With work having started on the tower of Mostert’s Mill at the beginning of this month, the Friends of Mostert’s Mill (FoMM) are on their way to achieving their goal – completing the restoration project by next year April.
On Friday 1 April, Bruce Dundas Builders were on site. Briefed with patching up the cracks on the outside of the structure and replastering the inside, the construction company began with putting up scaffolding over which a tarpaulin was stretched. This will enable them to work dry until the top of the tower is ready for all the wooden machinery internals of the mill to be placed.
The mill, located on De Waal Drive (M3) in Mowbray, was badly damaged in a wildfire on Sunday 18 April last year (“Mill to get a new life”, People’s Post, 9 November 2021).
In an update posted on Facebook, Andy Selfe, who is coordinating the making of the wooden machinery for the mill, shared that, once the construction company is done, a 30 tonne mobile crane will be used to lift the wooden parts into position.
“The first visit of the crane will be for the curb, which is fixed to the top of the tower, then the whole cap frame, then the 12-metre long stretcher, the vertical shaft and the brake-wheel. Five lifts should be possible in one day,” said Selfe.
Next, it will be the thatchers’ turn to make the framework for the roof and thatch it. “Unfortunately, the wood for the wind-shaft is still drying out, so that will have to be fitted through the front, and through the suspended brake-wheel. It should be possible to refit the sails at that stage,” said Selfe.
