On Sunday we followed a footpath meandering through the fields and wooded valley up to see Sandbach Mill.
Along with the little old millers cottage adjoining it all seemed to be in residential use now.
The mill pond and water controls could be seen from the lane. We liked the neat little brick building with the tiled roof in the garden of the cottage. Wonder what that could have been used for in the past? (rhetorical)
The mill leat had been turned into a tasteful garden feature, but there was no evidence of the mill wheel at all.
This must have once been a thriving Blacksmiths Forge, but now used for a workshop and storage. We saw smoke seeping out from under the tiles on the roof of the barn and found that this lovely old Davey Paxman stationary engine was fired up and being worked on. What an enjoyable walk that turned out to be.
1 comment:
I know it's awhile since you went this way, but I used to live at Sandbach Mill. My mum and dad bought it at auction in about 1981; it had been used as storage for years, and most of the mill working had been stripped out. The mill pond had totally silted up, but was too unstable to dig out by mechanical means, so my dad and brother spent MANY hours,days,weeks digging tonnes of earth out! They found the remains of the mill wheel, which had been smashed up and buried. They also found the French grit stones -originally used for grinding the flour- also buried, and were able to dig these out and re-install them back in the mill. My dad would have loved to have had a mill wheel back in use there: he rebuilt the sluice and also built the area you've photographed in preparation for a wheel. It was just too expensive at that point to have had one made.
It was lovely to see your photos, and to read your comments. It really was a magical place to live: to go on the pond in the rowing boat, and to watch herons and kingfishers.
Hope you carry on writing about the places you visit: I'd love to travel more around the UK and a narrowboat seems the perfect form of transport!
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