Unidentified mill

A repurposed Lett's diary for 1936 measuring 7.5 cm x 11.5 cm, containing measurements, notes, calculations and drawings on a variety of engineering and milling matters including the mills listed at 'Place access points' below.

Reference is made to a number of sea or tide meals including unidentified ones at Denham, Wadebridge and St Austell, Cornwall and also to 'Butshead Tide Mill' [Budshead?] at St Budeaux. There are also 8 pages of notes under the headings 'Beech' and 'Stock' detailing the equipment/set-up within two unidentified mills. A further unidentified mill mentioned is 'Little Bentley Mill'.

Further notes on tide mills record that, 'porpoises came up at Barrow Hill Tide Mill, Abridge [Heybridge?], Maldon Essex'. A record is also made of '7 Tide Mills on North coast of Norfolk in the Burnhams'.

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

'Letter from Leipzig'

REXW-NOT-058
Item
1 March 1931

Part of Rex Wailes Collection

60 page 'letter' sent to Wailes' wife, Enid. The letter is in the form of a diary recording Wailes' trip to the Leipzig Trade Fair. It records Wailes' impressions of his train trip through Germany, his fellow travellers and a visit to the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

The last ten pages record Wailes' trip north of Leipzig 'on the main Berlin road & as soon as we got out of the suburbs, there was a mill to every village we saw. Nearly all were post mills, & nearly all were the same. Patent sails, no round house tailpole with a winch on the end, straight pitched roof, vertical weatherboarding all tarred.' He comments that those mills near the main road had advertisments on their sides.

Wailes records a visit to a mill near Delitzsch where he meets the miller, Kurt Schumann, and 'took many photos, both inside and out'. There was also a visit to an unidentified tower mill, built in 1886, which Schumann described as a 'Hollandsche műhle,' which was brick-built with a fan-tail and octagonal cap. Wailes is particularly struck by the fact that it, 'had a lift instead of a chain for the sack hoist!!'.

A 'poltrok' mill at Rődgen is also visited (converted from a post mill in 1924, the original dating from 1614). Wailes comments, 'the mill is chock full of new machinery and new methods of drive, sufficient of the old being left to make it intensely interesting'.

Wailes concludes the letter, 'Must stop now. Dresden tomorrow'.

Barton, Cambs

ASFC-WAP-05-001
Item
20th century

Part of Alan Stoyel Foundation Collection

Barton Mill
Demolished

Long, George

Note 'per E.L.B' - Couldson Common Mill

REXW-NOT-056
Item
28 January 1935

Part of Rex Wailes Collection

Note entitled, 'per E.L.B.' regarding Coulsdon Common Mill as follows: 'Belonged to a man named Brigden who had a post-mill at Sydenham & a smock (hand winded) at Ewell, Surrey. The mill had two [common] sails & two springs or patents, can't say which. As a lad Brigden's man told me that his boss christened her, which might date the mill to the 50's or early 60's. Went over when a lad about 1884, when I think she had only just finished work'.

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