Tag: archives

Mills Archive Trust Receives Funding for Millwrighting Collections

Mills Archive Trust Receives Funding for Millwrighting Collections

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The Mills Archive Trust has been successful in acquiring funding from the National Archives ‘Archives Revealed’ programme to help them catalogue and promote their millwrighting records.

‘The Wright Records’, project is part of The Mills Archive Trust’s broader ‘Caring for an Icon’ programme, and will see work being carried out on four key millwrighting collections which still need significant work. These are: the collection of mills historian Rex Wailes; the collection of Vincent Pargeter, millwright; material from building conservationists Owlswirth IJP; and material from millwright Luke Bonwick.

Caring for these collections is a core part of the Trust’s efforts to help ensure the survival of the craft of millwrighting and will serve as a teaching resource, offering models of millwrighting solutions where no direct records exist. Mills Archive Trust Director, Elizabeth Bartram, said: “Caring for windmills and watermills is a key theme within the collections and activities of the Trust. This funding will go a long way in helping us address the needs of a range of people, not least those involved in the care and repair of these iconic structures. We are grateful for this support and are excited to start work on this innovative project”.

Further details here: https://new.millsarchive.org/2025/09/01/funding-awarded-for-millwrighting-collections/

Mills Archive Trust Launch ‘Caring for an Icon’ Crowd Funder

Mills Archive Trust Launch ‘Caring for an Icon’ Crowd Funder

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The Mills Archive Trust need your help locating the records of past millers and millwrights, preserving them in their archive, and making them accessible to modern craftsmen. With this in mind they have launched a new crowd funding appeal – ‘Caring for an Icon’.

The Trust are looking to preserving these records in their archive and make them accessible to modern craftsmen, thereby helping to train the next generation. In order to do that they need to raise significant sums to safe guard the future of these archives.

Folow this link to donate ot the ‘Carings for an Icon’ appeal: https://new.millsarchive.org/caring-for-an-icon/

The Mills Archive Trust is the custodian of the history of mills and milling. They safeguard the stories, skills, and traditions that mills embody. This expertise allows the Trust to protect, interpret, and open access to this rich history. Mills shaped the foundations of the modern world, and the Trust ensure’s that their legacy continues to inspire.

A millwright at work. Image courtesy of Mills Archive Trust.
GLIAS to Show Historical Films of London’s Industrial History

GLIAS to Show Historical Films of London’s Industrial History

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The Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society in conjunction with the Cinema Museum and Huntley Film Archives are running an evening showing films from the John Huntley Archive about London’s Industrial Heritage. The event will take place on the 27th November 2024, presented by Amanda Huntley, and there will be an optional tour of the museum afterwards.

John Huntley (1921 – 2003) was an English film historian, educator, and archivist. Born in Kew, London, he started in the the film industry as a teaboy at Denham Studios around 1938. He later worked for the British Filn Institute from 1952 to 1974, first for the information department, but from 1955 in distribution. In 1984 he and one of his daughters, Amanda, set up Huntley Film Archives. This is an archive of documentary, educational, industrial, medical, travelogue, and feature films, containing films of the lives of ordinary people around the world. For more details on the archive follow this link: https://www.huntleyarchives.com/aboutus.asp

To book your £10 ticket for the event follow this link: https://ticketlab.co.uk/event/id/28012.

Mills Archive Trust Launch emPOWERed Project

Mills Archive Trust Launch emPOWERed Project

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In late 2023 The Mills Archive Trust was awarded a grant of £198,751, made possible by the money raised by National Lottery Players, for the Reading emPOWERed research project. With funding until September 2025, The Mills Archive Trust will expand learning opportunities in the Reading area, Berkshire, about the history of wind and water power, revealing their course from traditional mills to modern turbines.

Wind and water power have the potential to address present and future climate needs. With the help of local people, groups, and experts nationwide, Reading emPOWERed will explore the resurging significance of wind and water power in the Reading area. The Mills Archive Trust will collaborate with local schools, arts groups, entrepreneurs, cultural groups and academics to deepen the local understanding of these energy sources. More details on the project can be found here: https://new.millsarchive.org/reading-empowered/

The Mills Archive Trust was established in 2002 as a permanent repository for historical and contemporary material on traditional mills and milling. It has rescued over 2 million documents and images that might otherwise have ended up in a landfill site.