As one of the final acts of his shrieval year, Sir Henry Every officially opened Heage Windmill to visitors
for the 2010 season.
As one of the final acts of his shrieval year, Sir Henry Every officially opened Heage Windmill to visitors for the 2010 season. Sir Henry Every, who was welcomed by Piers Bostock, chair of the trustees, Heage Windmill Society, was accompanied by his wife Lady Every, son Nicholas and his wife Adele. Sir Henry spoke warmly of ‘this hidden gem’, the only stone built six-sail working windmill in the country. He raised the efforts of the volunteers who restored the mill to full working order in 2002 and work hard to raise the funds to maintain it – four new sails have had to be purchased at a cost of �8,000 to �10,000 each since 2002.
Sir Henry pointed out a hither to little known connection between the windmill and Florence Nightingale. A few years before Florence was born her father William changed his name to Nightingale in order to inherit the estates of his mother’s uncle, Peter Nightingale of Lea. William Nightingale’s original surname was Shore and his uncle owned Heage Windmill for 80 years. The windmill will be open until October for guided tours taking in its history and showing how stone ground flour is traditionally milled. Flour is available for purchase from the mill shop.
