THIS AND THAT by Robert Turner

Sunday of National Mills Weekend, 11th May

Just over £700 was raised, including £200 from milling and selling 200 kg of flour. Congratulations to everybody. Yet another sunny day - fortune smiled on us again. I can’t remember the last time the weather spoiled this annual event. There was a terrific number of visitors who I’m sure had a good time. I suspect that credit for this good turnout must go to our Society members who arranged the publicity - well done.

It never ceases to amaze me how many local residents turn up who had little or no previous knowledge of the mill’s existence. On the other hand, it is a very gratifying experience, talking to visitors who remember the mill as a working business in the 1950s and 1960s. These are thoughts I will carry with me next November when it is cold and wet, and I am covered in oil and grease, struggling to tighten a recalcitrant nut under the pit wheel, or engaged in some other miserable, frustrating task. I will be able to reflect on the people who come and visit the working mill, and either learn something or be reminded about the history of High Wycombe; then perhaps the task will be a little bit easier.

Things we propose to buy with the hard earned money include a new "Mill Open Today" banner, and a trolley to move around the very heavy ancillary milling machinery we’ve either restored or are working on. Oh, and a bigger spanner to deal with that nut next November!

I have recently had meetings with representatives of Wycombe District Council regarding our occupation of the mill site, in preparation for our submission of definite proposals for building a bam to replace the shed. I am pleased to say that the Council are being very supportive of our proposals. Both parties are working on a new lease that will secure our use of the site and reduce our responsibility for maintenance of the waterways, bridges and railings. Council officers are also considering helping us with new signs and publicity material. Generally, a very positive move.

The next Open Day is Sunday 13th July. I hope to see you then, if not before.

MORE MUSINGS by J Mumford

VISITORS: It is of course local people who remember the mill in its previous form and come in to recount their memories. On National Mills Sunday one elderly gentleman who used to work as a farm-hand off Hammersley Lane, described how he used to bring cattle feed down to Pann Mill for grinding.

SLIPS AND FORKS: A recent television programme featured the restoration of a watermill and it gave me the impression that availability of funds and skilled manpower was not a problem. Lucky them, for the project must have used up considerable cash. They renovated and remounted the waterwheel and attended to the internal building fabric and machinery. Lucky too, they even found the original mill doorkey in the millrace.

One thing that took my notice in all the frantic activity was their need to cast replacement iron ‘slip cogs’. Well, what is a slip cog I mused? It is, I discovered, a segment of a gear wheel which is removed to effectively disable the drive to the stones. The segment itself is secured by pins. By coincidence, a few weeks ago I spied a slip cog in the replica smithy of the Open Air Museum at Hutton-le-Hole!

In Pann Mill we have recently mounted a two-pronged lever for raising the stone nut out of mesh - which has exactly the same purpose. So I mused again, thinking our lever must surely be described by another obscure word that rolls off the tongue and impresses visitors, I scoured my Mill Terms Glossary. It is simply called a ‘forked lever’, so there isn’t another word to add to my vocabulary. But at least I had painted it bright green, and with a worn out tennis ball squashed on to the end of its handle to protect the eyes, it does visually impress the visitor!

PANN MILL GOES GLOBAL

America, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Norway and Sweden - readers in these countries will have seen twelve photographs of Pann Mill, and may even have read the article entitled The fall - and rise - of Pann Mill by local professional photographer and feature writer Tony Hyde. The glossy magazine concerned was April’s OLD GLORY Vintage Restoration Today, billed as the best-selling transport & industrial heritage magazine. Being the second article in this 90 page magazine, it featured prominently in between write-ups of the earliest-built (1923) of seven surviving Armstrong-Whitworth road rollers, and the Marshall Model M vintage tractor. Pann Mill’s ironwork was in good company.

If you missed this article don’t worry as Tony plans to repeat it shortly in the glossy local magazine BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Countryside which is published bi-monthly by Beaumonde Publications (01462 422014) on a subscription basis. There is always a copy in the local library.

NAMES PLEASE

This photograph taken in the 1980s says it all. It represents the feelings of the time with regard to conservation, as compared with the 1960s and early 1970s.

As it is likely to be the Pann Mill website’s first photograph, it would be marvellous to record the names of all those working on the waterwheel, the name of the photographer and the date it was taken. Some of the party are easily recognised such as Pann Mill’s architect Colin Kennedy. The roof of the mill itself looks to be very new. Information please to any of the Pann Mill team or members of the Executive Committee who will then contact PM Times editor.

Malcolm Connell - WWW.PANNMILL.ORG.UK A long standing member of the Society, Malcolm has joined the team primarily to set up and manage our website whose address is quoted here. We are thrilled that archive material and current news will be more widely available through this medium.

Margaret Simmons - The Environment Centre on Holywell Mead. Maintaining and developing Pann Mill’s enchanting garden amazingly does not take up all of Margaret’s time and energy. Now a Volunteer at this new Centre which is only a few hundred yards from the mill, she will no doubt liaise between the two. Also on the Executive Committee of the Sociey, she provides very welcome publicity by treating Bucks Free Press readers to news of Society activities.

Myra King - Williton, Somerset. Former project leader Myra was seen on National Mills Sunday in May at the mill with Ian. We are fortunate that as a Vice President of the Society, she says she has no intention of hiding away in Somerset. Their thatched cottage-based B & B with its beautiful garden and their first class hospitality attract friends from High Wycombe in growing numbers.

Stuart King - Holmer Green. Newly elected President of the Society, Stuart has a special interest in Pann Mill. Back in the years 1967-1971 he took a series of photographs of the mill, one of which is unique for it shows the old mill at work.. A sack of grain is seen being hauled up from a lorry to the lucum opening on the top floor. AH good archive material.

David Nicholls - Mapledurham Mill. Although Mildred Cookson is the miller here, it must be David’s spiritual home, for it was one of his more important mill restorations. Only one control remains to be put in place in Pann Mill, and that is the bell and strap mechanism that teils the miller when the hopper needs topping up with grain. Since we have to top up by hand, this equipment is not necessary. However, another example of a traditional low tech mechanism would be good for visitors to see and, in this case hear. David offered to provide one some years ago - should we now disturb his retirement?

Tony Hyde - Hazlemere. We are grateful to Tony for his fine article The fall-and rise-of Pann Mill in Old Gloiy. The article is his copyright and he has kindly given the Society permission to use it. He hopes to take a series of photographs on July 13 showing all the on-site individual operations involved in milling flour.

David Lindsey - Ford End Watermill, Ivinghoe. A benefactor of Pann Mill, having donated our wooden stone crane which enables us to lift the runner stone when required. We are always pleased to publicise Ford End mill, just east of Aylesbury, which opens to the public this year on the afternoons of the first and second Sundays of the five months from May to September, as well as on Bank Holiday Mondays. Milling takes place on five selected afternoons.