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The team working on the Court House have been back on site for a few days now and today they asked for our help. They needed to fit a grill below the the overspill weir to prevent anything solid from travelling down the culvert, so they asked us to lower the water level to stop the flow over the weir. As a result we ran the wheel for about half an hour in the morning and then for a couple of hours in the afternoon, the longest period of running attempted so far. The local Parish Councillor was pleased to see the wheel running, the first time he has ever seen it running although he has childhood memories of the mill lying idle. He believes that the wheel last ran in 1925, so it rested (and rusted) for 72 years until we got it moving late last year. ![]() After a brief tea break while the holes were drilled we lowered the grill back down and Kevin bolted it in place. From underneath. He had planned ahead however and equipped himself with a headlight so that he could exit through the culvert. He emerged into the farmyard a couple of minutes later, only slightly damp. ![]() Bob stayed firmly on the ground and applied top coat to much of the woodwork that was undercoated last week. A start was made on fitting new wooden cogs in the crown wheel that drives the sack hoist. This job had to pause while the wheel was running, of course. It would be difficult to insert the cogs into their sockets with the crown wheel doing 50 rpm! ![]() Jonathan made himself generally useful and showed his great expertise cleaning windows by removing all Kim's fingerprints from the new glazed windows. John did some brick infilling above one of the windows and Derek attacked the weeds and built a bonfire. A satisfying day for all concerned. Go to the next Watermill Blog entry Go to the previous Watermill Blog entry Learn how to Support Us Return to our Home Page 171 |