by Mildred
Cookson, The Mills Archive Trust
In my article on the Collection in February’s Milling and Grain, I included the 1900 photograph of the millwrights Wakes & Lamb replacing a sail on Coleby Heath windmill in Lincolnshire.
Much to my delight, we have discovered amongst Rex’s papers, a letter from the firm dated March 1930 - a few months after Rex joined the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings as Technical Adviser. They were asking to be included on his list of specialised craftsmen, citing their 60 years of experience together with the number and geographical spread of their workforce.
Based in Newark on Trent in Nottinghamshire, their letterhead shows that they
had won prizes overseas and had also manufactured wind pumps, another of my
passions. Known as wind engines in the UK, and American Windmills in the USA,
these simple structures were exported all around the world for irrigation
purposes. We have many old catalogues of these machines dating back to the
early 1900s; a number complete with what an American correspondent apologetically
described as “mouse chew”.
Apart from the historical interest of the letter and its stationery, the letterheads often are works of art in themselves and we are keen to add more to our large collection. Frequently with designs unchanged for many years, they were used by engineering firms, mills and suppliers from over 100 years ago, in a way that always attracts attention when we hold an exhibition. Sadly many are now only available on eBay through dealers, a market we cannot afford to enter.
A second example from Rex’s collection shows how popular windmills were as an icon of a well-established firm. Dated December 1949, Smithdale and Sons were established over 100 years previously. Not only were they iron and Brass founders, they were engineers, millwrights and electrical contractors specialising in water supply and the drainage of marshes and fens.
I can only assume that their telephone number (Acle 71) no longer works!
Read more HERE.
In my article on the Collection in February’s Milling and Grain, I included the 1900 photograph of the millwrights Wakes & Lamb replacing a sail on Coleby Heath windmill in Lincolnshire.
Much to my delight, we have discovered amongst Rex’s papers, a letter from the firm dated March 1930 - a few months after Rex joined the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings as Technical Adviser. They were asking to be included on his list of specialised craftsmen, citing their 60 years of experience together with the number and geographical spread of their workforce.
Apart from the historical interest of the letter and its stationery, the letterheads often are works of art in themselves and we are keen to add more to our large collection. Frequently with designs unchanged for many years, they were used by engineering firms, mills and suppliers from over 100 years ago, in a way that always attracts attention when we hold an exhibition. Sadly many are now only available on eBay through dealers, a market we cannot afford to enter.
A second example from Rex’s collection shows how popular windmills were as an icon of a well-established firm. Dated December 1949, Smithdale and Sons were established over 100 years previously. Not only were they iron and Brass founders, they were engineers, millwrights and electrical contractors specialising in water supply and the drainage of marshes and fens.
I can only assume that their telephone number (Acle 71) no longer works!
Read more HERE.
The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
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