Your letters Page 4,5 News from Stotfold Mill The Stotfold Mill Fire of 1992 Page 8,9 The Stotfold Mill - The rebuild Page 10,11

News from Stotfold Watermill

If only I had a crystal ball …….. I might be able to predict when we will be opening the mill next but at the time of writing, at the beginning of June, there still seems doubt about when Boris will announce the final stage of the current lockdown. The majority of today’s newspapers seem to be predicting a further month’s delay from 21st June so the best I can offer is a list of Sundays when we hope to be open. Visit our website, www.stotfoldmill.com, or look for the first Sunday after the government releases us.

Sundays we hope for are: June 27th. July 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th. August 1st, 8th, 15th 22nd. September 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th. NOTE - We will not open on the August Bank Holiday weekend. When we do eventually open there could no longer be restrictions imposed or recommended by the government, but considering the limited space around the mill we initially at least will propose the following precautions for the protection of both visitors and volunteers. • Sanitation points are available around the mill. • If at any point numbers of visitors in the mill or on any floor are too large, we might recommend delayed entry. • A one-way system will be operated around the middle floor and through the tearoom • Visitors and volunteers might choose the wear face masks. • Guides might be situated behind the barriers. • Screens have been erected between tables in the tearoom. • The shop will not be open to visitors but goods, including flour and oats, can be purchased through a hatch on the middle floor. •The video presentation and children’s activities in the Ivel Room will not be available. Hopefully, these measures soon will be able to be dropped and visitors will be able to fully experience visiting the mill in action and enjoying our wonderful teas.

Planning is going ahead for the Working Steam Weekend on 9th/10th October our live music evening, Live at the Mill, on Friday 8th October. Both events promise to be very spectacular, so note the dates and watch out for future announcements. While restrictions remain, remember that you can always enjoy the pleasure of a walk around the nature reserve. The wildflower meadow has been in full boom and there are the young waterbirds to be seen. This year we had eight cygnets and we very much hope they will all survive. The remnants of a gnawed fish reported as seen on the river bank suggest the possible presents of otters returning. The Teasel volunteers have been busy managing work on the site and constructing the play area for children in the Johnstan wood which is situated in the corner to the right of the entrance and adjacent to the road. Please remember that you can still enter on foot at any time but the car park is looked from 7.00pm. Please make sure you return to your car by then. Finally, remember that the future of Stotfold Mill and the Nature Reserve is totally dependent on volunteers. Please visit our website and consider how you might give time to joining us.

Letchworth Carpet Centre

Number ONE for Price Quality and Service

Free Estimates Free Measuring

Full Fitting Expert Advice

Carpets, Laminates, Vinyls and Woods

Insurance and Contract Work

YOUR LOCAL NO.1

Open by apointment only

Please call us on the number below or email orders@letchworthcarpetcentre.co.uk to arrange a time convenient to you. 1 Such Close, Works Road,Letchworth, Herts SG6 1JF

Tel: 01462 481312

Stotfold Mill - The Great Fire Of 1992

With information supplied by The Stotfold Mill and information taken from ‘Theyll never do it’ written about the renovation of the Stotfold Mill by Pamela Manfield and Trevor Radford.

ARLESEY PHARMACY

FREE Prescription delivery service to ALL Arlesey and Stotfold residents

FREE Repeat prescription "drop-off" and collection service from Arlesey Medical Centre and Larksfield (Stotfold) Surgery. Mon to Fri 8.45am - 1pm & 2.00pm - 6.15pm Saturday & Sunday - Closed Tel. 01462 731200

www.arleseypharmacy.co.uk

As we welcome more and more new residents to our town we are often asked about the history of Stotfold Mill.

Known to many as the location for the Mill Fayre twice a year, many people are unaware of the great history behind the building and the amount of work that has gone into restoring the Mill after the most dreadful fire in 1992 threatened to see it disappear from our community for good.

As for when the Mill originally took it’s place in the town, nobody is certain of the exact date. It is likely that a watermill has stood on the site of the current Stotfold Mill beside the River Ivel for over a thousand years and it is certainly one of the oldest recorded buildings in the town.

In 1887, Stotfold born John Randall bought the Mill after first renting it from Charles Vaughan. Much of the mill’s development took place under John Randall’s ownership including the installation of a steam engine to increase the efficiency of the milling process. In 1902, Ebenezer Randall, John’s son, built the Roller Mill, next door to the mill, to try to improve productivity. However, it was too little too late and could not compete with the larger mills being built locally. A diesel engine, fitted in 1954, to replace the steam engine, was another attempt to keep the Mill profitable – though by then its Derbyshire gritstones were only grinding grain for animal feed and the Mill ceased working entirely in 1966. There were many attempts to develop the Mill after it ceased production of grain, but all this ended with a catastrophic fire in 1992

Both of the photographs to the right show the dramatic aftermath of the fire which took hold of the building during the night of Tuesday 14th December 1992.

The alarm was raised by the resident of Mill House Robin Tasker after the squawking of the geese residing in the grounds woke him from his sleep. The family called the fire brigade and watched from safety as the blaze was tackled by a total of five fire engines, some called in from Kempston to help get the fire under control. In total 27 firemen helped fight the incredible blaze.

Locals reported flames of over 20 feet high with residents as far away as Biggleswade telling stories of being able to see the flames. When morning came the four storey building which had stood proud for many years was reduced to smouldering rubble with much of the Mills machinery beyond repair.

The fire bought residents out in force and very soon a small army of helpers began the task of salvaging whatever they could from the remains. Despite the damage, lack of funding and lack of manpower many locals pressed on, urging every organisation they could think to contact to help save Stotold Mill and restore it to it’s original working state. In 1998 plans to restore the building were put to Stotfold Town Council and with their support the Mill was sold for £1 to the newly formed charity Stotfold Mill Preservation Trust.

The group continued to push forward in their search for more funding and with recruiting more local volunteers.

The first group of 13 local volunteers, many of whom are still active in their support of the Mill undertook the challenge of cleaning and preserving whatever they could from the blackened building and the restoration began to gain momentum. Original bricks were saved, original screws and fixings were salvaged and the larger parts of the machinery were assessed.

Many experts were sourced including many local engineers and much work went in to preserving what they could to limit the damage. The Mill required a new main shaft - it was hoped the original could be saved but it was simply not possible. The new 21ft shaft was lowered into place using a large lorry mounted crane and lowered in through the roof - quite a sight by all accounts!

The task to help rebuild and renovate the Mill bought about great commandery among those involved with each of them never underestimating the enormity of the task ahead.

The view from ‘the Bury’ opposite The Mill showing the gap where the mill once stood after the fire.

The view from the rear of the Mill building showing the damage

The original plan for the building was to ‘restore the watermill to a fully working museum showing the process and history of corn milling through the ages, using priceless historical machinery incorporated in the Mill’ . The Mill would offer a tea room, a gift shop and meeting rooms where local groups could meet and educational visits could take place. Exactly what you will find in Mill Lane today.

Over the page we take a look at how local resident John Hyde tackled the building restoration with the project taking over ten years to

Stotfold Mill - One Brick At A Time..

With thanks to John Hyde for allowing us the use of his personal photographs and with refernce once again to the book written by Pam Mansfield &Trevor Radford ‘They’ll never do it’ .

The lengthy process of locating the right building contractor to take on the enormous project of restoring the Stotfold Mill began. After tendering for the contract and supplying many hours worth of incredibly detailed drawings and proposals the contact was awarded to Stotfold building company run and owned by John Hyde.

The contract commenced almost twenty years ago to this very day on 9th July, 2001.

Using his extensive knowledge of building work and sourcing as much expertise as he could muster from contacts within the trade, John set about sourcing the right materials for the job in hand. Each material was chosen for it’s compatibility for the job with the very best timber sourced from Scotland as part of the initial process of installing the building joists. John told the Stotfold News Magazine “ we flew to Scotland to source the very best materials and transported it back on the rear of a huge lorry. It had quite a journey to reach it’s final destination. ”

The huge amount of machinery used to lift the larger pieces of equipment and materials into the Mill was astonishing. Specialist lifting equipment was required with many of the items once again placed into the building through the roof. The work to restore the Mill took over ten years of hard work and determination.Tthe shot below demonstrating just how low down the building work needed to begin with the building virtually being re-built starting from the ground up.

The lifting of heavy materials into the Mill proving a major task. The photograph to the right was taken from above the building and clearly shows the millstones, shaft and the machinery as it winds its way up the newly refurbished structure.

Sam Randall, (pictured left) the last operating miller at Stotfold Mill before the fire, was often known to pass by provide help and guidance to the to the team. After selling the Mill, Sam moved to a cottage at Wrayfields and often passed by the site to keep an eye on the building once owned and run by the Randall family.

The sheer volume of scaffolding (shown in the bottom right picture) was an enormous task in itself. As the building gradually began to emerge from it’s metal guarded home, locals could once agan start to visualise the building in it’s new form. For many, it was a sight they thought they would never see.

The next time you pass the Mill be sure to stop and pause. There still remains evidence of the fire from the slight changes in the brick colour. Twenty years ago this month, Stotfold was able to reclaim part of its heritage all thanks to the dedication, perseverance and hard work of many local residents. Stotfold Mill was, and still is, such a huge part of our history and a part we should all be extremely proud of.