Trailers

Three trailers are used at the mill, a small one towed by our mower, one with seats towed by the Gator truck, and a large trailer for use with the tractor at The Maltings. All are kept at The Maltings and taken to site when needed.

Our small tipping trailer was bought with our wildflower meadow grant in 2022, along with a seed spreader and roller for preparing, making and maintaining the meadow, they were all assembled on site. The trailer is towed behind the mower for taking weeds to be tipped in the compost bay. I used it when I went to the mill on the mower with a few things and left the Gator truck behind for Eddie who joined me later. We also used it to take sacks of wildflower seed and sand from the shed to the meadow when sowing wildflower seeds (sand is mixed with seeds to show coverage). This trailer is also towed around the mill for carrying garden tools and supplies when using the mower, also for carrying bulk bird food containers to fill bird feeders around the site. A towing hook was fitted to the back of the trailer so we can carry sacks of seed and sand around and tow the seed spreader behind it for re-seeding the meadow and grassing areas over. A spacer block was made and fitted to the trailer hitch to make the trailer sit level when towed by the mower.

The Gator trailer had seats fitted in 2019 for transporting visitors along the riverside track from the car park to the mill on open days, as some people struggle with the walk there and back, a total of 1.5 miles. We also use it if we have big items like pallets or wood to take, or a large number of volunteers going to the mill. We used this trailer for taking all the boxes of grant funded purchases, plus the picnic table and logstore, and bringing back rubbish for the skip and empty boxes for recycling. We filled the trailer with various materials for making the wildlife habitat. This trailer is also used to move large items around on site such as fallen trees and branches. We use the trailer to put car parking signs and a bench seat out for open days.

The large trailer, which has removeable sides and hydraulic tipping is used with the tractor from The Maltings for transporting heavy items to and from the mill, this is mainly used for big projects. The shed was flatpacked and taken to the mill on the trailer and pallets of slates were taken for the shed roof. The gate frame, bridge and walkway were taken to the mill on this trailer along with tools for fitting them. The restored elevator hopper, metal bench and table were also taken to the mill on it. Soil was taken to cover the blacksmith’s shop, and debris from making the wildflower meadow and from the fallen river wall was taken back to The Maltings in it. This trailer was used a lot in the early days for scaffolding, bricks and bags of sand for rebuilding the walls for the 2015 HLF grant. The large trailer was refurbished before taking the shed panels to site as the base was rotten.

We borrowed a long farm trailer for moving the shipping container and railway wagon.

Graham Bartlett              Wildflower Meadow          Green Grant          Open Days