Hampshire Mills Group
HOME
Up
MEMBERSHIP
NEWSLETTERS
MILLS BOOKS
MILLS OF INTEREST
LIBRARY
LISTED MILLS
MILL HISTORY
SNIPPETS
LINKS

 

 

Back Up Next

Page 4

Newsletter 142 August 2023 © Hampshire Mills Group

 

 

Felin Ganol, Llanrhydstud

 

Ruth Andrews
Photos by Keith and Ruth Andrews

 

Felin Ganol is a working watermill on the River Wyre in Llanrhydstud, Ceredigion, that we visited on our substitute Welsh holiday.  It is one of only two commercial working water-powered cornmills with original machinery in West Wales.  (The other is Y Felin at St Dogmaels, which HMG visited in 2017 – see newsletter 118.  The miller Michael Hall has since died, but his daughter has taken over.)

 

The restoration of the mill  began accidentally at Felin Ganol in 2007 when the new owners of the mill house (who has bought it because they liked the garden) became interested in the mill.  Step by step they first got the wheel turning, and encouraged by that, thought that they should try to get the stones working again.  And they did!
The pond was refilled in 2008 and it supplies water to the overshot wheel.  Its original stone axle bearing had split in two due to excess wear but it has been replaced by a new one.

Inside the mill are the unrestored remains of a governor and an electric control board for a turbine, which was used in the mill’s latter years.

 

 

 

 

 

In February 2009 one pair of the original stones (3ft 6in French buhr) turned again to mill wholemeal flour.  They now work alongside a second pair of larger French buhr stones which were acquired to replace the older pair of Anglesey stones, which had been used for animal feed and oats. 

So now, after 50 years of lying idle, there are two pairs of stones which turn most days, grinding organically grown grains supplied by local farmers to produce a range of stoneground flours, which are on sale from several outlets

As mill owner and miller Anne Parry pointed out, one of the benefits of traditional milling on a small scale is the ability to mill distinct batches of unusual grains (like Hen Gymru on the lefthand of the two bags of flour above) and experience their unique flavours and baking potential.  The owners are now members of the Traditional Corn Millers Guild. 

Inside the mill there are several modifications which have been necessary to meet modern food handling requirements.  The most noticeable of these changes are the mesh-fronted rodent-proof storage bins for grain. 

 

 

 

There is also a refurbished Eureka cleaner (left) and a traditional wire machine (below)

.

The remains of an unused sack hoist contrast with the modern electric motor host and repurposed bread tray. 

The mill is not easy to find in a maze of new houses, but the comment ‘by the ford’ on the website finally got us there.  It is now open to the public by appointment, but when we poked our noses in the door by chance Anne was more than happy to show us round and tell us about all the work they had done to get the mill working again. 

 

For more information, see https://felinganol.co.uk/

 

 

Back Up Next

 


HOME ] Up ] MEMBERSHIP ] NEWSLETTERS ] MILLS BOOKS ] MILLS OF INTEREST ] LIBRARY ] LISTED MILLS ] MILL HISTORY ] SNIPPETS ] LINKS ]

horizontal rule

Copyright © 2024 Hampshire Mills Group
Registered as a Charity - 1116607