Woodexperts integral to windmill’s longevity

Skidby Windmill, situated near to Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, is said to be England’s most northerly working windmill, and the only one north of the Humber. About 25 years ago, there was a near-fatal catastrophe, when one of the sail beams broke off during milling, on a Bank Holiday afternoon, and crashed through the roof of the adjoining building, which was full of tourists!

Luckily, no-one was hurt, but the local Council who owned the Mill – at that time, they were called Beverley Borough Council – approached Jim Coulson, director of Ripon based TFT Woodexperts, and asked him to immediately inspect the broken beam and then to initiate an ongoing Inspection Regime for the future.

Jim immediately discovered that the sail beam was seriously rotten in the centre: and yet even the millwrights (who were charged with the normal maintenance of the mill) had failed to spot this particular rot, since the problem was largely internal to the timber and so wasn’t obvious on the surface of the beam.

Every year (and also on a couple of special occasions since) someone from TFT Woodexperts has been commissioned to climb up the mill tower; and they have then gone out onto the sail beams – generally at some time prior to the tourist season, before the May Bank Holiday – to check all of the beams for any tell-tale signs of rot, and to make necessary recommendations for re-painting, repair or replacement. During the time that TFT Woodexperts have been involved with Skidby Windmill, their inspectors have discovered the likelihood of more rot in two further beams: and which the Council (now known as the East Riding of Yorkshire Council) then found the funds to replace, one at a time, over a 3-year period. On each occasion when that ‘suspect’ beam was removed by the millwrights and then cut open, a large rot patch was found in exactly the spot where the TFT inspector had said it  would be!

On one of the ‘special occasion’ inspections, TFT Woodexperts were asked to report specifically on the fantail structure of the mill (that’s the bit which steers the main sails into the wind): and they then recommended some immediate repairs, to be followed by a wholesale replacement of some of the key crossbeams, as soon as the funds could be found. The reason for these urgent repairs was because of many years of temporary ‘bodging’ by various people – such as adding lead flashings in inappropriate places – that had created some serious water-traps and had thus threatened the integrity of the 12” x 12” timber beams... and these were holding up several tons of wrought iron and other essential machinery, some 60 feet above the car park!

Happily these days, Skidby Windmill is fully up and running – much to the delight of the tourists who visit East Yorkshire every season: and TFT’s inspectors know, from first-hand experience, that it produces some of the best wholemeal flour in the North of England!

• Visit TFT Woodexperts website at www.woodexperts.com