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s n of s tor ie io t c e ll o c ies, a s il l Memor M o t eir fa m il ie h e t m d n a e lco s t reside n f Br ix ton o s m il l. n io t c e t he w ind d n u o r a nd recoll a ork e d ed a n d w v li e v a h in who t he public o t d e n e p f il l reo F r ie nd s o on Wind m e t h t ix , r n B io n t e Wh e s t or a m a il s t r e c e nt r s o m s te r s a nd e it t r le e t g f a in 1 1 iv 20 ed r ece he a r d en s st a r t d r a G who h a d l , a il li m a d r t in s W a s Au fa r a f ie ld s h t heir a le p o e touc h w it in f r om p t o g d n an res tor at io a b o ut t h e ing. t he bu ild f o s ie r o t he me m n e y f r om o m r o f bid to ccessf u lly u s e w g r a m me o 2 r 1 p 0 s 2 ie in r o n T he Ou r St F u nd A ll y ge. r e t t o L le’s he r it a p o e p He r it age e t a e lebr a re a nd c h s , e r lo p a nd ex x h ibit ion e n a h it ng w ut b ook, a lo eople ab o is p h t 6 2 is h lt it u iew s w T he r e s on inte r v d e s a b , e nc il l. p e r for m a on Wind m t ix r B o t nec t ion s t heir con 6– old in 201 s r a e y 0 g l b e 20 by s h a r in d m il l w il y r in o t W is n h o t g it s Br ix ce lebr at in y jo n e u o e! we hop e y wee s he r ie v r e t in e r ies of t h t he me mo
W
f Friends o ardens G l il m d in W
May 2014
A brick tower windmill is built to the west of Two of the windmill’s Brixton Hill on open common sails are farm land changed to patent John dies. His will states (shuttered) sails – that either of his sons, much easier to operate Aaron or Joshua, should The watermill lease continue the milling expires. The Ashbys The family remove business at Brixton move back to Brixton, Brixton Windmill’s installing a modern sails and use the brick steam-powered modular tower for storage mill inside the tower to John Ashby, miller, signs produce stone-ground a 99-year lease for the flour and wheat meal land and windmill John Ashby allows seven new houses to be built on part of his land. Over Because of lack of wind the following years the Ashbys transfer Brixton Hill becomes milling to Mitcham, more built up and this Ashby & Sons, Millers, signing a 40-year lease affects the flow of wind Corn & Forage Merchants on watermills on the of Brixton Hill and Wandle River Wandle Mills, Mitcham, advertise that their vans ‘call on residents in the vicinity to deliver…Fine wheat meal for brown bread’
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World War II: fortunately Brixton Windmill survives the bombing of London
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19 39-4 5
The LCC finally buy the site and work starts on laying out gardens around the mill
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The fully restored windmill opens to the public each summer weekend, but in the mid ’70s the mill falls into a cycle of restoration and refurbishment followed by vandalism and neglect Vandalised once again, Brixton Windmill is closed to the public
Joshua Ashby, grandson of the first miller at Brixton, closes the business. Lambeth The government list the Borough Council approach mill as Grade II*. Lambeth the Society for the Borough Council decide Millwright R Protection of Ancient to buy the mill but ask Thompson begins to Buildings about preserving London County Council restore the mill. Some the mill. The following (LCC) for financial help Major restoration by wind machinery May Joshua, who never millwright David Nicholls is brought from a married, dies aged 77 includes making a new derelict tower mill in set of sails Lincolnshire and new sails are made
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198 4-85
Friends of Windmill Gardens (FoWG) are set up to restore The HLF award a generous and re-open Brixton Windmill, grant to pay for the restoration improve Windmill Gardens of Brixton Windmill. With and open a Windmill education money from Lambeth Council centre. They begin a programme and FoWG it also funds a of annual free festivals and 5-year windmill schools other community events programme, regular windmill maintenance, and opening the building in summer months for free public visits FoWG win the national Museum+Heritage Award for conservation Brixton Windmill is and restoration placed on English Heritage’s Buildings at A partnership is signed Risk register between FoWG and Lambeth Council to raise money to restore May: 2,000 Brixton people Brixton Windmill. Several celebrate the restoration applications are made to the of Brixton Windmill, Brixton Windmill, also Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) joining FoWG’s parade known locally as Lower and festival. September: Mill Brixton or Ashby’s the windmill is regularly Mill, will celebrate its opened to the public 200th anniversary
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2007
2010
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2 0 16
ills hael Short’s 1971 book ‘Wi ndm Thi s time line draws on Mic s hive Arc beth Lam in in Lambeth ’ and sou rces held
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MILL
Br i x ton’s h idden gem Did you know that Brixton has a wind mill? Many people don’t, even when they liv e nearby! in Bri xton?’ indmill doing w a ’s at h ‘W t, I though t I thought, dmills were, bu in w at h w ew I kn ng a e time...was doi th at s os b y ‘W here?!’...m ham Park eration of Clap en g re e th ... on project look want to have a ou y o ‘D , id sa e Estate, and h rison, and past Bri xton P ed lk a w e w at this?’ So ed up mill’, and turn d in w a ot n ’s I thought, ‘That Blen heim e through the m ca e w o, st dI and, hey pre a windmill. A n as w e er th d n ea Gardens Estat windmill!’. It’s sort of happenchan ce – finding a windmill went, ‘No, it’s a
u n it ie s n (C om m r o e t ic l f f u n d in g tO IaincuBrreont ly t he Pa rkest hPCroojeunc cil. He is adelonnsgsta b ar Ia in is at L a m d m il l G of W in c at ion) u s d d E n d ie an he F r te r of t s u p p or
in a place like Brixton. You know, grimy, built up, highly populated south London with a history of this, tha t and the other. There’s suddenly a windmill the re. The last thing you would ha ve thought of. And you just say ‘windmill in Brixton’ an d everybody’s face lights up at the thought. And I think that’s part of the reaso n why everybody is supportiv e of it. It’s such a lovely idea having a windmill here.
Adrian Ga rden A d ri a n m
o v ed to B ri x ton in 2 0 c h a ir of th 01 a n d is a e F rien d s former of W in d m il l G a rden s
6
k of Windmill Gardens, just off Brixton Windmill sits at the bac s view by surrounding building Brixton Hill. As it’s hidden from park n you enter the small and trees, you see it only whe
7
I had been living in the Brixto n London area for about four years before I...joined the staff at HMP Brixton. I wasn’t still aware – I was par king on the avenue, going into work for maybe two years before I realised there was anything here. And then one night I was on night duty and I climbed the stairs and there was a very bright moon and I just looked out and I couldn’t believe what I saw. I saw that windm ill. And I remember going straight down the stairs and saying ‘Did you realise there’s a windmill, a rea l windmill? Or is it an ornament in somebody’s gar den I’m seeing that’s actually big?’ And some of the other people I work with said, ‘No, it’s for real and it’s one of the great gems that Brixton has hidden away.’
8
Kate Quigley Ru
Kate w or ke d
at HM P Br ix to
by
n in the 19 90 s
s e en in 1816 , t ill, built m d on , buil in is W r P Brixton Brixton f e o th w n o e e ind e a b etw from a w s s e d ar er voir s e Th e g r a r . d 19 e r 18 in a c o ve dings is two buil
About 30 years ago when I was a studen t nurse we were taken to Br ixton Prison to go ar ound the psychiatric unit an d see what was ha ppening. I just happened to lo ok out of the windo w on one of the staircases an d I saw the windm ill. So I was talking to my mum one day and I said, ‘I didn’t realise there was a windmill in Brixto n’, and she said, ‘That’s where your grandad wor ked.’
oung r worked at SusangY fathe ry ’s g r a n d th c e ntu Yo u n
y 20
a rl Susa n l in the e Brixton Wind W in d m il mill does me B r ix ton an a lot. I’ve lived in Lamb I’m glad it’s n eth for 55 ye ow getting n ars. oticed becau se when you Brixton Hill, y come along ou don’t really see much th at says ‘This windmill’. I th way to the ink they’ve g ot a little noti ce, because ...It does mea it’s tucked aw n a lot becau ay! se it brings th e community together.
an d is a JuneedSintBrilixlm s an ton for 55 ye ar Ju ne ha s liv the w in dm ill su pp or te r of long st an di ng
n suddenly e th d n a h it w ay ee it to begin s n e v e ’t n ld ny sort of w n fu I cou a In … r u o all its splend in … e r smaller than e it th b ’s a it s k o lo y s is it actuall g in th e nd having th a f h o r e th one o e th cted. But on k e p x e e v a h they did pac t a th I would d e s li a e y round it I r a w e th ll a n bee John Tho mall space... s y rp e r e v a Jo to h n is a de a lot in sc e n d a nt of Jo fi rs t ow ne r o
f B ri x ton
h n A sh b y, the W in d m il l
9
y l i m a f y b h s A e h T indmill
rixton W B , ll i M ’s y as Ashb whole of its r o f ly i A lso known m a f y by the Ashb d e t a r e p o wa s to 1934. 7 1 8 1 m o r f , e working lif
Sarah ASHBY
John ASHBY
miller 1807 - 1849
Charlotte GIBBARD
Hannah ASHBY
miller 1811 - 1854
In the mid-1850s, John built Croydon Mill and founded the firm of Ashby Son & Allen steam millers at St James Road, Croydon
Alfred ASHBY
Frederick ASHBY
Aaron ASHBY
Mary Hannah ASHBY
John ASHBY
Arthur Ashby
Elizabeth TAYLOR 1809 - 1885
Francis Ashby 1842 - ?
Great-grandfather of Henr y Ashby, Viv Whitt ingha m and John Thorpe
Francis Ashby, seated centre on balc ony in black jacket, at the Vienna International Corn , Seed and Machinery Exhibition, 1897. Fran cis is the great grandfather of Henry Ashby, Viv Whittingham and John Tho rpe, all interviewed in this book, who can trace their ancestry back to Brix ton Windmill’s first miller John Ash by
10
Millers at Brixton Windmill
John Ashby
miller 1772 - 1845
Julia ASHBY
Eliza ASHBY
Amos ASHBY
Hannah LUETCHFORD
1779 – after 1851
Joshua ASHBY
miller 1821 - 1888
Mary GEORGE
1829 - 1902
Elizabeth Ann ASHBY
In 1862 Joshu a moved the family business to Mitch am, where it stayed until 1902, when Joshu a John returned the business to Brixton
Charlotte Elizabeth Ashby
Henry Ashby
Edmund Ashby
Ernest Walter ASHBY
Hannah A ASHBY
Thomas Joshua Ashby
Aaron Frederick Ashby
Bernard Gideon Joshua john ASHBY ASHBY miller 1856 - 1925
miller 1858 - 1935
Mary Ann ASHBY
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03, he’s my... a miller in 18 as w ho w , by e John Ash John – ran th king out that by – his son, sh I was just wor A n h Jo her. Now Ashby. He urt h grandfat st son of John de el e – one, two – fo th as w dfat her London. His eat-great-gran s round sout h ill m mill and my gr of n ai t he had a ch it was Joshua so a miller bu of John, and n so d in fact was al ir th e I thin k was th who never Joshua, who his son Joshua to n w brot her was do it and he handed e 1920s. The d Brixton mill g, I thin k in th in ill y, m who in herite d pe ty stop shb y hing up and ly the proper nA yt al tu er h b ev en ld ev o d so e l sh married an ekeeper and Ashnda nt ofoJn Wi nd i l y ent to his hous w h at r de is h en is a descer of Br i x t proper ty on H that at all. to ed en pp ne ry what ha He n r s t o w we don’t know fi t he
My grandmother’s father, Franci s, was the last one...to stay a miller...I think he was quite suc cessful. I don’t know why it hasn’t actually followed down the family, but he was a very active miller, and he went abroad finding out about new methods of rolling mills or something like that. So he was quite a go-getter I think. Th at was Francis. Who didn’t actually live here. aid, se as I s u a c e b , as well hese hildren c e ave all t h t h r y o e f h d t r as] ha nly did e [life w s. Not o u in d g io a r t s im u I illers an ind m y f ll o a t e r r o be been s nd emed to e they’d s u they se a ations a r c e e n b e – g e d plac ns an over the n, eneratio g r o f mills all x and dow p usse u S , n in w le op and do ural pe rer, oing up g s agricult a labou e n e b u t y r a o f m nd the ation, tions. A is gener h full of t r e genera m sy, very a far u b e b y r y e a m been v down – ndry to have m up and e ith a lau e s w y d e e t h t ia . And assoc a miller y were e h t d n maybe thic’. A t work e n a t s e t o the ‘Pr ises. Viv is a desc enda nt of John Ashb enterpr f o s y, the first d kin owner of Brix ton Win dmil l and all
Viv Whittingham
12
ong Part of a 60-metre-l nd rou yg mural in the pla ns, rde Ga ll of Windmi this po em rec ords the y memb ers of the Ashb as d rke family who wo ndmill millers at Brixton Wi
13
T h e wor k i ng m ill
After 1902 B rixton Wind mill was giv lease of life en a new , powered b y s t e a m and then than wind. gas rather
have they would e m ti n w o d se, in their ill, And of cour ainted the m p s p a h r e p nance, to do, done mainte something s y a lw a ’s e sails. Ther adays painted the happen now ’t n s e o d ly rtunate m which unfo say, museu ll I’ , e r a ls t of the mil alk because a lo an and we w c e w t s e b s a estore them eally. pieces. We r rts again, r ta s s s e c o r e whole p away and th There would have been in the mill. Obviously,
a team of guys working
the head miller would
have been ensuring that the produce is as expecte d it should be. Then he wo uld have had, perhaps, boys or young men on the dust floor loading the bins and people taking the ground flour out and loading onto wagons or trailers or whatever vehicle the y had. It was a hive of ac tivity.
d Paul Sellwoo
d w as w or th IJ P an ager at O w ls an M t ill gh dm ri in w W Br ix ton Paul is M ill re st or at ion of 10 20 e th in involv ed
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The only sur vivin g photo Windm gra ph o ill b efor f Brixto e 18 62 , family n when th m o ve d e A th s hby e ir busin on the R es s to a iver Wa waterm ndle at ill Mitcha m
Ashby business Adver t promoting the Wandle Mills in at Brixton Hill and at the family’s tes -da Mitcham . This pre 2 190 in l Hil n return to Brixto
years A young girl at Brixton Windmill in the early as eggs fresh sold s Ashby The of the 20th century. ill Windm n Brixto at flour well as
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16
His parents, gra
ndparents and g reat
the way down th e
grandparents all
line would all hav e been working in agriculture as la bourers going b ack to the begin ning of the 1800s and earlie r. So he would h ave had a knowle dge of wheat and flour. A nd the wives a nd children of th ose families would be q uite of ten ‘platters’ or ‘p laters’ and they ma ke things out of the sheaves and bits of corn – that’s a n income for a working fa mily. So he wou ld have had a go od knowledge before he came to London or Bri xton.
ry, two years The 1911 census shows his brother Har rneyman to older...it shows his occupation as jou ress is...the mill or miller’s journeyman...the add r shows on same address as his younger brothe later. And that his marriage certificate six months eman in flour certificate shows him as a warehous that shows mill. And there’s a third certificate and in 1911 and that grandad’s address at the same census lodger or boarder shows him...living with a family as a ry and his and the head of that family is a Mr Nea occupation is a miller.
Gilbert Young
Gi lbe rt Yo un g is ma rr ied to Su sa n Yo un g, whos e gr an df ather work ed at Br ixt on W ind mi ll in the ea rly 20 th ce nt ur y. He ha s done ex ten siv e re se ar ch int o Su sa n’s fam ily his tor y Sue Young’s gr andfather work ed at Brixton Mill at the time that Jo shua John was the miller there
17
p u g n i l Grow l i m e h t d n a rou
he area t n i s p o h ses and s u o h f o s orie s built. a m e w e m t d a t o s o E Childh Gardens m i e h n e e Bl before th
climb the fence hty children do ug na as d an I grew up and loads The windmill…as days with loads e m so e m ho go ng. We used to and go scrumpi big wooden used to be like a e er th … es ri er s and blackb at’s how of apples, plum to climb over. Th ed us ill st e w – wire around it used gate with barbed e. The man that nc fe e th ng bi g...clim at long on my le I’ve got a scar th red – run – urse we scarpe co – d te ou sh , ’s yard sees us d run to be in Edwards me leg open an d re ou sc I d di we the fence and as went to go over e beautiful ...The plums wer en op g in ng ha e with me leg me, the all the way hom when you go ho d an em th t ea and ed to pick them and you just us lly ache’. mum I’ve got be next day: ‘O-oh came out… t houses. You ee tr S n io at Coron e had Ver y much li ke t garden. Som on fr – en rd a le bit of g be a litt le some had a litt Street used to ry a ic V of er corn d to sell none…On the Vinton. He use r M s a w e m a His n slices of grocery store. et one or two g d n a e er th uld go in the bag. sweets. You co h sugar up in g ei w d e’ h d n two eggs – a im – out bacon. One or inegar from h v r ou y et g d an ay. empty bottle d fashioned w ol e You’d ta ke an h T . at th gs li ke Different thin of the barrel.
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at Brixton, was a keen botanist Joshua Ashby, the last miller until his death in 1935 . In the and kept a productive garden ng was a great place to go scrumpi 1950 s the abandoned garden
…we used to have a fish and chip shop in the middle of Blenheim Gardens called Chaneys. We used to have a little bakers as you walked further down...I used to go in there in the mornings used to get these – what did we used to call them? Traffic lights. With green, red and yellow jam in. And they used to come out red hot in the mornings...on the corner of Tregenna Street you had a butchers called Sorrels. You had a newsagents Mr Hicks, who I used [to do a] to paper round for, and next World War II fly ing bomb damag e in Dumbarton south of Brixto Ro ad just n Windmill. The hors e-drawn ca centre advertise rt in the s FW Stares (B ak ers) of 59 Lyha m Ro ad
door to him you had like another grocery store where you could go in if you only wanted two slices of corned beef which, in them days, I used to come up and get it with a note from me mum: ‘Two slices of corned beef please.’ That would do for dad’s sandwiches the next day.
...at the bottom of Tregenna Street w e used to have a la dy called Mrs Durkin. She us ed to lay out the de ad and she’d alway s, every day be sittin g…outside her fro nt door she used to have like an old wooden fence bit and she us ed to sit on there in her full black dres s, white apron and the white bit arou nd her head. And she’d sit there. Anybody di ed – you went and got Mrs Durkin and she la id them out. Anyb ody going to have a baby you went and got Mrs Durkin – she delivered the baby …But seeing my mum a few weekends ago and she was saying : ‘Do you remember Mrs Durkin?’ I said ‘Ye s.’ Everybody did. We used to call her the Old Witch – us kids wer e frightened of he r...as you come round the co rner from school sh e’d want you to go and run an errand for her. So we used to go ro und the other way . Al l quot es on th
es e pa ge s by
Florencupein thHe araeallaround Flor ence gr ew ill in the 19 50 s Br ix ton W in dm
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I was born in Tregenna Street and that was in 1932 on Christmas Day. Seven o’clock in the morning when it was thick with snow – as my father always used to tell me…We lived in a tiny two-bottom – twodown and two-up house. They were lovely little houses and it’s heartbrea king to see them all gone now. Lovely little garden that my grandfather thought the world of...there was all the family, my grandparents, about three or four aunts and uncle, my mum and my dad and myself
Ma ureen Lemon’s brothe r and his friends pos e in their Sunday bes t in the mill yard at Ashby’s Mill, Brixton
and my brother and we all lived in that one little house. It was very crowded. I don’t remember an awful lot about it except that, as I say, it was very small.
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s and ere was three shop ...on the corner th rrel’s hich was called So w r he tc bu a as w one ayne’s. ery store called W and one was a groc dI three daughters an Now Wayne’s had ese now think that th do believe – well I ne’s cture are the Way two girls in the pi I think is my brother who children…and this eight. out maybe seven or ab en be ve ha t us m his name is Tony. This young man –
The popular Windmill pub on the corner of Blenheim Gardens and Bar tley Street was much loved by Ma ureen Lemon’s father
ite often with my ck to the Windmill pub qu I do remember coming ba ll pub. solutely adored the Windmi ab he r he fat my se cau Be parents. first thing he me back from holidays the co to ed us y the er ev en Wh me on. Let’s go ses and say to my mum: ‘Co would do was drop the ca Windmill pub ember, many times at the up the Windmill.’ And I rem a singaccordion and it would be the g yin pla n ma a ve ha they would I got married re. Lovely pub. And when he osp atm ely lov y all Re song. accordion, he who used to play the piano at the age of 22 the chappie lar pub and a lot dding. It was a very popu came and played at my we . they decided to pull it down ages b y on thes e p of people were upset when A ll q uote s
mon e L n e e r u nd Ma a re a a ro u u p in the g re w M au re en 30s il l in the 19 M n to B ri x
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er - they h t a f d n a gr eat-greatr g d op n a s rent ened a sh p o y e h Grandpa t nd l Green a a atn h t e B m great-gre ly t n e r came fro a app ns. Now e d r a G ck room a im e b h a n le in B d in orke , so he w I m o lo a d because a p h o d h a s d d n o fo gra e been a v a h t s 500 u p...It m ceipt for e r a g of the sho in d rs ago fin a e y e m o rs . remembe t £20-£25 u o b a s a s and it w hens’ egg
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d, where Looking north down Lyham Roa War II ld Wor ng duri Rob ert Burns lived
Prague Street, typical of the Victorian terraces nea r the windmill where Florence Hall and Ma ureen Lemon grew up. In 1968 these houses were about to be demolis hed to make wa y for the new Ble nheim Gardens Estate
...we cam e back to Lyham Ro probably ad...that w be late ’4 ould 2, maybe only been ’43. And w e’d here for a short tim think an a e and the ’s ircraft wa y This corndealer and confectioner s meande back to b ring on it on Cornwall Road (now Blenheim ase and it s way had two b y Gardens) was typical of the man and they ombs on dropped them, nd them in L local shop s in the streets arou y O h n a e m w Road... as on the Brixton Windmill corner of Kildoran where th Road, e little pa rk is, and the other was on th one e other sid e of the ro flats now a d , w here the stand, the y were co out at the mpletely whole of wiped that poin And then t, th a t w as flat. they patc hed us up middle of , a n d c o me the June, afte r the D-D doodlebu ay landin g droppe gs, a d in Ellers All q or less wip uote s lie Square on t h , more ed that o ese p ut comple age s tely.
Robe rt
by Rob e r t wa s b or l ived ni i n Br i x t on n 1 93 2 a n d has all h is l i f e
Burn s
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s e m o c e s b 0 7 l 9 l 1 i e m h d W i n ic t i n t a l e from y r r e chin to the de a d m e n n e he op . w d ’70s e mill i 1964, h t m n i , e d n h le n by t oratio n st a l i t i s a s e g a r a t After mill w eglec e n r i o t h l ns llen in a f Linco d a h c but i l b u p
I came to England
in 1962 and moved
to Brixton in 1974...O ne Sunday afternoon, a beautif ul day after a week living there, I decid ed to explore to discover, a bit, Br ixton. I walked thro ugh Blenheim Garde ns road and just at the end of th e road there’s a gree n open space and as I entered this space I discover ed the mill. Wonde rful, shall I say, mon ument. Obviously it was di sappointing to see it so dilapidated, br oken down and neglected, really ne glected. But it was at that moment whe n it evoked in me the memorie s of my childhood and my memory in Spain about windmills and grou nding the flour, the harvest and so on...T he door was broken. One of the arms was half brok en hanging. The w indows had no glass. I went arou nd it a couple of tim es. It was full of rubb ish, smelly and unpleasant…So me of the brickwor k was in very poor condition and I think the top of it, I can’t remem ber, the dome, it w as broken or I couldn’t see it.
Julio Vare la
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Ju lio Va re la w a s b o rn in S p a in B ri x ton in a n d mo v ed 19 74 . He h to a s si nce re re mem b er tu rned to s B ri x ton S p a in , b u W in d m il l t w it h g re at fon d nes s
r blic in 1968 after fou s op ened to the pu four ng cti Brixton Windmill wa tru ns co ed lud restoration that inc first came ye ars of extensive when Julio Varela er, lat de ca de a n g neglected kin new sails . Less tha mill was loo ll Gardens, the wind acro ss it in Windmi
25
R e stor at ion in the 1 980s Millwrig ht David Nicholls restoring was invo Brixton W lved in indmill in 1985. we agreed a te in 1984 and la s u ed h ac l appro ough Counci hen we Lambeth Bor ting in 1985...W ar st , on ti ec ng an insp orks, after doi y had loved schedule of w erelict – nobod d d an n ow d y run ere it was ver e tower, first went in th e the top of th at d li so n co do was to e first thing to sails, the it for years...th e cap off – the th of e ol h w e took th a mess. So we 5. There were. which was in ember in 198 m re ’t n ca I ere? e any sails th d the cap, cap. Were ther to the yard, an e er h ck ba t them ose off, brough remember Yes, we took th gh London. I u ro th g in m n co ite an operatio which was qu ht, high speed dle of the nig id m , it ed h is when we’d fin taking it back reat fun! the police – g by rt co es c traffi
26
You know the machi nery is a mixture – it’ s a hybrid – don’t you? It’s machi nery which has been brought to the mill from Lincolnshire , totally out of contex t...But you know I think that sort of thing if it’s recorded properly it’s OK. But...it gives a fals e picture because that machinery looks, for the London area compared to Li ncolnshire... totally out of place. M aybe in the future th at will be changed, I don’t know , but now it’s part of the history.
But then we had to rebuil d part of the top of the tow brick work w er. The as in a ver y b ad condition . I remember d some of that oing work myself wit h another g uy. A nd we replaced the a lso curb ready fo r the cap. So the cap went after about th back ree or four m onths here in our worksho ps... t he s e p
age s by
ichoiglhlt swho worked o5n N d i v Da retired millwr indmill in 198
te s on A ll q uo
W a B r ix ton D av id is t ion of a r to s e t he r
r we n t l un d e il m d in right 5 the w . Millw In 19 8 p, ration o t the c a s e d r e major r e m ov s d ll e o h Nic rep air D a vid s an d w s ail e n er e w d o ma brick t of the s t r a p
In Ma y 19 82 the S o uth Lond serious v on Press andalism rep orted at Brixto n Windm ill
27
28
I’ve lived in Bri xton
for a long time.
I’ve lived on the other side of the hill, so I didn’t really know the windm ill until I started th e Girls’ Brigade on the estate and then about ’84 [took] our little ones, five to eight year olds, up to see the windmil l and we went up to the top and paid 10 pence a head…w e had a picnic afterwar ds and made a re al day of it. That’s whe n I really got to know and love the win dmill.
llm June Sti
an
After the 19 85 resto ration , Ju to ok youn ne Stillma ger memb n ers of the group of lo c al the Girls’ B ri g a de to visit Brixton W indmill
29
f o d o i r e p r e h t o An s 0 9 9 1 e h t n i t c e l n eg
again. ir a p e r is d o t mill falls in d in W n o t ix Br
day because I used I used to pass the windmill every Brixton Hill...and I to go to these drama sessions on ll...and used to think remember looking at the windmi ng, very unusual-looking ‘What an amazing-looking buildi t...It was only years later... building’ just because it stood ou saw this building in a that I passed the windmill and I very, very bad, bits falling really, really bad state, it looked there were needles off, there was graffiti everywhere, doned and the children’s there, the park itself looked aban y, very bad way...And I playground also looked in a ver d something touched me, stood there looking at the mill, an ng just abandoned and I I was moved by seeing this buildi like this, we lose something thought that if we lose a building munity. in ourselves, as people, as a com
Richard Sa
nthiri
R ic h ar d is a lo ca l re si de nt of B ri a d ri v in g fo xt on an d w rc e be h in d as the ca m p ai B ri xt on W g n to re st or in d m il l an e d the es ta bl is h ment of FoWG
30
By the late 1990s another period of neglect caused local people to start demanding that something should be done to save Brixton Windmill
31
At the time it
was really not
very salub rious old buildin g beside it.. .it was being used for rough s leeping and there was a drug prob lem...and w e sort of lik e went, let’s keep going through th e park very quickly. But it was a really fascin ating site, a nd we just said, look it would be r eally nice to put it into context and ...how it ha d come to b e here. on because it h ad an
Iain Boult
s smelly, a w it , k r a d s a w It was damp, it , dead s g in p p o r d d ir in b it was covered ut it was b s g in h t f o ts r pigeons, all so ere was h t s e y d n A ‌ g utterly charmin t it was u b s g in h t f o ts or graffiti and all s n came te f o e w r e b m e I rem charming and t talked s ju e w d n a , g o here wit h our d pened. p a h r e v e d a h t a about it and wh Magdal en Ruba M a gd a le n is a lo lcava c a l r e s ide m a jor r nt of Br ole in F r ix ton a n ie n d s o in o d r g a n is in
32
g the s u
f W in d m h a s play il l G a r d ed a e n s a nd m me r fe p a r tic u s ti v a ls la rly
look at this I’d come in and I’d ink, ‘Yeah, this windmill and I’d th . It wasn’t lly a e R ’ . d o o g s k o lo thing only birds s a w It . n e th g in work . Pigeons! that was living in it look there was ’d u o y re e h w ry e v E le and the o h a s a w re e th , a hole in ing. Over the blades wasn’t work get a little ’d u o y s, e d la b e th year uld drop off, o w il a s e th f o e c pie t to pick them n e w e w d n a , h a e y in the sheds at up and stick them , or wherever, Clapham Common it with no d te a e tr y d o b o n ... yeah like that. It g in th y n a r o t c e resp just a derelict lly a c si a b st ju s a w building. Hec
tor Marsha
lleck
Hec tor us ed to be a te am le ader for Ve re sp on si ble ol ia an d w as for m ai nt ai ni ng W in dm il l G ar de ns
33
WG o F f o n o i s t e a i t m i v i t For ac y l r a e & were s n e d l Ga r dm i l n i W park. f o e s h t d n n i e i stival the Fr e f 3 a 0 d 0 In 2 ganise r o d n a set up
ncil af ter a gned by the cou si as as w ey on ...m Working the Brixton Hill om fr re su es pr lot of xton ojects in the Bri pr on t en sp be Group to is at it should be th th e os ch e w d an Hill area, l and the windmil rk pa e th t ou ab consultation Planet by a group called e n do as w at th and group... ltation architect su n co of rt so a Earth, ea t groups in the ar en er ff di of ts lo They got nts ularly the reside ic rt pa g in ud cl involved, in rk shares ns Estate, the pa de ar G im he n le of B as af ter h them...and it w it w l al w ry da n a bou really of residents got that that a group the ct of improving pe os pr e th t ou excited ab l ing the windmil or st re y rl la u ic park and part ns was Windmill Garde of ds n ie Fr e th and ed. eventually form
34
A field of toy windmi lls in Windmill Garde ns at the final event of Planet Earth ’s consultation with loc al residents ab out what should happ en to the wind mill and the park
One of the very first fes tivals that were held in the park was organised by Planet Ea rth...and it started off the tradition of us having regular festiv als in the park...They sp read lots of little toy windmills under the trees and they looked really good and they got students from Camberwell Art Colle ge to come and decorate the windmill with a great big sort of paper sunflower, which they hoisted up on the outside of the windmill and this transformed what wa s a very derelict build ing which always had in the past been suffe ring from graffiti and things like that, and made it sort of come to life, and gave us so me inspiration about what could be done if you ran lots of good ev ents in the park and could engage loc al people. A ll q uote
nf lower made by A giant paper su er well Ar t Scho ol students at Camb the windmill’s to being hoisted on tival in the park fes st fir sails at the
s on the se
p age s
Jean Ker by rigan Je a n is th e c u rr e
nt C h a ir of W in d m of the F ri il l G a rde e nd s n s – she h B ri x ton W a s a v ie w in d m il l fr of om he r fl at
35
nised flamenco Jill Reyes orga first Windmill dancers at the . They became Festival in 20 03 regular act at a much-loved d stivals organise subs eq uent fe s en rd Ga indmill by Friends of W
I think p
eople ca n usuall y tell if bout a p there’s someth roject a ing a piece n d t h is proje , like the c t was all mill, a b of carry o eautifu n for ge l projec t which neratio ns and will about in i t spiring was ver , giving y much to take local pe part, to ople an show th opportu eir skill the pro nity s...this p ject it is roject is becaus e of the of it and only people make it who ar work. e part do dgy a
i Richard Santhir
36
menco e was just a fla The very first on re nd one was whe group. The seco ings put different th different people it y...I e best opport un in. It gave me th I had act people who was able to cont very to contact for a not had reason were find out if they long time and to rforming. interested in pe Both quot es
by
Jill Reyes
Ji ll ha s liv ed in Br ix ton fo r ne arly 40 ye an d is an ac tiv ar s e mem be r of the Fr ie nd s of W in dm ill Ga rden s
Someone said, ‘Wel l why [for open house]’, an d
...the first main festiv
al...was a bit panicky
when people didn’t turn up from my point of vi ew. From that one we ha d Keith Hill, who was then the Member of Parli ament, and he was a lovely man and the first th ing he said when he stood up to open the event was: ‘I might be your MP,’ he very bravely said , ‘but I didn’t know I had a windmill in my co nstituency.’ And this was the case that not ev en the MP knew th at the windmill existed.
don’t we just tr y [o peni
Richard and Magda le
ng up] the w indmill
n said, ‘It’s wor th a
tr y’. So ible metal door, I re member that and we had to open that, it crea ke d open, it was full of cobwebs, and hmmm, this is going to be interest ing to get people in here and out. But we persevered , and I thin k it was about 2004, 2005 we actually did open house...and actually when we turned up that day there were queues of people, th ere was a huge qu eue of people waitin g to get in. And it was busy, an d we had the park rangers at the tim e and they were brilliant, they wer e really fantastic, they made sure th at people were coming in safely...a nd it ran really wel l...People’s feedback was really brilliant...There wer e so many more pe ople than we thou ght would come. We thought that they’d never co me dow n Brix ton Hill, but they did, and they did, and they did!
we did it and of co ur
se you had the horr
Iain Boulton
37
A pply i ng for mon e y to r e stor e t h e mill In 2007 the Frien ds of Windmill G ardens set up a formal partners hip with Lambeth Council and started applying to the Heritage Lo ttery Fund for money to restore Brixton Windmil l. to the Heritage We did a presentation said, ‘What a Lottery Fund and they ion you’ve made, wonderful presentat are about what how enthusiastic we t unfortunately you’re trying to do’. Bu re saying, ‘We’re at that point they we ndmill but it’s got all for restoring the wi mmunity draw.’... to have more of a co gh you’re going to So they said, ‘Althou l restored windmill, produce a wonderfu great historical which is of course of you’re not giving and heritage interest unity] that much. them [the local comm out it again. We So go away, think ab e to advise you. will give you someon a bid more geared And come back with ation.’ So we had to, for instance, educ we put together a second bash...And ted just as I was a bid that we presen ink I was just still fading away. And I th when we actually chair or just not chair ed the several heard we’d been award unds...Well, that hundred thousand po l! was really wonderfu
rian stove-pip e top hat, Ad We aring his famed out from e tim es tak G, of FoW Garden, former Chair oup to ha ve Windmill Theatre Gr performing with the at one of lice with the loc al po a serious dis cus sion the summer festivals
rden a G n a i Adr
38
I Hector...was driv ing off in his van, he don’t know why he was there, and
and sudden ly saw this group of people ing. he knew somethi ng must be happen ple There was a few Lottery Her itage peo of and it was interest ing because one them knew me and Richard from the
got theatre from a few yea rs ago...Hector y out of his van, he was in his filthy dirt d clot hes and big rast a hair and he stoo
you there and he said. ‘I don’t know who most are but I just want to say this is the and ama zing project in the com mun ity d these people have worked real ly har and we real ly need this project.’...I’m
’t not say ing it properly because I can uent remember but he was far more eloq than the lot of us. Then afterwa rd we
and went to the meeting in the cou ncil was the Lottery Her itage just said, ‘Who that ama zing man?’ and I mea n you e cou ldn’t have asked for any thing mor than that to happen and in a way I he helped clinch it!
thin k
alcava b u R n le Magda
In 2007 a formal pa between the Friends council had always come along and he and encourage us, encouraging the co
rtnership was set up and the council. Th
e
supplied workers to
lp us and support us
,
and equally we we re uncil, you know, to
their responsibilities
take
for this building, wh ich is, after all, a Grade II* listed building, they own it, they have the duty of care for it...a num ber of applications were m ade to the Heritage Lottery Fund, I think it was three in all, and it wa s the last one that got th e grant in March...2 010, when we got the ne ws that we had been awarded this substa ntial grant from th e Heritage Lottery Fu nd...I think that the reason we got it in 2010 wa s because the Frien ds had worked so hard to engage the local co mmunity, and we could demon strate that we had that support from the loc al community.
Jean Kerrigan Hector M arshalleck (s ec ond fr with mem om right) b ers of th e grounds te am in W maintena indmill G a nce rdens – fi of Brixton rm supp o Windmill rters
39
n o i t a r o t R es 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 2 2011. t s in u g o Au 2010 t
tober c O e c a ook pl t n o i t stora The re
The restoration proces s...took place over a re ally difficult period. It was the winter of 2010 which you probably kn -11, ow was very, very co ld and very, very diffi cult and probably not best time to be restorin the g an old building like this, which was riddle d with damp, and had sorts of problems...It kic all ked off quite well and seemed to be going ap ace...The date set by th HLF advisers and so on e was that it had to be co mpleted by the spring of 2011, and yet work didn’t really start until the October of 2010, af ter the long torturous process of...putting in the company that wa place s going to carry out th at work. Everything se emed to be going fine, site was managed, it the seemed to me very we ll, by a very nice youn g woman who was in of this site and seemed charge to cope very well, Ulrik e. But towards the end of the process, partly because the weather conditions I think were really difficult, but obvio usly as we found out later, there were...fina ncial problems with th e company that had be en appointed, work se to...drag out, and altho emed ugh it looked as if we were on target to get the building work finish in February, in good tim ed e to have a planned op ening which we had se t as the first May Bank Holiday...That all happ ened on May 7, but in reality the building wa sn’t ready yet to be op to the public, and it did ened n’t open to the public until the September.
igan r r e K Jean
40
During one of the coldest win ters of recent years Brixton Windmill without its sails or cap was wrapped in plastic as restoration work went ahe ad
be good t...that it wou ld lis na ur jo a because I’m n. I...suggested – the restorat io e prog ress of th rd co re to ex pect ing to set up a blog od idea. I was go a as w is to th in k th s People seemed rough va riou oved or go th pr ap ea id e th to have to get that. They just t it wasn’t like Bu r. ve te ha w e com m it tees or ss blog and th t up a WordPre se I it… do d an sa id fine go off st got used to of October. I ju d en e th at d ar te it h restorat ion st ry fr iend ly w week. I got ve a e ic tw or g once d popping alon the project an as manag ing w ho w t es onew t U lr ike from St d tell me wha w it h her. She’ at ch a ve ha e and me and ta ke I used to com get Owen to co to ed us I d g on an blog and I got had been goin recording the d te ar st st ju d we w inter and I some photos an freezi ng cold a as w It e. ik w it h U lr er her tea very fr iend ly be hudd ling ov d e’ sh d an ss m ing acro was too remember co e hold ups. If it th of e us ca be eather – on. I even cu rsing the w kwork and so ic br e th on k d not wor cause the cold they coul at one stage be er ov id flu ng me de-ici had frozen had to br ing so tools – the lock r ei th l al pt re they ke contai ner whe not un lock it. K i m so they could Winte
r
K im h a s li v e d in B r ix ton fo le a d s the r 2 7 yea r c om mu n s a nd ic ation s F r ie n d s g ro u p of of W in d m th e il l G a rde ns
to visit the windmill Friends were enc ouraged iod. Ulrike Wahl during the restoration per managed the site et) (we aring the white helm
41
those off and we ils off. We craned sa e th t ge as w e had to do em dow n, ...t he first th ing w re we st ripped th he w ps ho ks or w ck here to ou r nt sa il frames. brought them ba ut ters for the pate sh of t se a e ad m ed and had st ripped repa inted, repa ir ractor on the site nt co n ai m e th , ng was up the cap tu rn ing Once the scaffoldi the mec ha nics of at ed ok lo e W p. e ca to chec k the claddi ng off th lif ted the cap up e w , ed ed ne as it w repa ired it where top of the cu rb mec ha nism. We the cap frame on th ea rn de un g in es that are sitt e cog ri ng that the sk id plat ed the cap, also th at ic br lu e w at th r. W hi lst we did that the it was ensu ri ng were in good orde d, la -c re as w it Once at’s on the cu rb. ng time and we and ever yt hi ng th ed for an aw fu l lo rn tu d ha p ca e I don’t th in k th make cap wou ld tu rn. bits and pieces to of s rt so l al d di e W e, t it tu rn ing agai n. ars dow n the lin managed, we go w a year, two ye no g tin ar st s it’ work and su re that it wou ld ite wel l. nn ing to work qu gi be s it’ d an y rl gu la we do it fa irly re Well, the cap at Ashby’s Mi ll
in Brixton, the turning mechanism tha t’s there now, was brought down from a Lin colnshire mill, so there’s, like, an internal cog ring on the curb with a pinion drive. There ’s a wheel on the outside of the cap which potentially a chain or a rope, a continuous cha in or rope could go into it, and as you pull the rope down it turns all the mechanism to tur n the cap around, it pulls itself around the cur b. brake wheel was The cap housing the shaft and the 2010-11 restoration the ng duri n dow ped completely strip
42
Millwright Paul Sellwood takes the sails off to check and repair them at his workshop near Reading
...the most common sails tha t people would associate wit h windmill sails are the, what we would call common sails wh ere a huge sailcloth, effectively like a big curtain, is pulled acr oss the sail frame and tied on. Eac h sail would have been pulled round, the miller, whoever, wo uld have pulled, unfurled the sai lcloth and each time, then, obv iously, they would mill, use the wind then for that day. The next sty le of shutters are what we cal l the patent style of shutters which are operated by either a roc king lever or a rack and pinion sort of wheel, again an endless chain which would hang dow n the back of the mill whereby the rod, the striking rod as it’s called, passes through the win dshaft out to a ‘spider’ with var ious linkages which go to all four sails so, as you operate it, it closes off the shutters on all four sails at one time. The spring system, each individual sail has an elliptical leaf spring fixe d to the top of the sail frame and then a long rod which passes right down to the bottom wh ereby the various bits are con nected to what we call the working up longs and the system we’ve designed for Brixton was tha t the shutters would close by windin g a screw thread to a stop loc k so as the shutters closed, full y closed, they’d hit the stop loc k. Keep winding and you clo se the leaf spring. Now, as the wind blows, you might get gusts of wind, as you get gusts of win d it blows against the shutter s, and then the shutters will jus t slightly open - it’s what we call spilling the wind. Of cou rse, the tension in these springs, the shutters would close again dur ing the rotation. ls, we do that at we do is we tur n the sai On the month ly visits, wh d that maybe off any sta nding water an every month just to throw e the whole rate the shutters, ma ke sur sitt ing in the joints. We ope s, we lubricate ck all the bolts, the cla mp mecha nism works, we che ving par ts of bea ring and any other mo the neck bea ring, the tai l through the every three months, we go the mi ll. On the quarterly, ate the cap a ful l we also lubricate and rot d an in aga s ces pro ole wh as it should. that everyt hing is working ure ens to t jus ty six eethr ...it is incredibly hard wo rk, it really is hard work. We have tried to count how many rotation s of the hand winding ha ndle it takes to do a complete rotation and I thi nk half way round we giv e up because we’re so out of breath. It is gettin g easier as time goes on, the more more we lubricate, the more we do it, it is becoming easier, I say because many years ago the cap just did n’t turn, it was a static cap , so it is working, it’s getting much better no w. Al l quote s on the se
pa ge s by
Paul Sellwood
43
May Day pa r a de 201 1 The Frien ds or ganised a big festiv parade on al and May Day b a n k celebrate holiday 2 011 to the restor ation of th e m i l l.
was own here and d e m a c I d e n e p When it was o e descendants th f o e n o s a w I e tape as e asked to cut th le day here. W b a y jo n e y r e v . It was a of John Ashby and your local , th e b m a L f o s ayores had the Lady M ust say. Very m I , d e e d in n o er pers MP – very clev m that the mill s ia s u th n e e th to see ted enjoyable. And actors who ac f o p u o r g a d a you h generated and . ite fascinating u q – l il m e th f the history o
Henry Ash by
44
Henry Ash by, descen d a nt of B Windmill’s rixton first mille r John Ash shakes ha b y, nds with lo c al MP Umunna C h u ka after form ally op en restored ing the building o n 2 Ma y 2 0 Lamb eth’s 11 . Ma yor lo o ks o n
Amazing hats, stunn ing co stumes, happy pe ople came out to celebrate the reopening of Brixton’s much-love d windmill
Some of the 2,00 0 people who joined the parade from Brixton s town centre to Windmill Garden
festival, the summer e av h to ed ing. We decid d to coincide day was amaz g in en p o e ring it forwar h b T to , er m m e su indrush ally later in th on Hill from W xt ri which is norm B p u e ad a par traordinary ing and have ised it, is an ex an rg with the open o o h w , dalen d hundreds windmill. Mag e hundreds an lik Square to the ed em se what oking back st remember cession and lo ro p character…I ju g n lo a in n Hill g in Windrush king up Brixto were standin e W . of people wal le p eo p ade of Magdalen is endless par e at one and av le and seeing th to e u d ade was turn up,’ 0 and the par ody’s going to b o n – Square at 12.3 e er h people e tried to here’s only 20 ublicity and w p is th l was saying: ‘T al g n and thinki ork. And all panicking ot going to w n s it’ d and we were an tic enthusias fantastic! terested and peared. It was ap es d get people in tu lti u , the m dressed , at one o’clock hotos, people p e th at then suddenly k ac d I look b eryone sunny day an g placards, ev n yi rr ca It was a lovely le p cy hats, peo was then that en in their fan up; the wom ities...I think it iv st fe e th g n ith. It ing and enjoyi be involved w to p u ro g smiling, laugh ity n at commu k: this is a gre e windmill. made me thin her around th et g to le p eo p ds in bringing really succee
K
er t n i im W
45
I m po rta n & br c e of ead prod flour Bread uc t i and fl our p on i n ma roduc ny cu tion ltu res ar are im ound porta the w nt orld.
see if the ility to study, to ib as fe a do to ...we need . Not using the grinding of flour r la gu re n ai st building can su ind power ver work, the w ne ld ou w at th cause wind power, be we have got the machinery, but al in ig or e th t machinery is no t their mill which family...we’ve go by sh A e th at th machine by gas and now m engine, then ea st by ly al in was driven orig ng the lly restored duri fu as w d an on motor has an electric ent, that pair piece of equipm at th t go ve e’ W last restoration. n is, can it grind flour. The questio d in gr n ca it ... of stones the building er the fabric of ng da en t no d an flour regularly study to do a feasibility nd fu a g in is ra ently and we are curr larly and grind to run that regu le ib ss po es ov on that...If it pr in some way of bringing a be ht ig m at then th flour regularly er, to fund a I don’t think, ev gh ou en be ’t on income, but it w ion programme. full-time educat
Jean Ker rigan
46
it did cross my mind ...so I took over the allotment and I could take it to the that if I was able to grow wheat s no longer working. windmill, not rea lising that it wa the flour and ma ke But I could ma ke the flour, grind the bread out of that! It all began some years
Each year since the windmill e reop ened in 2011 the Friends hav at whe tage heri d este harv grown and s den Gar ll dmi in Win
after the war because we always had that grey na tional loaf. Then they changed to the sliced wh ite bread which I regard ed as horrible. And one day... I thought I could have a go at making my own bre ad, which I tried. I think the majority of people wh en they first make bread are a little impatient and they don’t let it rise fully. So I made it, two little loaves , they went in as two litt le loaves and they came ou t the same size. One of the m was so disgusting I threw out into the gutter and eve n the birds didn’t eat it. Th at particular weekend, as a special treat I made this bread for two friends wh o came down from Birming ham. They had been in the navy – and you can talk about hard tack – it wasn’ t in it! So, they were going ov er to Germany because they’d both been in the fire ser vice. One of them comp lained – he said: ‘What a wicke d waste to throw bread away’ and I said, ‘If you still wa nt it I’ve got one you can take with you.’ A couple of days later I had a postc ard saying, ‘We arrived in Ge rmany in good time and we had a good crossing, un fortunately the bread we nt over the side halfway ac ross the channel. There was no way we could get ou r teeth into it!’ y s on uote
t h is
p age
t Bu r e b Ro
B ot h
q
b
rns
47
sed to collect u e w n e v e s , x si ut When I was abo e lived – my w re e h w m o fr away wheat from far d we used to n a – d n la e m o s d parents inherite ecially wheat p s – r a e y a e c n st o collect the harve d of August n E r. e b m te p e S f e end o and barley at th d other…we share m y m h it w t n e Iw and September, ated the land. iv lt u c o h w le p o it with the pe
ain. ning in Sp io t a r d a h en we : e time wh h t s a w sic things a it b ly e h te t a y n ll u specia Unfort s scarce, e a w g in food h t ar every e the basic r a h ic h w After the w things hickpeas, c e if , s il t n le , your hous , oil e in e ic r v , a r h u r o o fl hold rbidden to ould fo s a w t .I .. ernment w ays v d o g y r e e h v t e o f s o u need re than yo o m r e rain to m r a fa scate the g fi n o you were c , it r ney fo ting u little mo o y y a her, collec p t , o te m a c y s fi m n o o c ation. S r for the n u o fl d n a read inely. produce b it clandest o d to d a h of wheat, these bags
48
e or less the same e windmill, it was mor th to ill, m e th to ain To take the gr had in your hands to be discovered you e lik t no uld wo u Yo question. t that ask you where you go uld wo an em lic po e a few bags of flour. Th transport that flour…In order to e hid to d ha u yo re flour from. Therefo oden had a wheelbarrow, wo ur bo igh ne a ill m nd wi the bags to the , sort of cover bottom, a double layer le ub do a d ha it t bu wheelbarrow, o was o my elder brother wh …S ur flo of gs ba few a where you could hide so he s about six or seven – wa I – s wa I an th er about 10 or 11 years old . A couple ged wheelbarrow thing fla ou m ca is th in gs would put the ba nks of wood I would sit on those pla en th d an p to on od of planks of wo mother used to the wheelbarrow...My on e m g kin ta s wa he pretending I couldn’t walk. ankles to pretend that my of e on on e ag nd put a ba
It was a lovely feeling
to be inside the mill. I
remember the miller
– always red in a thin coat of flo ur. His moustache was white, his eyebrows were w hite, his eyelids were white – even his over alls. I don’t know how he manag ed. He always looked to me like a white man , like a snow man, a wal king snow man. It was a ve ry busy place...At the back of the mill he had his ow n ba kery – a small ba kery in which he ba ked br ead for the neighbours and so on and his family. It was lovely to be there. Som etimes a whiff from the oven . A whiff of fresh brea d from the ba kers. It w as like a whiff from heaven. I saw him white. Cove
A ll quot es on
thes e pa ge s
by
Julio Varela
49
In Turkey bread is a cr ucial part of our meals like breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don’t know any Turkish person who eats any of these without at least a slice of bread next to it. And it’s usually white Turkish, crusty, type of bread. Which usually is very fresh, is never preserved or anything for the next day. It’s us ually baked fresh from the oven – really ni ce crusty, beautiful Turk ish bread. fficult to find t. I’m finding it di us cr ce ni ly al re … my favourite, …it used to have for it. Really nice d or w ish gl En the right really nice d – which had a ea br te hi w at th a long edge – er baked ed but kind of ov rn bu t no – ed burn crust – slightly a mouse – peel ed to just – like us I . ge ed e th a because it was ly nice and like part first. It’s real at th t ea d an off that bit nd of texture ure, a hardish ki xt te rd ha a t bu e. cottony soft – nice crust outsid inside, and really n tto co as ft so not as t of butter!… – with a little bi od G y m – it of l And the smel hole loaf of uld eat half a w co I g… in th g in az it’s the most am bread like that.
We have the norm al
loaf. We have the pi de
, which is a flatter type of bread…abou t an inch…It’s that thick and quite big and you can either…tear it or cut it in neat sq uares – whatever yo u do, you just want to start eating it stra ight away. It’s such a nice bread. Because of bread, cheese is al so very important. Because we have such nice bread you have to eat it with somethi ng right? You eat it w ith cheese. If it’s su mmer you have m elons or watermelons next to it as well so brea d, cheese, especial ly feta cheese, to go with it and watermelon – together with Tu rkish tea is a perfect summer light tea or dinner .
50
is very ve simit, which And also we ha used to t as nice as they no t bu l na io it trad und kind a child – this ro be when I was n and n eat it on its ow ca u yo t bu d ea of br sesame any…dipped in m so in ed pp di it’s ide, and and crusty outs ce ni ly al re – s seed side – gely-tasting in ba of nd ki d an soft with tea again. really nice to go
actually …so many women can rents bake bread and their pa e the flour know how to even mak s. Because in between two stone e of it they our parents are awar ey can bake. usually talk about it, th ke brilliant And my mum could ba e bakeries. stuff...We even used th prepare the Like my mum used to rcha, for dough for bread, for po dishes, and numberey, for pastry e bakery to send it to the oven of th in exchange bake what she made – y. Because for an amount of mone ovens – we they had better, nicer ovens – could actually use their s. kind of rent their oven
eating Ozgur Tas ci enjoys ads bre h kis Tur al tradition
And also you’re going to eat mor e of it. That’s why big bellies in Tu we have rkey! The cost of ea tin g it. You know my father used to go to the bakery ea rly in the morning, me a really nice buy loaf of bread – just for me – still used to cut it in warm. I half and he used to put butter inside me for breakfas it for t and I would st art my day with half a loaf of warm Turkish br ead with butter.
Al l quote s on thes
e pa ge s ar e by
Ozgur Tasci
sident of Br ixt on Oz gu r is a loc al re an bu l, Tu rkey Ist She gr ew up in
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The Old Post Office Bakery are firm supporters of Brixton Windmill, making gingerbread windmills for our summer events
52
Well hopefully it will come to the point w here we genuinely ar e able to produce bread, maybe not on ly the Windmill Loaf , that has been mille d at the windmill. I’ve already started to connect with loca l schools and have sc hool children coming in and look at the bakery and un derstand about food and food production in the w ay that we do it. I th ink...from what I unde rstand the idea is to make the windm ill into a sort of educ ational centre in the same way. To really teach the kids again about the impo rtance of how food is produced and nutrition and eating and all those things. Perhaps parties of ki ds can look at the windmill and can se e how flour is produc ed and then come an d see how it’s made into bread an d other things for us to eat.
Isn’t that we ma ke a windmill loaf? Someone said: ‘Shouldn’t d this long emed because we have ha se it So ?’ ing th us vio ob the ays been mill group and we have alw association with the wind t if thought wouldn’t it be grea we als tiv fes the for ff stu ma king ur ground in windmill loaf from the flo a ke ma lly tua ac uld co we ll it said, ‘Well – yeah. Let’s ca dy bo me so so d An ll. mi the local wind magister this loaf we are using the in th wi o ’…S af! Lo ll mi the Wind is supposed to e’re cutting it in a way that .W n.. ow gr y all loc – t ea wh le ll. So we are doing these litt mi nd wi a on ils sa the ct sort of refle ish’ shape. it has a sort of ‘triangular at th so s ge ed the nd ou cuts ar actly like a s. [Laughs] It doesn’t look ex Four triangular type thing yway. the idea behind the cuts an s wa at th t bu y sa to ve ha windmill I ards the m the sa le of ever y loaf tow fro p 40 te na do to ing go e We ar nd it into being a mill again...A ng tti ge d an ll mi nd wi renovation of the ba king it ocess to rise it and we’re pr h ug do ur so the ing us then we’re on the floor of the oven. A ll q uote
s on th is
p age by
Richard
on, the Old One of the first organic bakeries in Lond mill loaf wind al speci a sell now Post Office Bakery 40p t: whea ster magi n grow y locall made using to help it from each sale goes to Brixton Windmill start grinding flour again
Scroggs
R ic h a rd r u n s the Old P o s t lon g s ta n O ff ic e B a d in g s u p ke r y a nd p or te r of is a B r ix ton W in d m il l
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BRINGING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER mill acts as a d in W n to x ri B w Ho a community in t in o p l a c fo t n a const changing. that is constantly
because Brixton a unique place, in g in ild bu ue iq this is a very un any different I just think that there are so m at th ew vi of t from the poin le world lates to the who is a unique area re it g, in ild bu autiful d the mill is a be le can see cultures here, an think that peop I d an , do s re l cultu t in not grain which al l and importan ta because it uses vi ly al re is s do which ucating k that the Friend mmunity and ed co the type of wor e th g in ir sp t also in in is mill going bu irit, I think a only keeping th out a kind of sp ab d an y or st cal hi ns about their lo much trying to new generatio project is very is th ch hi w , st ve lo stay in irit, that we ha come to areas, le community sp op pe e us ca , partly be people together that the mill build and bring ave, so it’s nice le d an s, th on few m a few weeks, a areas for maybe g this. hill is advocatin e th of p to e th at
Richard Santhiri
Nationa l Mi lls Weekend, we had
for the visitors vir tua lly all amazing sight. And I get qu
[the sai ls] tur ning
day and it was the most
ite a buzz know ing it’s someth ing I’ve worked on and lots of people com ing to see and it’s working. I’ve had so ma ny people come to me and say, ‘I’ve lived in Bri xton vir tua lly all my life and I’ve never seen this happen’, and as I say it’s ver y, ver y pleasing , ver y sat isfy ing.
Paul Sellwood 54
I think [the restoration] is importa nt for the area. The fact that people livin g in Brixton - I mean Sue comes from Lambeth, I come from the other side
of London but nevertheless - neit her place has the best reputation. But there are good areas of Lambet h and it’s good for people to latch ont o the fact there used to be a windmill here, Windmill Th there used to be a little village, it eatre Group has a perform a ab out the hi play stor y of Bri hist ory xt to on it and a life, and for people Windmill at our summer festivals growing up to realise how flour was mill ed and how the structure of a e a five-a-side
The Friends organis year in football competition each Windmill Gardens
windmill is quite intricate. It’s not just
a piece of wood that spins round
and grinds - it’s very very cleverly mad e.
Each year our Art in the Park event encourages artists of all ages and abilities to draw and paint Brixton Windmill
Gilbert Young
...There is an electric motor up there, which I believe will be used in order to run it. Now that’s fine and that will be great and that will get it going. But it’s also very imp ortant that the young people should know about the sails and abo ut the steam engine and that part of it. So they know how it used to be. ngsters when they grow up The other thing is that you ge in school. They’ll see will probably be at some sta and they’ll probably think pictures of these windmills er have a chance to see to themselves, ‘Well, I’ll nev ing’. But they can come one of those actually operat here and here it is! Throughout the summer, volunteer guides trained by the Friends lea d groups of visitors on free tours of Brixton Windmill
b ove b
y
pe r o h T John
B ot h q
uote s a
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Talented musicians of all styles perform at the annual summer festival to suppor t Brixton Windm ill
d with n having been able to be reunite ...the best thing about it has bee sicians – people from the past who – mu people I wanted to rediscover o have opportunity to play. People wh who maybe weren’t given the years… have rather given up over the been wonderful musicians but where ty to have a place to perform, And given them the opportuni ney of it, they didn’t do it for the mo they won’t make any money out joy of their bus fares paid – but the – in fact they’d be lucky to get this takes quite some planning. getting people together – and
s Jill Reye
When you work in tho se surroundings [Brixt on Prison] with very dis turbed and people wh have been less fortun o ate than myself, you loo k for something that ca n bring the outside into their lives, especially the people in there tha t suffer from mental illn esses. So the windmill was always something I kept as a secret...I tol d them...there’s a lovely football pitch and there’s a nice exercise yard and there’s a nic e library but then as the time came I said, look, there’s a real gem bu t you’ve got to work yo ur way to a certain wi ng to get there. Cos the only a certain wing tha re’s t you can see this wind mill really and truly at its best. So we used that for conversation to get people’s attentio n, to get them away fro m thinking about oth stuff which sometimes er was suicide or leaving their families or even just finding themselves somewhere, not just in a prison. They were in a prison with a view to a windmill. So as the time went on some of the guys in there wrote poetry - love poetry around the windmill you’d see them slippin so g off and going up to the window and writin g the stuff. We’ve had artists and above all we ’ve had people who live d for to see that wind mill every day, every day. And that to me pre vented something wo rse happening in their lives...Some of them drew the windmill in its glory. I’m trying to find those pieces of art - you know the blues the greys and the sails and were bright and they had a story behind it.. .In those days it looke a bit dilapidated and no d w it’s becoming more like those pictures: it’s greyer, it’s brighter. Obviously we didn’t kn ow what the inside wa s like...It was all aroun d getting themselves inside the windmill ins tead of being in their own mind at that partic ular time. So they we thinking what the wind re mill could be used for and some of them ev en had ideas of, you kn when they got out the ow, y were going to find mo re about the windmill. Growing vegetables and wheat was a big thing - they wanted to see this windmill worki ng again.
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Kate Quigle y Ruby
I was delighted, beca use at the end of the day, this is Brixton...r ight...people who don’t get nothing come from Brixton. Th ere’s been a lot of ne gative press about Brixton, right, forgetting all the good things and all the go od people that’s come out of he re, so something like this, in Brixton, is po sitive and everybody’s got to se e it, it’s not just the se lected few, everybod y sees it and everybody knows ab out the windmill. So the heritage of Brixt on is good. You don’t find many of the se round about the co untry, not like this, thi s is original. So, you know it’s good . And I mean for the local kids it’s part of their heritage really. They can come in here and they can see how this work wa s done so many years ago, an d how they used to ge t their bread. done it. He was gold. I could n’t have as od go as s wa y That gu the pie for hours. That ma n was sat in s! ur ho for pie t tha sat in here so they could the fou r lanes down ing rk ma s wa I e W hil in the pie. He was s ma n was already thi e, rac ck sa a ve ha whatever. And this with his pigeons or already sit ting there k in the morn ing. t ha lf past 10, 11 o’c loc must have been abou this ma n was sti ll in on, to Somerleyton, So when I got to Br ixt ing, wh ile they was y was doing ever yth the pie. But wh ile the and I could n’t believe n was sti ll in the pie decorat ing, this ma n was in the pie. It n’t even know this ma that this ma n...I did y going to get g them when are the kin as s wa I en wh was on ly id no this ma n’s in the eon pie and they sa this thi ng in this pig Loc al children get cre ativ urs. So anyway e, making there a couple of ho in en be dy masks at one of our sum ea alr ’s pie, he mer events out an hour to get , it’s already taken ab on ing go ’s de ra pa the r, In some respect it’s a shame uld have been longe n to up here, or it co tio sta e lic po the m fro But he’s sti ll in the it’s stopped working and no pigeons at Br ixton. and he’s released the to take these thi ngs ng back to the ya rd one can understand. For the pie! We’re dr ivi ng alo looked d I hear a ba ng! So I pped at the lights an sto we d an off next lot of generation growing en kic ked out and it’s pa nel, the pa nel’s be round and there’s a up it would be quite interesting see this ma n sta nd ing ! And I looked and I dropped in the road ! ing stuck in this pie to see how some of these things very happy about be there and he wasn’t The ma n must was sti ll in this pie! he ew kn us of work, especially boys or girls, ne no But then g on one chair in d a ha lf hours sit tin an r fou st lea at t en have sp they’re that educ
ated they want
to take an interest in them, how mechanic things work.
this pie.
ayesaround JanewtupH a in the a re a nd 50s s Ja ne t g re the 19 4 0 in d m il l in B r ix ton W
Both quote s abov e by
Hector Marshalleck
The 2013 para de inclu ded a float with a wooden ‘pige on pie’, conta ining a man who relea sed real pigeons. Hector Mars halle ck descr ibes what happ ened .
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The fu tur e
What next fo r Brixton Win dmill?
I think it needs to be a mill village, an agricultural village. You know how when you’re children, you go out and you visit so and so’s something. Well ed that’s what you can do, but the more people you put in, then I’m convinc Thames Water will become involved and if you know that around the corner
...I believe th
that’s a pump house, it’s a beautiful pump house but you can add to that people can see that. It’s all interconnected. e w ind m il l is
a teac her of
so
Magdalen Rubalcava
a ty pe, it ’s m uch older th an al l of us an at ion, and I th d it ’s a wonde in k th at the d ream, and rment, more th at w out of d ream e look at the s are born re m il l the mor al it y for al l cr d ream ing th e we ca n eative peopl at you need e and people to h ave som who u nders e ty pe of con in order to m ta nd cept, some ty an ifest th at . pe of hope, so A s the Frien me ty pe of d ds we h ave st we are also ream ar ted the pr educati ng th ocess in m an e new gener ifesti ng th at at ion and yo do, wh at it ca and u ng people ab n do and I be out th is bu il lieve wh at go d ing, wh at it es arou nd co and ou r way used to mes arou nd of th in ki ng is . T he m il l is q u ite rou nde a rou nded bu d, q u ite com par t of Frien ild ing plete, and ce ds of Wind m rt ai n ly al l th il l Garden s an e ar tist s wh d the people actual ly wan o are seem very ro t somet h ing u nded ind iv wh ic h is fa r iduals, peopl bigger th an generat ion s e w ho then selves; th to come and ey see a com we are al l pl mu n it y, they ay ing a par t, par t, in the fu see and I wou ld tu re of th is bu li ke to say a ild ing. real ly impor ta nt
it ’s a m ag ic,
it ’s an in spir
We need to make an appeal to companies, education trusts, grant-giving funds who are interested in maintaining the heritage of this country. This is a unique building, it sits in one of the most densely populated inner London boroughs and yet it’s a symbol of a rural past that certainly existed; and that is what we are going to have to try and inspire people with in order to raise the money for its future.
58
errigan K n a e J
Richar d Sant
hiri
59
ouldn’t it ke once which said w jo a d ha l al e w k, in th , and I els and There was a joke once we could put it on whe if ill, dm in w e th of e ake mor ham be great to actually m in the middle of Clap it k on pl d an m ha ap e way to Cl the we could push it all th Windmill pub, here’s a e’s er th e, iv Dr ill ere’s a Windm Common, because th that too loudly d I thought if we said an ke jo a of t bi a as about windmill. And that w s about selling it, it’s it’ t Bu . ts ris w e th on ve us a smack ings, someone’s going to gi is surrounded by build it ng isi al re t ou ab ’s lling it more...It ive presenting it more, se I think that’s the big dr d an e, or m in n aw people to be dr so its but it’s actually getting e gardens around it th e ov pr im , od go g is to keep it lookin for the next 20 years ...You’ve got a ming in and realising co le op pe e or m t ge also to sometimes context is better, but ens Estate, and you do rd Ga im he en Bl e th , te here massive housing esta re. that the windmill is he ise al re te ta es e th ople on wonder how many pe One thing that’s int eresting is that I think it’s about its contex t within London, because th ere are windmills in the rest of London . Wimbledon Common’s got a wi ndmill and there’s a windmill in Reigate. ..and I think it’s about, almost a map saying these ar e where they are ac ross Greater London and the su rroundings. Becaus e people are fascin ated about how humans have come to use things like wi nd power and wate r power to generate the energy and the things they need in the past. Pe ople are fascinated about ho w, you know, we’ve exploited the envir onment to actually produce wh at we want. And I th ink it’s about keeping the windmill and the gardens in context with other sites around Greate r London, and I think a map or some sort of project aroun d that would be brilli ant. Not just wind power, I th ink also water powe r, because people ar e starting rediscovering, you know, you’ve got wi nd turbines and solar panels, ground heat pump s and people are re ally starting to get passionate about using the environme nt to generate ener gy, and I think you can say, well, we’ve been doing it for over 200 years and this is an exam ple. B ot h q uot es
ab ov e by
n Iain Boulto
60
How do I see the future? It all depends on people. It depends on,
you know, who is leading the team to ensure that the mill has
as good a future as it can do. This is the key factor actua lly. I
mean we’ve been involved with mills over the years from one
local authority. They change the officer in charge, it goes flat,
somebody else comes in with grand ideas, it starts up again, it
goes flat, this happens time and time again. And that’s no way
to present. So the answer really is having a key team of volunteers
and preferably a windm ill trust. That’s the key to it all.
olls David Nich
We don’t have a lot in Lambeth, let’s look after the bit we’ve got. And we’ve got the windmill.
June Stillman
Star trails above Brixton Windmil
l
61
T h a n k you o to everyone wh l fu te a r g ly s u We are enormo Mill Memories e th to ls il k s d ir time an for funding. contributed the d n u F y r e tt o L the Heritage project, and to Interviewees Iain Boulton Henry Ashby Songul Guler Adrian Garden Jean Kerrigan Janet Hayes ls Hector Marshalleck David Nichol Ruby Magdalen Rubalcava Kate Quigley Richard Scroggs Richard Santhiri Ozgur Tasci June Stillman Viv Whittingham Julio Varela Susan Young Gilbert Young Interviewers Dee Byrne Mike Loosley Dilana Tasci
Jean Kerrigan Sarah Lowry Kim Winter
Robert Burns Florence Hall Maureen Lemon Jill Reyes Hatice Sami Paul Sellwood John Thorpe Kim Winter
Ann Lee Anna Sweet
Project manager Sarah Lowry Photography/recording Clapham Film Unit Owen Llewellyn Picture research ele Jean Kerrigan Penny Ste Design Pan sy Aung illustration Elena Blanco drea myme.com
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63
Pictur e c r ed its Owen L lewellyn (FoWG): 52, 54, 5 p a ge s 7 5 , 56, 57 , 8, 13 , 16 , 59, 61, , 3 6 , 38 , The Mil 6 2 , 39, 41, 4 6 3 ler: pag 2 , 44, 4 e 1 0 4-45 , 45 Mills A r , chive T r u st:: page Mills A r 1 5 chive T ru st / M Brixton T Ma son Windmil Collectio l w n: Girl a o r king wit Brixton t Brixto Society h sails: n Windm p a ge s 1 / Bill Lin Mauree ill; 4 s k 1 5 , 15 ey Colle n Lemo ction: pa n : p a ge 20 ges 18-1 London 9, 22, 23 Borough o f Lambet Richard h , A rch Santhir ives Dep i (FoWG artmen South L ): page 2 t : p a ge s ondon P 6 2 7 19, 21, 2 r e ss cuttin June St 3 , 25 g 29 May illman (F 1982: pa oWG): pa Penny S ge 27 ge s 2 8 teele (Fo 29, 31 W G ): p a ge s 3 Jean Ke 4-35 , 35 rrigan (F o W G ): pages Dilana T 46, 47 a sci: pa ge 51 Pan sy A ung (Fo WG): pa ges 52, 52-53
brixtonwindmill.org
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brixtonwindmill
/brixtonwindmill
Friends of Windmill Gardens (registered charity number 1121790) 24 Prague Place, Blenheim Gardens London SW2 5ED
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