55-page report addressed to the Caribbean Development Bank by D.M. Simpson & Co (1984) Limited, a firm of mechanical engineers based in Bridgetown, Barbados. The report is entitled "Technical assistance mission to RDF Enterprises Limited at River Antoine Estate, St. Patrick, Grenada" and provides an assessment of the engineering and technical requirements for upgrading operations and increasing production at the estate's rum distillery. The report contains maps, plans, technical drawings and a photographic survey of the current distillery equipment and processes. This includes an evaluation of the canal, millpond, water course and waterwheel, the latter described as "in fair condition and in working order". An engineering and technical recommendations are made and a summary budget of likely expenditure given.
Two 83 cm x 52 cm photocopied sheets of technical drawings of the waterwheel at the River Antoine Estate labelled, "Waterwheel. 27ft diar. x 3'6" wide. River Antoine Est. Grenada. Septr. 14th 1876.
26 colour photographs in a wallet labelled, "Grenada. River Antoine Estate. First visited c.1996. David Nicholls". Images show both the exterior and interior of the distillery, some of which showing the equipment in use.
Assorted photocopies of reference materials including: (1) two copies (one partial) of a map of Guyana (note on reverse, "showing forested areas for sourcing greenheart timber (and other materials)"; (2) photographs of three unidentified Caribbean mills; (3) two cross-section diagrams of sugar mill machinery (taken from unidentified reference books); (4) photograph of a detail from the Grenada mace depicting a sugar mill in operation; (5) a photograph of the sugar mill on Thibou's estate, Antigua, in use.
Photographs, negatives, reports and research notes on UK wind and watermills. Photographs and research material on sugar mills in the Caribbean by David Nicholls and Cyril McCoombe. Micro tapes of conversations with mill workers in Barbados. [3.3.1 To be completed]
A 10-page narrative account of the Morgan Lewis sugar mill restoration project including principal areas of work carried out at each stage, from the initial survey in January 1994 up until 1999. Nicholl's ascribes the awakening of his interest in Caribbean sugar mills to a Newcomen Society paper written by Rex Wailes on, "Windmills and steam power in Barbados". Other influences include "A Windmill in Barbados", a film shot in the 1920s at the Corbin family's Mount Pleasant mill (Barbados). The important roles of the Barbados National Trust (and especially Penelope Hynam Roach and Richard Goddard) and Nicholl's hosts, the Choate family, are also acknowledged. Adjacent topics include: the history of milling on the island and its importance to the Barbadian economy; the end of steam-powered sugar milling on the island; the mill's listing on the World Monuments list 1996; the various local trades used in the project (including the recommissioning of an old lime kiln to supply lime mortar) as well as the rotating team of craftsmen from the Chiltern Partnership in attendance; consultation on additional restoration projects including at Six Men's plantation mill (St Peter's); a visit to view the Boiling House at the River Antoine watermill (Grenada) and another to the Essequibo River (Guyana) for timber-sourcing; meetings with the Barbadian Ministry of Education for the Amy Nicholls Mill Wall recording project; a list of 42 mill remains/mill walls visited by Nicholls for research purposes.
Correspondence between Nicholls and the High Commission for Grenada beginning by referencing a recent meeting concerning the future of the River Antoine Estate which Nicholls feels should be maintained " as an essential part of the history of Grenada. Further, it is a prime example of a water powered sugar mill, unique now in the whole of the Caribbean. It can be compared in importance with the huge Morgan Lewis Sugar Wind Mill in Barbados". A visit from a television crew (Carlton Televsion) to the estate is arranged (December 1999), the crew extending a visit to film the completion and commissioning of the Morgan Lewis sugar mill. A previous visit by Nicholls to the River Antoine Estate with D.M.Simpson & Co Limited in 1997 is also referenced. Arrangements are made for a visit to the estate by Cyril McCombe who Nicholls describes as "a consultant to our business in the UK and is a world wide authority on cast iron".
