HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS

Thanks to all team members, Open Day helpers, visitors and all others who contribute to making Pann Mill a living heritage site.

PANN MILL AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON by Peter Hazzard

It has been four years since the team attended the annual SPAB (Mills Section) all-day meeting in Kensington; this year we were out in force. One hour is always set aside for Members' Contributions and Group Reports. On this occasion, Pann Mill contributed for the first time with a masterful portrayal by John, of its restoration and unique operating features: a presentation well condensed into ten minutes and ten slides that were allowed.

The day's theme was Horizontal Waterwheels; they originated in Byzantine over 2000 years ago and operate successfully today in such places as North Portugal. Much pleasure is gained and business done at these one day meetings from direct contact with other mill enthusiasts in the breaks allowed for tea and lunch. Myra, up from the West Country for the occasion, renewed acquaintances with Alan Stoyel amongst others. They spoke, I'm sure, of her visit to his former Venn Mill, near Wantage (now for sale), and of being shown over the mill and its top floor, a veritable museum full of milling artefacts. From this magical storeroom, Alan gave us the very old wooden horse that sits on top of Pann Mill's electrically-driven millstones - yet to be restored. I remember sitting this horse on the passenger seat of my open-top TR7 and driving home with it! Sadly, very old wooden pieces of mill equipment do not pass modern hygiene tests, so it was faithfully reproduced by Robert; it sits proudly on the custom built wooden tun donated in memory of Walter Kraft. Myra's brother, Owen, was on hand to explain to Niall Roberts that the stainless steel plates formerly destined to replace the present buckets, en bloc, are in store and are beginning to be used to replace buckets as they wear out. Niall led an SPAB group on a visit to Pann Mill in 1990. Going further back in time, Kenneth Major of the much thumbed 1977 report on Pann Mill's scanty remains after demolition, was waylaid by John who was about to quote the report in his presentation. Result - history re-written! Not greatly significant, but we know now that the report was commissions not by the High Wycombe Society, but by Bucks County Council.

Margaret could not resist the second-hand bookstall run by Kenneth Major and his wife. She came away with a collection of books on mills that took her back to former days on the South Coast. Jim Woodward-Nutt of Shipley Windmill in Sussex, editor of the Mills Open book, was around so Robert was able to deliver our entry for the new 2004 edition. This guide to UK's Windmills and Watermills Open to the Public contains over 400 entries, with Pann Mill on Page 2 - only because mills are listed in County order! Our entry will have a flour-bag symbol displayed to indicate we now make and sell flour, and so will be one of only 45 watermills to qualify for this distinction.

Bill's ears picked up when he heard Chairman Mildred Cookson of Mapledurham Mill announce that next year's weekend mill tour will be to Devon. Malcolm who manages our website, heard about The Mills Archive and its website and resolved to get our mils onto it. As for myself, I put my name down to attend the Rex Wailes Lecture which John Harrison will shortly have the honour of delivering, entitled "The Rise of the White Loaf". He led a memorable mills tour of watermills in North East Yorkshire three years ago, and one of his slides was of the converted mill (part 17th century) belonging to friends I visit, regularly.

Talking of a White Load, David Lindsey of Ford End Mill, North Bucks, a friend of Pann Mill and a regular at these meetings invited us to hear High Wycombe Society member, flour specialist Stanley Cauvain, talk about Bread-making at a venue near his mill. I thanked him, but said we should get Stanley to repeat his talk to the Society, locally.

As for horizontal waterwheels, we came away with the romantic notion that Pann Mill's Anglo-Saxon waterwheel may have been horizontal! Time for another archaeological dig?

DROUGHT TAKES ITS TOLL

2003's record high summer temperatures and low rainfall brought bumper trade to British holiday resorts, but there was a downside. The level of the giant aquifer under Wycombe fell so much that the Hughenden Stream virtually dried up, with the result that in November, many trout had to be rescued. Some very large ones were dropped in the Wye just below Pann Mill.

Before that, on Pann Mill's September open day, the flow of the Wye was itself too low to turn the wheel continuously. Flour milling was achieved only by methodically building up a millpond every half hour or so. Malcolm Connell described the day on Pann Mill's website which he manages:

The team and helpers were on site early, but, oh horror, there is so little water in the Wye. Never mind, the sluices are dropped in and we hope that a head will build up before too long. About an hour later, after various suggestions like running a hose from the Water Works next door, water starts running into the lead. Water is now building up at the waterwheel sluice but is not stopping! One of the control racks has jumped off its pinion and the water is flowing past the sluice board. So, forward the engineers, who dismantle and rebuild the control gear. Around midday, we had enough head of water to wake up the rest of the mill and get the stones turning (well, stone). There was still not a great flow of water, but there was enough to grind flour, albeit with the runner stone at three quarters normal speed. This slow running, however, had an unfortunate consequence: flour only dribbled out of the spout. Later, maintenance revealed a build-up of flour inside the tun, partly through reduced airflow. Good quality flour nevertheless was produced. A local bus driver, seeing that we were open for business, made an unscheduled stop to call across his order for collection later in the day. Another unscheduled stop a couple of hours later enable us to deliver. Did the passengers mind? Probably not; around here they are just glad that a bus is running at all. A couple of orders for 5kg threw us a bit.

The day moved on, the apprentice (he's actually nearly 60), oiler the bearings again, and the miller got frantic trying to meet the demand for flour. However, the sun was out and the crowds turned up and everyone was in good spirits. Eventually it was time to pack up. The sluices were lifted, the leat drained, the gardener complained we were washing away the soil again (ok, we'll fix that wall over the winter), and the chairs, tables, winnower and other items were put back into store.

Thanks are due to the many Society members who planned, set up and ran the stalls and refreshments. Thanks also to the visitors who we hope enjoyed it and will come again for the next Open Day on May 9th, 2004. If you have any comments, or would like to offer help or sponsorship, please feel free to email the Project Manager.

MILLING AROUND

TREES: Have you missed the big white XXX's painted on Pann Mill trees? They've gone; the trees selected for removal or lopping have been dealt with. The public will now be more aware of the waterwheel from the London Road, a good thing perhaps, and certainly there will be fewer leaves to clear away next autumn. Margaret will be glad to have more unlight on her plants.

A beautiful survivor is the tree in the corner nearest Trinity Church that was planted some twenty years ago in memory of a Marks & Spencer employee who died. It was supposed to have been an ornamental tree but, after hundreds of nuts appeared on it for the first time last year, it is confirmed to be a black walnut tree that can grow to 30m! Transplant? The reference books say it has a tap root that is easily damaged, making it difficult to move. Its wrong location is not a problem to be solved by the millers, but perhaps by the arboriculturist members of the Society?

FLOUR PRODUCTION RATE: An often-asked question by visitors, "how long does it take to make a kilo of flour" had an answer when we milled last June. The flour was timed as it came from the spout and it took just over a minute to make a kilo. That was last June. However, come September and the low flow Wye slowed the waterwheel to two and a half revs per minute, resulting in the runner stone slowing to about 60 revs per minute, and the flour just trickled out. The flour was still of good quality, but the production rate fell. Our answer must be that production rate with the waterwheel at 5 revs per minute, is just under 1kg per minute, but this can fall significantly when waterpower is reduced.

MILLER'S THUMB: This small fish, also known as a bullhead, was featured and pictured in Pann Mill Times 7 of September 2000. It abounds at Pann Mill and one appeared in a waterwheel bucket which contained some water after the wheel had stopped turning. In the news again because SPAB (Mills Section) Newsletter for July 2003 contained this quote from Yarrel History of British Fishes (1835): "...his hand is constantly placed under the meal spot... The thumb by a particular movement spreads the sample over the fingers, and the thumb is the gauge of the valve of the produce. By this incessant action of the thumb is produced the peculiarity of form, said to resemble exactly the share pf the head of the fish." Our Pann Mill Newsletter quoted this from Chaucer The Canterbury Tales (C1387) Prologue.

Meal or grain? That is the question! The Pann Mill team support grain because the thumb would be squashed more by whole grain that by the softer meal or flour.

SCHOOL VISIT: A visit was made to the mill by fifty children from Beechview School, Guinions Road, as part of their Local History Studies. One 8 year old had pointed to a drum vacuum cleaner near the millstones and asked if it was a Breadmaker. A very though-provoking question. Perhaps they have a future entrepreneur in the school? Letters of tanks received from the children showed they enjoyed their visit.