Wednesday 11/3/26  A medical appointment and 50mph winds forecast for Thursday meant we had to go on Wednesday this week, it was a dry but windy day.

Last week the wildflower meadow slope and the steep part of the entrance track got churned up where the tractor got stuck towing the big roller, so we got barrows of mole hill soil and filled in the holes and trampled it down.

The mesh tray on the bird feeding station has rusted away, so I measured the pole so we can get a suitable replacement. Eddie filled the feeders, the hooks we made last time make filling the feeders in trees easier as they lift off. Great tits and blue tits came down to eat as usual and a robin was singing in a tree nearby. 

We saw a grey wagtail in the river while working on the glass panel which shows a section of the brick floor. The glass was dirty so we removed it and Eddie cleaned it with a bucket of water while I weeded the brick floor underneath.

We had the fire alight in the wagon to heat sausage rolls in the oven above, it was sunny, but too windy to sit outside so we ate them in the wagon.

We had to move two insect hotels last week to get the tractor up the slope, so I moved them back and staked them down today while Eddie cleaned the Perspex panel on the walkway, which protects visitors from the moving hub when we have the water wheel turning at open days.

I took pictures of a swan in the river near our bridge and noticed the dormouse box had fallen off the tree, which still had one of the fittings attached. I found the box in the river nearby so I got it out with a long rake and took it back. I opened it and there were only snail shells in it, so I attached the fittings with longer screws and left it in the sun to dry.

Steve Edwards walked along the Nar Valley Way on Saturday 7/3/26 and took drone pictures of the mill including aerial views which I have added to the Articles section. 

Thursday 19/3/26  It was time to re-seed the wildflower meadow, we did this last Autumn but sowing at different times gives more diverse flowering so I took the mower to cut the new area which we created a year ago. I cut the grass on the shortest setting to help seeds to reach the soil.

It was a warm dry day so we had a cup of tea outside. There are anemones flowering on the river bank and lesser celandine in many places. Lupin and bistort leaves are coming up in the garden next to the tunnel outlet. Eddie switched on the nest cameras and saw a great tit in the box, then it flew out and we didn't see it again.

We saw a pied wagtail on the water wheel and a blue tit went in the nest box we repaired opposite the mill. Eddie saw a heron fly over and I heard a kestrel which flew up from the trees. There was a peacock butterfly in the tree near the compost bay.

The bird feeding tray had rusted away so I brought a replacement today which we fitted, I put broken suet balls in it and filled their water, Eddie filled all the feeders.

When we cleaned the glass panel over the brick floor last time we noticed the screw caps were brittle and wouldn’t stay closed, so we replaced them today.

Anne Marie walked to the mill from Pentney and brought poppy seeds which she sprinkled on the gardens, then weeded and tidied the gardens.

Eddie and I hooked the harrow to the mower and went over the slope of the wildflower meadow which was sown last Autumn, as the soil needs to be disturbed to allow seeds to germinate, then we harrowed the new area I mowed earlier ready for seeding.

We raked grass cuttings off the new area, then scattered wildflower seeds by hand as I forgot to bring the spreader, but its only a small area so it didn’t take long. We then hooked up the roller and rolled the seeds in, then rolled the slope which was damaged when the tractor got stuck.

We all had lunch outside in the sun, then Anne Marie walked home. In the afternoon Eddie cut all the grass with the ride on mower and I used the push mower to cut the area between the damaged walls. Eddie strimmed all the edges and I fitted the dormouse box back on the tree as it fell off into the river last week, but it had dried out in the sun. There was a duck in the river nearby.

I've added a link to the bottom of each new blog article to show what we were doing 10 years ago, these were the early days of working at the mill. I also added a link to Wildlife Seen At The Mill to the Useful Links section.

Graham Bartlett  

Interactive Plan      Activity    Previous      Projects      Workers      -10 Years