Luffing gear

Mildenham Mill, North Claines - winding gear of south waterwheel

JBED-WRC-014-09
Item
September 2022

Part of John Bedington Collection

Bedington, John, mill enthusiast

Research notes

REXW-NOT-055
File
1920s to 1960s

Part of Rex Wailes Collection

Collection of undated research notes on:

an analysis of Suffolk post mills (72 pages);
winding gear (15 pages);
Robertson's windmill, Virginia (17 pages);
Cranbrook mill (11 pages);
a draft paper on the development of windmills, bearing similarity to sections of Wailes' 'Windmills in England' (published 1948) as well as a section on horse gear (24 pages);
drawings/tracings of mill mechanisms, particularly bell alarms and sack hoists (3 pages);
Suffolk windmills begining with 'W' listed at 'Place access points' below (3 cards);

Also a bundle of loose notes mostly focusing on Suffolk mills, some being undated, those that are ranging in date from 6 October 1928 to 29 April 1932.

Research notebook - Northamptonshire and Suffolk

REXW-NOT-041
Item
21 August 1955

Part of Rex Wailes Collection

A Reporters' Notebook containing:
Northants: notes taken from 'Northants Notes & Queries, New Series, Vol.4, 1912-1920' relating to: a 1609 grant by James 1 of a post mill at Kettering; the history of an unindexed tower mill (located on the site of a former post mill on Rockingham Road, Kettering) which was demolished in 1893; 18th c. maps of Kettering showing the location of various mills and a 19th c. print showing a post mill at Peterborough; also notes about the post mill at Seaton, Rutland which was demolished in 1917 as well as the nearby watermill, Henry Royce being said to have worked at both mills as a boy.
Suffolk: research notes relating to Suffolk windmills including construction dates, operational status in 1926,1939 and 1955 and including the notable features listed in 'Subject access points' below.
Windmill restoration: eight pages of draft narrative rehearsing the demise of wind and watermills since the late 19th c. and extolling the efforts of John Russell to restore and preserve Union Mill, Cranbrook. The narrative rehearses the preservation efforts made by a number of local authorities (counties listed in 'Place access points' below) arguing that it should be essential for such work to be their responsibility.
Windmills still in operation: notes running from back-to-front in the notebook listing, 'How many still in use', which are 'Workable' and 'When used and why'.

Wailes, Reginald (1901-1986), engineer, known as Rex