The White Mill Rural Heritage Centre in Sandwich Is looking for:
Part time volunteer administrator (2 mornings a week – Tuesdays and Fridays) to run the small office at the Mill site. If you are a well-organised person and have some admin experience and IT knowledge we would be pleased to hear from you. Duties include eg dealing with correspondence, checking the Mill email address and dealing the email queries, helping arrange committee meetings (approx 2 or 3 per year) and the annual general meeting and taking minutes at these meetings, basic health and safety checks, filing, keeping volunteer records up to date. Own laptop would be useful.
Please email whitemill_sandwich@hotmail.com if you are interested in this role and being part of the Mill team.
White Mill open day 24th July
A huge thank you to everyone who supported our first open day and fair of 2021. We are so excited to be able to welcome visitors back to the mill after having to close for most of 2020.
Please join us on the Saturday 24th July for our next open day and fair. See the restoration work, view the wonderful new exhibits and enjoy a selection of local craft stalls.
White Mill Opening Day Saturday 26 June 2021
Incorporating our first Craft Fair open between 10.00am and 3.00pm
We are delighted to be able to welcome you back to the White Mill.
As you arrive at the White Mill you will be greeted by our new Mill sign, which is a replica model of the
actual Mill, made by one of our many skilled carpenters. You will then notice on the frontage three
examples of historic agricultural equipment. Following careful research these have recently been restored
and repainted in the manufacturer’s original colours.
In the car park stands a threshing (or thrashing) machine which in days gone by would have been driven
by a static tractor. This will be restored to it’s original glory after the Mill restoration is finished. Also in
this area are the massive timbers which will form the “stocks” that carry the sweeps. These are currently
being shaped to fit behind the curb on the cap of the windmill. The volunteers had to use almost Egyptian
methods to move those timbers!
From the forecourt you enter the meeting room in which is situated our reading area, where you can
browse our small collection of books on mills, farming and agricultural machinery. There are tables and
chairs for you to enjoy a rest and a cup of coffee, and of course our re-branded shop.
The shop is now well stocked, largely with items created by one of our volunteers from timber from the
Mill structure, and from wood gathered from the Mill grounds. These materials include bark, silver birch
and sweet chestnut which has been imaginatively converted into bird feeders, bird boxes, hedgehog boxes
and many more items. In addition, this same volunteer has created a number of upcycled items from
diverse materials including marble, horse bridles, old tools and mechanical fittings. The variety is
amazing and the prices are very reasonable!
From the shop, you enter the grounds of the Mill and the Miller’s Cottage. On the 26 June 2021 this
attractive garden area will be the setting for the first of our regular craft fairs, with stalls displaying a
range of craft items by local craftspeople. In addition our Mill gardeners have contributed a number of
plants, including lavender, bulbs, strawberry plants, cardoons, sweet chestnut seedlings and others, all of
which are native to the Mill garden. Food and refreshment will also be available.
In the garden you will be able to see the restoration work on the Mill cap, which continues in spite of two
lockdowns, and our fascinating Rural Heritage Museum which is housed in the Miller’s Cottage, the Mill
itself and in the workshops behind the Mill. These workshops include the Tractor Shed, the Cobbler’s, the
Plumber’s, the Wheelwright’s. There is also the Blacksmith’s Forge, where we are extremely fortunate to
have a resident blacksmith who produces unicorn shoes on her furnace, which are charmingly unique.
The White Mill, in line with many places in Sandwich, can only accept cash for purchases. For the Craft
Fair, debit and credit cards are accepted if you wish to purchase.
We all look forward to seeing you at the Mill, now that we are finally able to re-open our doors to the
public.
Restoration Micro Blog – Martin
Micro blog – Dick
New Micro Blog Series – Kate
The Trust has made the very difficult decision to close the mill and museum to the public for the remainder of 2020. Volunteers will still be attending and the restoration work will continue.
We always love to share whats happening at the mill with you all, so while we are closed we will be doing a ‘micro blog’ series with news and updates direct from the volunteers.
You can also keep in touch through our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Thank you to everyone who has supported the mill through our Go Fund Me campaign and donations, I look forward to sharing how the money has been spent restoring and protecting this wonderful museum and windmill.
Kate 🙂