Thursday 14/5/26 Beryl’s bird table fell over and broke, so we removed the top section and took it to the mill for repair, on our way we saw two families of greylag geese and goslings on the fishing lake.
It was a cold rainy start to the day so we had tea in the wagon and watched the great tit feeding her chicks on the nest camera screen while I filled coconut shells with a soft suet block which Beryl gave us, then I went outside and hung them on the bird feeding station. Outside the wagon was a painted lady butterfly on the grass.
The main jobs today were clearing up after the open days so we walked around to see what needed doing. Lupins are in flower in the gardens, pink ones were planted by Emma in 2024, blue ones were given to us by Dennis in 2022. The coasters in the gear wheel table had been left outside so I took them to the wagon to dry out.
We rolled up the hose used to turn the water wheel, we had to ensure water was not trapped as it would freeze and damage the hose, we put it in the tunnel to protect it.
The top of Beryl’s bird table was repaired by adding extra screws and while we had the screws out we topped up the pack from our supplies and the boxes Fred gave us.
The gazebo was used at the open days, so we put it away in its bag. We took all the feature signs outside, the elevator sign came off the board and blew into the river at the weekend, so today I stapled all the signs to the boards in case the rest were loose. We put Howard’s table against the wall and stacked the signs under it.
The outside chairs were put in the visitor centre after the open days, so we took them back to the compound and covered them up with black material. I put the gazebo, parasol and camping table back in the loft. The visitor centre is now clear and tidy.
We scrapped the rotten bird table as we have a newer one, Eddie took it apart and saved the thick pole which he cut up for firewood, he burned the rest of the stand and table top in the incinerator, we also burned an old bridge board which had split apart.
We had lunch outside as the sun came out. A kestrel flew out of the owl box opposite the mill where they are nesting. Lapwings were calling and flying over the field again. Debra and Hector joined us at lunch time, Hector found a long log to play with and we discussed the open days with Debra. While we were sitting at the table a kingfisher flew through the mill, we just saw a metallic blue flash flying above the ground.
In the afternoon I padlocked the water wheel to the bolt in the wall to stop it turning. Eddie emptied the water butt used for watering the gardens into the other one, as the butt was leaning over. I got some wood to wedge under the stand which levelled the butt. We then watered the gardens as they looked dry, despite today’s rain.
We went back to The Maltings with Beryl’s bird table top and refitted it to the stand and fixed it to the railings with a cable tie to stop it falling over again.
Graham Bartlett
Interactive Plan Activity Previous Open Days Workers 10 Years Ago
