Cogs to turn again as historic mill gears up for new mechanical heart

THE mechanical heart of an 18th century windmill will be overhauled in the autumn as part of the historic building's £550,000 restoration.

Visitors were given the chance to look around Holgate windmill in York at the weekend during the latest open days to showcase the work to bring the Grade II listed building back into use.

The Holgate Windmill Preservation Society chairman Bob Anderton has revealed millwright Tom Davies is due on site in September to fit gears and a turning mechanism, as well as carrying out the first overhaul of the drive shaft in 70 years.

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Mr Davies, who works for R Thompson and Sons in Alford, Lincolnshire, is also due to fit a lightning conductor. His father, Jim, worked on the mill just before it closed in 1933.

Mr Anderton said: "This is a very important stage in the restoration, as it is looking at the mechanical heart of the windmill."

The preservation society is applying for grants from organisations including the Heritage Lottery Fund to secure another 100,000 to fit the sails and complete the restoration.

It is hoped that the project will be completed towards the end of 2011.

The windmill dates from 1770 but electric motors were in use when it stopped grinding corn in the 1930s.

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