Continuing work on the second waterwheel

The second wheel in 1981

 As can be seen from the 1981 picture, the waterwheels suffered considerable damage when the mill was neglected before that date.  Some of the cast iron sections of the shrouds fractured when the spokes rotted and collapsed.

When the building was restored in 1990 the first (upstream) waterwheel (seen in the background of the picture) was repaired and restored, but the shroud sections of the second wheel were removed and stored.

Since the mill was upgraded from a Grade 2 to a Grade 2* listed building last year, work on reconstructing the second wheel has been restricted to conserving the shroud sections and ensuring they will fit together.  We need Listed Building Consent to continue with the restoration.

However, it now looks as if we may have found the means to begin the application for permission, under the auspices of a historic building consultant, Paul Lewis.

In the interim period, one of the sections has been lost, so we have set about designing jigs and templates to allow a new one to be fabricated.  The first picture shows the template for the main piece of the shroud, the others show the use of an existing section to construct a jig so that the various channels which hold the boards can be tack welded accurately in position.