Newsletter Ebrill / April 2020 Rhif / No 139
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The picture can't be displayed. Cymdeithas Melinau Cymru Welsh Mills Society NEWSLETTER EBRILL / APRIL 2020 RHIF / NO 139 Former windmill tower on Caldey Island (see pages 13-18) Cymdeithas Melinau Cymru Welsh Mills Society NEWSLETTER 139 April 2020 Contents: Editorial 3 The mills of Caldly Island 13 Dates for your Diary 4 Mills for Sale 19 Membership News 5 Twenty-five Years Ago 22 News from the mills 7 The Welsh Mills Society was launched in 1984. The aims of the Society are to study, record, interpret and publicise the wind and water mills of Wales, to encourage general interest, and to advise on their preservation and use. Officers and Committee Officers: Chairman: Gerallt Nash [email protected] Secretary: Hilary Malaws [email protected] Treasurer: Tim Haines [email protected] Membership Secretary: Tim Haines [email protected] Journal Editor: Mel Walters [email protected] (Coed Trewernau Mill, Crossgates, Llandindrod Wells, Powys, LD1 6PG) Committee: Gareth Beech [email protected] John Crompton (Mucky Mills) [email protected] Andrew Findon (Mill Owners’ Forum) [email protected] 01974 251231 Emma Hall [email protected] Anne Parry [email protected] Jane Roberts (Bring & Buy stall) 01633 780247 Helen Williams [email protected] For further information, please write to the Hon. Secretary: Hilary Malaws, Y Felin, Tynygraig, Ystrad Meurig, Ceredigion, Wales SY25 6AE or visit our website at: www.welshmills.org 2 GAIR GAN Y GOLYGYDD / EDITORIAL Mae’r misoedd diwethaf wedi bod yn rhai pryderus i lawer. Codwyd dŵr yr afonydd i lefelau dychrynllyd ar draws Cymru a Lloegr o ganlyniad i gyfnod hir o law trwm. Yn gynnar ym mis Chwefror ddaeth Storm Ciara a gwyntoedd cryf 93 milltir yr awr a glaw trwm a greuodd lifogydd mawr yng Nghonwy, Llanrwst a Dolgellau. Yna, daeth Storm Dennis â mwy o wynt a glaw a peri llifogydd yn Sir Fynwy. Wrth i’r Afon Gwy gyrraedd 7.2m, disgrifiwyd y sefyllfa fel un ‘heb ei debyg o’r blaen’ gan Gyfoeth Naturiol Cymru. Erbyn diwedd y mis fe ddaeth trydedd storm - Jorge y tro hyn - a mwy o law a llifogydd i Bontypridd, Nantgarw a rhannau o Gaerdydd. Heddiw, mae’r Coronavirus Covid-19 yn ein bygwth I gyd. Rydym yn anfon ein cofion gorau at y sawl â effeithiwyd - ac yn dal i gael eu heffeithio - gan y digwyddiadau anodd yma. Recent months have likely been a worrying time for many. Water levels in rivers rose to a frightening extent across Wales and England as a result of heavy rainfall. Storm Ciara hit in early February with strong winds reaching 93 mph and rainfall leading to devastating flooding in Conwy, Llanrwst and Dolgellau. Later, storm Dennis brought with it more high winds and more rainfall which led to severe flooding in Monmouthshire. Natural Resources Wales described the scale of flooding as ‘unprecedented’ as the waters of the river Wye reached 7.2m. Towards the end of February, storm Jorge brought more rain onto already saturated ground and flooded Pontypridd, Nantgarw and parts of Cardiff. And now the Coronavirus threatens all of us. Our thoughts go out to all affected by these recent troublesome events. ITEMS FOR THE NEXT NEWSLETTER The picture can't be displayed. by June 20th, 2020 please to: Dafydd Wiliam St Fagans National Museum of History Cardiff, CF5 6XB. 02920 573445 [email protected] 3 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Friday 24th April 2020, SPAB Maintenance Matters. A valuable one-day course for those involved in looking after traditional mills. The Windmill, The Mill Field, Upminster, RM14 2QL. Saturday 9th, Sunday 10th May 2020, SPAB National Mills Weekend. As this Newsletter goes to print, it has still not been decided if this, and the above event, will take place due to the Coronavirus. If it is held, details of the mills open will be shown on the WMS website. WMS SPRING MEETING – a coach tour of Anglesey mills. It is with much regret that we have taken the decision to cancel this year’s spring meeting in Anglesey because of the current Coronavirus- Covid 19 pandemic. We have done this in the light of current Government and NHS advice and guidance and by what we have been told to expect in the coming days and weeks. I am sure that many will be disappointed, not least John who has done so much to organise what looked like being an exceptionally good and interesting meeting. However, the well-being of our members must take precedence. It is hoped that the Anglesey visit can be re-scheduled for 2021. – Gerallt D Nash To mill enthusiasts such as ourselves, Anglesey was a land of windmills. In their excellent book, The Windmills of Anglesey, Barry Guise and George Lees identified 31 windmills whose remains can still be seen, and a further 17 now demolished whose sites are known. But wind was not the only source of power; my studies some 12 years ago identified the sites of 51 water-driven corn mills. Anglesey, ‘Môn, mam Cymru’, the Mother (or ‘provider’ or ‘breadbasket’) of Wales, was one of the country’s most 4 important grain-producing areas, and many of these mills date from the late C18th and early C19th. As in other areas, their decline follows the age of the railways and of power from steam and internal combustion. The last windmill to work commercially, Melin y Gof, ceased in 1938 when its cap was blown off, and the last water mill, Melin Hywel, last ground for animal feed in the 1980s. This will be the fifth visit of WMS to Anglesey, and Melin Hywel and Llynon have always been the focus of visits. There’s a good reason for this; many of the mills have succumbed to the pressure for conversion to homes and holiday lets, and many are remote from the few main roads, accessible only by farm tracks and across fields. A fifth visit needs to be different – so the major part of this visit will be a circuit of the island by coach, an opportunity to see 12 windmills, five water mills and a woollen mill and what has happened to them. During the 2021 tour we will visit Melin Hywel and Melin Llynon and hear plans for their future. We are also privileged to be able to visit Melin-y-bont, the unique mill which could be driven by both wind and water. - John Crompton. MEMBERSHIP NEWS The Membership Secretary kindly asks if all Society members could send him their email address via [email protected] With a full list the Society will be able to communicate with you more regularly and quickly. Obituary - Peter Edward Davis MBE (8 October 1928 - 28 October 2019) It is with sadness that we record the death of one of our long-standing members, Peter Davis MBE, at the age of 91. Though latterly living in Aberaeron, he will be best known for his links with Melin Aberarth (Felindre), which is where he and his family lived from 1982. 5 Peter was born in Idle, Bradford in Yorkshire, in October 1928. He did 2 years’ National Service with the RAF before studying geography at the University of Leeds, where he graduated with a BA degree in 1951. He was then appointed Warden of the bird observatory on Lundy Island, which was followed by a 3-year stint on Skokholm Island off the Pembrokeshire coast, where he met his future wife, Angela. In 1957, they moved, first to Fair Isle, Scotland, and then to the British Trust for Ornithology in Tring, Hertfordshire. But a desk job was not for him, and so, in 1966, he, Angela and their three children relocated to Ceredigion. He dedicated the rest of his working life to ornithological research and conservation, and in particular to ensuring the survival of the red kite, which was by that time down to just 21 breeding pairs, all in mid-Wales, and which were then critically endangered. By the early 1990s, the population had increased to over a hundred breeding pairs, and thereafter, they spread dramatically across much of Britain. He was appointed MBE in 2007, and in 2016 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Welsh Ornithological Society. When they moved to Ceredigion, in late-1967, they set up home first in Tŷ Coed, the Wardens house overlooking Cors Caron National Nature Reserve. In 1972, they moved to Melin Fullbrook on the Swyddffynnon side of the reserve, their first old mill. Then, in about 1982, they bought 6 the mill in Felindre, Aberarth, and during his time there he carefully maintained and safeguarded this important complete example of a traditional water-powered corn mill. The Welsh Mills Society visited the mill during its October meeting in 1991. The mill had a unique claim to fame, being the only mill discovered, to-date, in Wales to have a ventilated millstone – where a series of angled slots had been cut through the runner stone, enabling air to reach the milling faces and thus reducing the risk of overheating. We extend our sincerest condolences to Angela, their three children and the family. - Gerallt D. Nash NEWS FROM THE MILLS Dobson’s mill, Burgh le Marsh. The Grade I listed Dobson’s mill at Burgh le Marsh Heritage Centre in Lincolnshire was particularly affected by storm Ciara. Built in 1844 and recently restored, its five, clockwise- turning sails began to spin uncontrollably during 70mph winds. The High Street was closed as its sails began to disintegrate, culminating in the complete destruction of the mill’s cap and sails.