"A Tale Of Two Mills" Part 1 - Green's Mill, Sneinton
w/e 22 August
2004
All
this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490
"It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times ...." - so begins Charles Dickens'
epic "A Tale of Two Cities" and if I were writing a
novel instead of a simple web page I would no doubt want something
equally memorable but all I could come up with was this: "Oft
were heard the cries of 'You can see the windmill from here'
as we traversed the footbridge between the multi-storey car park
and the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre in Nottingham's city centre
but we still had not set foot beneath the sails... " The
structure in question is Green's Mill at Sneinton.
|
The web site devoted to the
mill states "There is nothing very remarkable about Green's
Windmill in Nottingham. It is typical of hundreds, perhaps thousands,
of windmills that were once a common sight in this country"
but what I find remarkable is its location. Although when built
at the beginning of the 19th century it stood in the village
of Sneinton, the area has now been swallowed up by the conurbation
of the city and I suppose it must be unique in this respect surrounded
as it is, on all sides by an urban landscape (unless of course,
you know different). Access to the mill is via a path lined with
trees that obscure the building but before you know it, you are
standing at the foot of the mill.
|
The mill was owned and operated
by a Mr Green and later his son George who was to become one
of the leading mathematicians and scientists of his day. He studied
among other things, the behaviour of electricity and magnetism,
light and sound and devised a new way of doing mathematics. Green's
Theorem and Green's functions are still used today by scientists
and engineers in all branches of physical sciences. Buildings
in the grounds of the windmill now house an interactive Science
Centre and tell the story of George Green, the miller-mathematician.
The Mill and the Science Centre together form one of Nottingham's
many museums.
|
George Green died in 1841 but
the mill was still operational until the 1860s when it was abandoned
and allowed to fall into ruin. About one hundred and twenty years
later (1986) after extensive restoration work, flour was once
again produced at the mill. Boards on each floor of the mill
are very informative and explain the milling process from start
to finish and visitors can often see the machinery in action.
|
From the upper levels of the five storey mill, there
are some fine views - this one over Sneinton towards Colwick
Wood and the National Water Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepont
beyond.
|
Oh and by the way, looking the other way "You
can see Nottingham Castle from here" - but that's another
tale; outlaws, merry men and a lad called Robin. I wonder what
Dickens - and George Green -made of that. I have only scraped
the surface of the story of Green's Mill here and would recommend
a visit to the official web site to learn more of George Green
and the history of the mill - click here to open a new window.
Part 2 of "A Tale Of Two Mills" looks at another windmill
in an entirely different setting - Heage Windmill.
|
