What
picture does the word “mill” conjure up? The
jolly miller beside the River Dee, or Windy Miller beside his windmill at Camberwick Green
perhaps? Paul Jarvis showed us many examples
of mills, mostly from Kent, of varying shapes and for a variety of purposes. Mills would have been a common landscape feature
several hundred years ago. Water mills date
from Roman times and windmills from 1200 onwards. Our
mills ground flour, the ingredients for gunpowder (such as at Faversham) and pumped water. The mills along the Loose stream dealt with
fulling, woollen manufacture and paper making. Many millstones were shaped from stone
recovered from the beaches around Folkestone, though others also came from Derbyshire. Later these stones were replaced by rollers, which
produced whiter flour.
How
the water powered the mill wheel depended on the height of the water source – so you
got overshot or undershot wheels. Tides of
major rivers also powered mills. One such was by Rochester Bridge. Engineering advancements led to the less romantic
powering by steam and oil.
The
most varied of mills and the most visible are the windmills.
With Post mills, the whole mill moved to catch the wind. A later invention was the fantail, which only moved
the cap of the mill with the sweeps. Sometimes
cloth covered 2 or more of the sails, or they might have had spring-shutters on them.
So where are all these giants now? With the decline of milling industries, especially with the import of flour/grain from Canada and America, many fell into disrepair and collapsed, often ironically blown down by the wind! Fire also seems to have caused the end of many mills, this being a great hazard of wooden buildings. Marden mills have just disappeared. We know that there was a water mill on the Hunton Road, not far from Pattenden Lane. The Hammond family had a period of prosperity here. Another mill was sited in Sheephurst Lane and there are accounts of 2 windmills in Claygate. The 1841 tithe records mention a Windmill field near the Maidstone Road. William Turner, the artist, had many relations in Kent who were millers, including the Nortons of Marden.
Enthusiasts
have rescued several local mills. Cranbrook
Union Mill, a smock mill built in 1814, being the tallest in England and Crabble Mill at
Dover are still working mills. Sandhurst’s
own example, with 5 sails, has been rebuilt as an office block. One of the best surviving examples of a post mill
in the whole country can be seen at Rolvenden, where there has been a mill on site since
1596. A leaning mill, originally one of a pair
is found at Woodchurch, reminding us that being a miller had its dangers. In 1831 John Preston was beheaded by one of the
sweeps of his own mill.
EUNICE
DOSWELL.
Women in Parish Magazines
Just glimpsing through Parish Magazines
of the past, it is easy to see the many social changes that have taken place, particularly
with regard to the role of women. The edition of December 1934 includes a feature “For
Women With Homes”, with an inspiring rhyme at the top of the page: “A Sunday
well spent, Brings a week of content.” The article then proceeds to tell women how to
spend their time during the rest of the week wisely. “Thursday’s Cooking”
gives advice on how to “cook prunes and other dry fruit” as well as how to
produce a “Cheap Chocolate Cake.” It is strange to read the list of ingredients
such as margarine and eggs, knowing that wartime austerity was just round the corner when
such delights as the “apple-tarts and puddings” became rare treats.
The perennial problem of the ‘phone bill existed then and housewives were given the following tip: “Keep a sealed money-box near the telephone with a notice asking each caller to put in the requisite amount. The odd pence are not to be missed….” This job apparently belonged to “Friday’s Household”. There is even an idea for how to improve the efficiency of tea-cosies: “Line with a piece of chamois leather and they will be much more efficient for their purpose.”
Saturday brings time to devote to the
children when the younger members of the family can be provided with “A Cheap
Amusement”. Here, “A discarded annual catalogue, some coloured pictures from
magazines, a bottle of gum and a brush, will provide a pleasant occupation on a wet day.
The ideal answer to the cry of, “I’m bored!” You can even make “Baby’s
Special Face-Cloth” by buying “a threepenny packet of plain absorbent lint”
which you can cut in half and then “either button-hole stitch or crotchet around each
piece.” These cloths can be boiled once a week “and will last months”.
Maybe there is a lesson to be learnt here in our modern “throw away age”.
Each piece of advice came from readers
of Parish Magazines up and down the country and the writer with the best hint in each
section was rewarded with a prize of 5s. Finally, each section ends with a short sentence
to remind reader’s of their spiritual welfare, too:
“You can’t send your soul to the wash with the dirty linen once a
week- it needs daily cleaning.”
JANE STEVENS
Garden BirdWatch
This time, instead of writing about one bird, I have decided to note my observations at the end of what has been a busy breeding season, at least so far as I have seen from my window in Bramley Court.
With Spring seeming to start earlier
each year nowadays, there has been more than the usual amount of activity on the feeding
front. The very hot weather during June turned the lawns into arid deserts, making it
difficult for those birds that dig for worms etc. The
Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and Starlings must have been desperate with so many young to
feed. House Sparrows and the Finches have had the feeders to help out. My neighbour sent
away for live mealworms for the Robins.
This year there were more young Blue Tits than ever about. They were easily recognisable by their rather drab versions of the adults’ bright colouring. The black stripe down the breast didn’t appear for some weeks but they are now indistinguishable from the adults. There were a great number of Greenfinch juveniles around the feeders with parents feeding them, although some of the young were soon able to fend for themselves especially if they were competing with siblings for the parents’ attention.
We were pleased to see that there has been a good breeding season for the local Robins; we have seen a number of young birds with their speckled breasts gradually turning over the weeks to the familiar bright reds. I must not forget to mention the ever present Starling numbers; one day this month, I counted at one time over a hundred feeding for grubs. It is quite usual for there to be upwards of forty or so but this number was for me an all time record. We must hope that now the ground has softened they will all be more successful in their feeding. And too, that most will survive the Winter for it is the birds that give life to gardens during all seasons. Another bonus was that this year there was no sign of the dreaded Sparrow Hawks.
EDITH DAVIS
PP November ‘05