In addition to
rationalising the contents of the mill we were also required to clear the floor
area of a double garage so after lunch we diverted efforts to this task. There
we found a wonderful treasure trove of blacksmiths tools; just about everything
you would need to set up a business including bellows, forge and anvil. We even
found an enormous pair of metal cutting shears. By the time we had catalogued
both the blacksmith and milling tools we felt that we had achieved a
satisfactory target for the day and decided that we could tackle the second
floor another day.
Day Two proved as
super a sunny day as on our work day a fortnight earlier. On the stones floor
we strived to get a light working so that we could properly see what we were
doing. We’d tried exchanging tubes and starters from the solitary light on the
ground floor, but, after struggling and trying all possible combinations, we
gave up defeated. So we were forced to carry on working in “Twilight”
conditions. Virtually all we had to do on this floor was to remove several
decades of detritus including several gruesome feather adorned skeletons of
birds that presumably had not been able to find an exit. Seemingly, we generated
a thicker dust cloud than we had made on the ground floor. Next, we carried out
some heavy lifting, re-chocking millstones (replacing worm eaten timber blocks)
and removing large bulks of timber from the Garage.
Finally all that was
then left for us to do was carry out a final “tidy up” and to “dot the
I’s
and cross the
T’s
on the inventory for the mill owners.
Sarah looked after us
extremely well supplying welcome elevenses, to be followed later on by a
magnificent buffet lunch in a rustic summer house.
Personally I felt
both days, for me, were most enjoyable, interesting and satisfying. I wish to
offer sincere thanks my fellow team members for making it so. And best of all it
seemed that the owners appreciated our input as Sarah wrote to us all:
“Dear David, Peter, John, Mick, Alison and Sheila
Thank you all so very much for the most extraordinary amount of work that you
have completed. The Mill looks absolutely amazing and we are so grateful to you
all. We could not possibly have done it ourselves. It was also such fun to
meet you all - Anne Finnigan always spoke so highly of the HMG and we can see
why! We hope you weren't all too exhausted after the long day.”
Sarah Finnigan
Further details about
Pilcot Mill can be seen on the HMG web-site.
