So it’s Autumn already and I was still waiting for Summer, everything’s wet and muddy the lawns feel as though you should tiptoe on them, they are so soft. Now to progress on the site, the grassed areas have turned to lawns this Summer with extra seeding and top dressings. Some of our young trees have developed, two of our Scots Pines have been lost. The pond is now nearly choked with the flourishing planting that we carried out and these will have to be thinned out this Autumn.

We have constructed a new office above the two toilets, this is much warmer and dryer than our previous one against the stone walls of the mill. The crankshaft and flywheel foundations are now settled for our volunteers to erect the waterwheel, at least the usable parts of it, from Acomb. Our willow house has been a bit of a disappointment, with several of our cuttings not taking, however we have a back-up scheme and next Spring should see a full willow hedge. The Sun Clock has become a favourite with the children, if only we could rely on a little sunshine.

So to future developments, we have a new very lively Trustee this year, Frank Gillender, and he has been having discussions with a landscape architect re some further developments to the end of the pond this would give us about twice the running time and also create a scenic area with bridges and islands. We plan to erect mechanical aspects of the site to visitors and also for schoolchildren to understand the size of the machinery at close quarters.
Trevor October 2000

ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS

As you may already be aware we can now reclaim any income or capital gains tax you have paid on your membership subscriptions to us. For example if you are a family member and pay £12.00, the Trust can reclaim £3.38 from the Inland Revenue.

As you can appreciate this can really help us fund our Mill projects. Therefore if you are currently renewing your membership subscription or plan to within the next year, please complete the enclosed Gift Aid form and return it to us as soon as possible.

Thank you.

David
Membership Sec.
October 2000