From the Newsletter 23rd August 2025

THE WATER POWER As mentioned above the dry weather has allowed us to look at some parts of the mill which are sometimes not always accessible. One of these is the tunnel that takes the headrace to the waterwheel. The headrace under normal circumstances has water standing in it even when we are not milling and the spillway gate is open, but at present when we are not milling this is dry. However, because it normally has standing water in it we do get a significant deposit of silt in it. The tunnel is protected with a very substantial trash rack to prevent debris going into the tunnel and potentially damaging the control gate and the waterwheel.  The first job is to move this rack out of the way and then to remove sufficient silt from within the tunnel to allow access to the part you want to examine. Baring in mind the wall height in the tunnel is only 60 cm so cramped space to work. We wanted to check the wall of the mill in the tunnel as the amount of water leaking through it is increasing and also whilst in there the wood making up the control gate. There was no great loss of pointing from the wall but the sandstone does appear to be absorbing water. We have taken advice on a possible render to reduce this. Hopefully we can get it applied before winter. The wood of the control gate is starting to signs of rotting although it is only 6 years old and is something we will have to monitor regularly. Normally nobody can see the control gate that regulates the amount of water passing onto the wheel. It basically acts as a dam at the end of the headrace holding water back until we want to mill. When we want to mill we close the sluice gate on the spillway and wait for about 12 – 18 inches of water to build up in the headrace then  opening the control gate by raising the cover on it. This allows the  water to surge through and fill the bucket of the wheel opposite. The water in the bucket due to gravity acting on it causes the wheel to turn and another bucket comes in line to be filled and we are milling!!

PART OF THE CONTROL GATE. The silver part in the centre is the back of a bucket on the waterwheel and the water passes through the slot in front to power the wheel. It is closed by the piece of wood above it moving downward on a rack and pinion mechanism.

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