Thursday 12/01/23  Emma lit the fire in the railway wagon and made tea for us, then used the binoculars to watch a Great Tit eating from the seed feeder at the far end of the site, a Hare in the field and a flock of Goldfinches in the trees which came over and used our Nyger seed feeders.

Anne Marie and I re-configured the plastic shelves into two equal height racks so we can make a greenhouse covered with polythene sheets. Emma and Anne Marie then emptied the compost bay to remove and burn dried weed stems that would not rot down. At the bottom they found Purple Mushrooms, which are edible but we didn't try them. The rest of the compost bay contents were put back to rot down into usable garden compost, its now tidy and no longer overflowing.

I made more free-standing fence posts to rope off the trench around the bowed wall in case it collapses. A few weeks ago we pumped up the wheelbarrow tyre which is still inflated, I used it to get bricks from the stacks to weigh down the fence posts.

I took the offcut from the Perspex panel over to the boiling house foundation and found that its big enough to use there, so we may modify it with the clear panel so its permanently on view. My last job was moving the hasp on the shed door lock which was out of line, as the door has expanded in wet weather, it now fits perfectly and opens & closes easily.

Thursday 19/1/23  We saw the Egret and Heron on our way down today, the Egret also flew along the river while we were at the mill, we saw them both on the way back too. It was a frosty day so Eddie lit the fire in the wagon and kept it going all day.

The Swan and Cygnet were in the river at the mill, Anne Marie threw some Swan food to them, but again they would not eat it. The food is also suitable for Ducks, Moorhens and Geese so later in the day I walked along the river bank with the food looking for other birds, but I didn’t see any.

Eddie and Anne Marie filled the bird feeders, the Squirrel had chewed a large hole in one of the peanut feeders again, so I cut off the damaged part and refitted the base using tools from Eddie’s mum’s toolkit. We saw a Robin, Coal Tit, Goldfinches and Blue Tits eating from the feeders and table.

As it was very cold, I found an indoor job for Anne Marie, sorting out finds from the wildflower meadow in our new display area. There were empty spaces on some of the shelves, so the finds were re-arranged and look much better now. Many of the finds were discovered when metal detecting the soil.

I brought battens from my old summerhouse which Eddie removed old nails and screws from, I used them to build a frame onto some shelving racks to make a greenhouse. We'll cover it with polythene and use it for growing Sunflowers and other plants.

We all had lunch in the wagon with the door closed and the fire alight. In the afternoon Anne Marie levelled the area near the small Oak tree so we will be able to mow it in Spring, while I repaired one of the Butterfly boxes nearby which had the back peeling off. Eddie put left over battens in the shed, then got logs from the logstore and took them to the wagon for the fire.

I measured the bowed trench wall so we can monitor it to see if its getting worse. I put a stake each end of the wall with cotton stretched between them and measured from the cotton to the middle of the wall, which is 185mm. We'll measure it again in a few weeks to see if its still moving.

We were hoping to install a Kingfisher nest tunnel in the river bank but it was frosty all day and the ground was too hard to dig, so this will have to wait until another time.

Saturday 21/1/23  We saw a Heron in a tree top when we arrived, then a pair of them in a field with the Egret, Hares were also seen running through the field. 

It was another frosty day, Ryan got the fire alight, Emma made tea for us, then sorted out and listed all the various things in the under seat storage areas in the wagon, this started off by looking for Union flags ready for celebrating the King's Coronation in May, but ended up being a thorough clear out.

David put some bird food out, then broke up the rubble we brought from The Maltings yard, he and Ryan tipped it out on the track to make it less slippery in wet weather, but the ground was frozen so it could not be rolled in.

Ryan and I worked on the greenhouse, we fitted a large Perspex panel (from my old summerhouse) on top for the roof, cut more battens and fixed them to the frame, then stapled foam sheet to the front, bubble wrap to one end and screwed a Perspex window to the other end. We just need enough polythene sheet to fill in the gaps, and for the doorway.

David fitted a Dormouse box to a tree just along the river bank, this was taken off the tree in the garden area a while ago, as they don’t like open spaces, so David found a tree with plenty of growth around it which mice prefer. The hole goes against the trunk to avoid birds getting in.

David and Ryan split some large logs so they fit our stove and took them to the wagon. David also cleaned the glass panel over the brick floor. The skies were busy, as well as birds there was a Cessna (Ryan looked up the flight details on his phone) and a powered para glider. 

We had a visit from Gareth and James from the village who looked around the mill and watched videos of the water wheel turning. Gareth asked about the model mill, I said its only on display at open days, so I played the slideshow of the model mill on the screen.

On our way back we stopped to see if Ducks would eat the Swan & Duck food, but they flew away. The tame Ducks at The Maltings enjoyed it, so we’ll carry on trying to feed the ones near the mill.

Graham Bartlett  

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