Thursday 23/4/26  We have been given a display cabinet by Janis and Keith which we took to the mill today in our trailer. We saw a swan in the river on the way down.

This solid wood cabinet will go in our visitor centre next to the large wooden cabinet, we took the exhibits off the metal shelves which the new cabinet will replace. Eddie took the shelf lights off and I fitted them in the new cabinet.

We had to move things around in the visitor centre to fit the new cabinet in, as its wider than the old shelves. I connected the electrics and we tested the lights. Eddie put back all the exhibits, the new cabinet looks much better than the metal shelves.

One cabinet drawer will be used for the controls and guide sheet for the multimedia screen and the 12 Volt tool battery charger, as the socket is nearby, the other drawer has stationery used for maintaining displays. 

There are now five great tit eggs which we saw on the nest camera, the female was sitting on them most of the time and the male came in briefly and fed her a few times, we saw him in the tree near the nest box. There was no sign of the stock doves again. We saw a kestrel in a distant tree, and a flock of geese flew over us.

Eddie un-blocked the watering can and watered our trees, and the viola which Anne Marie planted last week. I watered honesty on the river bank which looked very dry. We took the metal shelves to the shed to use next to the other ones, Eddie adjusted the shelf height so they are the same level on both racks and I moved the hooks and screws on the wall for hanging garden tools on.

Emma walked down and weeded the brick floor, cistern and hammer mill, Debra and Hector also joined us. Hector went in the river and found a large stick to play with, Debra helped us with the shelves in the shed. Eddie moved the light switch away from the shelves, then put things on them, there is now much more room in the shed.

We’ve had no rain recently so we watered the meadow again. We didn’t have the mower and trailer today so we set the sprayer up in the back of the Gator on a stack of bricks (it was too heavy to go on the open tailgate) and watered the seeded areas.

We brought the car park signs with us in the trailer as some of the boards were loose, so I tightened the screws as we’ll need the signs for the open days. I crossed our footbridge and put up an open days poster on our gate frame on the Nar Valley Way so walkers know about them. 

Thursday 30/4/26  We took the mower and trailer to cut the grass and water the meadow again as there has been no rain. We also brought a bucket of plants which Anne Marie left at The Maltings, they are from her friend’s garden.

Our first job was checking the bridge, as when I crossed it last week to put an open days sign up, a piece of wood fell into the river. We checked all the wooden supports were in place in line with screws in the sides, they were all there, so it must have been a spare piece of wood left under the bridge.  

Eddie cut the unseeded part of the meadow where flowers don’t usually grow, I moved the insect hotels out of the way. The bee box we made with Perspex viewing panels is now empty, as the female bees have hatched, males hatch in the first spring, females a year later. The insect hotel made from a chutney box had all the canes missing, they had fallen on the ground, so we picked them up and put them back but it was only half full, so I cut more canes and wedged them in tightly.

Anne Marie walked down to join us and watered the gardens, planted Rudbeckia and Daisies and weeded all the gardens. Bistort, aquilegia and a rock plant are now in flower in the lupin bed.

Eddie cut the two main lawns and grass along the top from the bridge to the walkway. I cut pieces of trunking to tidy up wiring where we moved display cabinets last week, I painted the trunking brown and left it to dry while we had lunch at our outside table.

In the afternoon Eddie strimmed around the grindstones, chimney and buildings and I fitted trunking to hide cables in the visitor centre. When Eddie moved a bench to cut the grass he found it was wobbly and unsafe, so we added screws, tightened up joints and its now sturdy enough to use at the open days.

We put our water tank and sprayer boom in the mower trailer, filled the tank with river water using our bucket on a rope and went to the meadow. While going up the slope the weight of the water caused the whole thing to slide out of the back, so we modified it by screwing a block of wood underneath which grips the trailer and stops it moving.

On our way back to The Maltings we saw ducks with ducklings and a swan in the river. Other birds seen today were a kestrel in the trees opposite the mill and a pied wagtail near the water wheel. The great tit is still sitting on five eggs, we filled the bird feeders and water before we left but didn’t see anything eating.

Graham Bartlett  

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