the ‘Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles.’  One famous owner – he had 7 – was Lawrence of Arabia.

We are delighted to learn that some of the Brough Superior Bikes Group hope to return for our Classic Bike Event on Sunday, July 27th.

We also enjoyed a visit from the Nunsfield Radio Club who set up portable transmitters over the weekend so they could contact similar groups at mills all over the UK.  Ouor thanks to the Group for donation to the windmill.

Below is a gallery of photos taken by Anthony Sharp.  Click on any image to view it larger.