Burgh le Marsh
Heritage Centre
@ Dobson’s Mill
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
OUR ACTIVITIES ARE BASED AROUND OUR DEVELOPING AWARENESS OF OUR MILL AS AN IMPORTANT, UNIQUE
LINCOLNSHIRE ATTRACTION, DESPITE OPINION ELSEWHERE TO THE CONTRARY
Burgh le Marsh Heritage Centre Special Events 2019
To give you a flavour of our actvities we include the 2019 calendar of regular Annual Events we held at The
Burgh le Marsh Heritage Centre
Saturday 30 March
Discover Lincolnshire Weekend
Sunday
31 March
The start to our season when we open the mill and Heritage Centre to visitors
Free drinks for visitors; Very much dependent upon the weather!
Monday
29 April
End of Season for our Monday Group
Special ticketed event with entertainment by Lincolnshire folk lore group ‘Far Welted’
Saturday
11 May
National Mills Weekend
Sunday
12 May
A National Event when visitors are invited to visit via the National Mills Organisation website
Saturday
08 June
Garden Party
(members only)
Celebrating the Queen’s official birthday;
members receive a special invite as a ‘thank you’ for their support
Saturday
6th July
Festival Day
Our Annual Event with stalls and entertainment on the paddock, this year we are planning some extra activities
Saturday
14 September
Heritage Open Days
Sunday
15 September
Saturday
21 September
Sunday
22 September
Another National Event when visitors are invited to the Heritage site
Brief talks on the topic of engineering in windmills
Saturday
28 September
Macmillan Coffee Morning
Our Annual Charity Fund Raising Event
We raised £400
Tuesday
01 October
Lincolnshire Cheese and Chine Day
Special ticket only event, open to all Ticketed in advance to avoid waste and congestion
Friday
01 November
Theatre Group Visiting
Saturday
02 November
Our friends from Canada are visiting for schools’ drama workshops
and a novel, interactive theatre experience for adults
Saturday
14 December
Santa In the Mill
Wonderful day for the children of the town to meet Santa with presents provided by the Town Council;
craft stalls in the granary; entertainment
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
Burgh le Marsh
Heritage Centre
@ Dobson’s Mill
Monday Meetings
In 1975 a group of enthusiasts set up Burgh le Marsh
History Group.
This group continued until it merged with the Friends of
Burgh le Marsh Windmill and the newly formed Heritage
Group in 2014.
Meetings had been held regularly on Monday evenings during the winter months.
To boost attendance, the meetings are now held on a Monday afternoon.
The current programme is displayed below.
2019
16 September
Introduction & Welcome
23 September
Sue Lumb
'Chatsworth – Past, Present & Future'
30 September
Colin Young
'Antiques & Auctions'
7 October
DVD
14 October
Christine Chapman
Sir John Franklin
21 October
Chris Hewis
'Skegness- A Victorian New Town'
28 October
DVD
4 November
Howard Leader
Gardening for Butterflies
11 November
David Coleman
'Tales of a Pitman'
18 November
Sonia Elton
Baumber Walled Garden History - Old & New
25 November
Geoff Espin
Orchids in Europe
2 December
Jeff Whyatt
Some of my experiences as a police dog handler
9 December
DVD
16 December
Christmas Special
2020
13 January
Mark Middleton
London to Mongolia in an 18-years-old Ford Fiesta
20 January
Eileen Chantry
Among my Souvenirs (Pt 2)
27 January
DVD
3 February
Neil Watson
Boston & Surroundings - Then and Now
10 February
Ian Evans
From Yorkshire to the Gates of Auschwitz:
A Family History Story
17 February
DVD
24 February
Anthony Poulton-Smith
What's in a name?
2 March
Stephen Lovell
Cuba - it's time to Salsa!
9 March
DVD
CANCELLED SCHEDULE FROM TODAY
16 March
Paul Ellis
Stone Monkey
23 March
Stephen Gay
Railways in a Cornish Landscape
30 March
DVD
6 April
Erik Grigg
Magna Carta
13 April
Easter
No Meeting
20 April
DVD
27 April
End of Season Celebration Buffet
Programme kindly compiled by Gaynor Astley
In order to maintain a level of speaker attendance at a reasonable cost to members, we include occasional DVD
viewings to spread the overall rate, compensating for the travel expenses etc paid out at other meetings.
Meetings begin at 2pm each Monday in the Granary Heritage Centre.
Entry is £3 including a raffle ticket (reduced to £2 for DVDs). Membership is free.
MEETINGS SUSPENDED
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
Burgh le Marsh
Heritage Centre
@ Dobson’s Mill
Some of the many photographs we have in our collection of
memorabilia in our Heritage Collection
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
Burgh le Marsh
Heritage Centre
@ Dobson’s Mill
THE LINCOLNSHIRE WINDMILLER: Frank Dobson
(These notes, mainly unabridged apart from the removal of ‘and’ in lengthy sentences, were the basis of a much shorter article written by Frank Dobson for
the Lincolnshire Life magazine. In some places the time scale seems a little disjointed but it has been left in deference to authenticity. I understand that the
famous author, Margaret Dickinson, used these as a research document for her novel about a windmill – ‘Plough the Furrow’ and possibly subsequent
books.)
Before 1906
Family History
My mother was
born:
November 22nd 1859
Married:
February 21st
1879
Died:
February 27th
1929 (would have been 70 if she had lived until November)
Her parents were named Graves and there was a family of 14 children. Her father was a farmworker. Once, when work was scarce in a ‘wet time’
he had to bring the whole family to the workhouse having no money or allowance to keep them. It was the time when each parish had to maintain
their own poor. The farmer soon fetched them out and found them some work. They lived in a village called Farlesthorpe near Alford.
My father was
born:
August 8th
1860
Married:
February 21st
1879
Died:
January 1st
1920 (aged 60)
My great grandfather had a mill at the Riverhead at Louth. So we come from a very long line of millers. My father had two sisters, one of which I
used to stay with at Louth during my summer holidays.
Up to 1900 my father was working for a big firm of flour millers at Goole in Yorkshire, coming back to Lincolnshire to Huttoft Mills about 1900.
I was born February 17th 1901.
At Huttoft, there was a windmill with four sails and it had a gallery round, also a big three storey high steam mill (that
was what they called them in those days). It had an enormous brick chimney and had been run by a Cornish steam
engine. They stood upright with fire at the bottom with a steam gauge not like the traction engines. When my father went
there, they had built a Blackstone paraffin engine and done away with the old steam boiler. I remember it didn’t go right
at first and used to backfire with a loud explosion that could be heard all over the village. My father had the job of sorting
it out as the builders had gone home.
The mills were owned by Mr & Mrs Lowe. The windmill had been moved from a farm further in the village. Mrs Lowe’s maiden
name was Willson. Her father farmed in Huttoft, ran the mill and baked as well. Her father had a brother called John Willson
who was an auctioneer at Hogsthorpe and that was when the firm of John Willson and Son was formed. His son moved to Burgh
in 1930, the same time as I did.
Family Life
I started school at Huttoft and my first teacher was Miss White and the headmaster was called Mr Plant who later became headmaster at Burgh
when I lived there. I remember playing in a sand heap at midday break and being late. I was sent into a big room to see the master and he
thrashed his cane on the floor to impress me. I also remember going with the coastguard boys to Huttoft Bank after school and my brother, Alf,
had to come and look for me.
My brother made a truck out of a box and four old wheels from a pram and he put me in it on some cushions. There was a horse and reaper
going down the road and he tied the truck with me in it to the rear. Unfortunately, it tipped up and threw me out. He bundled me back into it and
didn’t say anything about it. A Mrs Twigg came past on horseback and her horse shied at the truck. She said it was only a box on wheels!
There were four in our family, three boys and one girl, John, Alice Alfred and Frank. It was a family with a lot of difference in ages. My brother, John, was 24
years older than me and Alice 19 years older than me. Alf was only 4 years older than me.
I remember my father kept doves and they used to walk across the road from the shed to the house. One day a dog killed them. Alf used to keep
white mice that he won at bagatelle.
At that time there was a farmer in the village, Arthur Pain, and he had two or three boys who were always up to something and always got blamed
for everything. The Royal Mail was delivered and collected by a horse-drawn mail cart from Alford and these boys put a rope across the road to
stop the Royal Mail. I believe they were taken before the Magistrates’ Bench at Alford and severely warned.
There was a very poor old man, called Ancient, just outside the village centre who lived in a low parlour house and when anyone in the village
killed a pig, he would fetch the insides. He used to put them in tubs and old baths outside his back yard. The boys told him someone had killed a
pig several miles away and would he fetch the insides. He duly set off and, while he was away, they strung the insides that he already had all
round the back yard. Another time they climbed on his roof and dropped a loaf down his chimney and stood listening at his window to hear what
he would say, which was, “If the Devil has brought it, the Lord has sent it.”
Mrs Lowe was Plymouth Brethren and Mr Lowe had been a butler or servant in gentleman’s service. At nine o’clock each morning all work in the mill, and
bakehouse had to stop while all the men went into the house for morning prayers.
I never did know why my father left Huttoft unless he couldn’t get on with the two bakers and roundsmen, two brothers – Henry and Billy Peacock,
who took on the bakery side of the business when Mrs Lowe died. Mr Lowe sold out and went to live right out in the country at Langham. The
milling business was sold to Mr Edmund Davey of Dalby, who also had the farm in Huttoft. I was living in Burgh at the time and was told it went for
£500. Mr Scott, who later came to live at Spilsby, managed it for him. I don’t think they did very well though at the mill. The Peacock brothers split
up after a few years and Billy took a business at Hogsthorpe.
After we left Mrs Lowe always sent us 1 lb of groats and a calendar at Christmas. At that time people creed (steamed) the groats and added
raisins, currants and spices and that was their Christmas pudding. Mrs Sowerby who lived opposite used to bring me a plate of bullet sago pudding
and when we went to Trusthorpe I cried. I wanted to go back for Mrs Sowerby’s pudding.
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
Burgh le Marsh
Heritage Centre
@ Dobson’s Mill
1906 – 1909
We moved to Trusthorpe in 1906. At Trusthorpe the mill
was alongside the Wold Grift that carried the water from
the mill to the sea. At a place called Massey there was a
pumping station to lift the water out of the lower land into
the Wold Grift. It was trapped off from the sea by huge
doors which used to shut automatically when the tide came
in and would open again when the weight of the water in the
Wold Grift was more. There were lots of eels and dabs in
the river and people used to get them by a prong with a long
shaft. It had a sharp point in the middle and a shaped blade
at each side and you stuck it in the river where you saw a
rail in the water.
There was a bridge over the river to carry the traffic to
Mablethorpe. My uncle had a blacksmith shop and house just
over the bridge. He was in partnership with a man called
Walker. On the corner near the river there was a bit of
waste land and he had an iron platform where they used to
shoe the wooden wheels, that is putting an iron rim on the wooden rim. It was heated up with fire on the ground and put on the wooden wheel hot
and slacked with water. It shrank and tightened the whole wheel.
The Trusthorpe mill was brought on a barge and beached on the shore at high tide and was taken off when the tide had gone out, of course that
was all the workings. the brickwork came from Mablethorpe brick yard. The workings came from a mill at Hull. It was a four sailed mill with a twist
two storeys up and would run with the wind caused by the tide coming in. there was an old portable steam engine alongside the mill and it was in
such poor state as the tubes used to leak. My father used to put barley meal in the tank where it sucked the water from and that used to block
the pipes temporarily. One day when the factory inspector came into the mill, he traced the piping down and found the old engine, immediately
condemning it. The boss blamed my father for it but the man found it himself. The old mill and warehouses are now turned into summer residences.
We lived in a parlour house with a room and two bedrooms. It was very damp. It had a stream right round the house. My mother was always
grumbling about it and said it was like a pigsty with the pigs coming down to feed from their beds. So eventually we left and went to Alford.
When we first got to Trusthorpe there was a woman school teacher at the school which was right down in Trusthorpe Thorpe. My mother would
not let us boys (Alf and me) go there for some reason. They were building a new school at Mablethorpe and I had to wait until it was built. It was
about three miles away. I went there in the day time with several children who lived nearby. We took sandwiches and cocoa in a tin with a handle
on top and they used to give us hot water. We had to leave home at 8 a.m. and got back home at about 5 p.m. The school master was called Mr
Hooter. It was a very good school in those days. Alf had to cycle to Sutton-on-Sea school and the headmaster, Mr Surfleet, was very strict.
One of the bakers was called Jim Barnsdale and he had a phonograph, which was an instrument with a huge horn that had to be held up with a
stand. The records were shaped like a jar and fitted into cylinder cases. I remember a few of the tunes. One was ‘The Miners’ Dreams of Home’.
The baker had it on in the bakery and a few of us boys could go and listen.
One night it came a big storm and washed away a lot of the wooden shops that were near the beach at Mablethorpe. Next day us boys went to
retrieve what had been left in the clays. I remember I got some minerals which were in the old glass alley type bottles and quite drinkable. There
was also a lot of ornaments.
There was a lot of coal used to wash up. We collected it and it burned very bright. My brother found some old ship’s beams. They were held
together by copper bolts. My father got them, took out the bolts and made quite a bit of money from them. My brother used to go for a bathe in
the sea about 5 a.m. One morning he found a huge conger eel. A man came up and said, “You can’t eat that boy. You ought to throw it down.” Alf
said, “I am taking it home.” It ate beautiful. A woman just over the river used to used to deliver us milk at 1 ½ d a pint.
One day my father took some grinding back to a farm. I went with him. It was bad weather and the farm was down an old clay lane. When we came
out he said we would go and wash the cart wheels in the sea, they were in such a state. We got in the sea and we got in a quicksand. We kept
sinking and the horse couldn’t pull the cart out. I remember some men came and carried me ashore. They had to put some ropes on and pull the
horse and cart out. Those baker’s carts had drawers underneath and there were a lot of plum loaves in them which all got damaged by sea water.
My father put them in the pig bin but I don’t think he told the boss. The boss was Charles Foster. He had six daughters and no son. The daughters
eventually married various business men in Mablethorpe. I remember one was a butcher and another a plumber.
My mother used to go to work for the drapers called Dales at Mablethorpe, doing housework at 2/6d per day.
The sea defences on the coast from The Humber to Gibraltar Point were chiefly Sand Hills made by the sand that had been built up by the tides
over the years. They are chiefly held together by a coarse type of reed and repaired by bundles of thorns put in the weak places. There are
breakwaters running out from the beach built from huge timbers and set at an angle to break up the force of the waves. At Mablethorpe,
Trusthorpe, Sutton and Skegness they have promenades.
There was another Wold Grift at Mablethorpe, only there it comes into a big pool in the sandhills and was filled up at high tide. A man called
Bocock who had only one leg used to dive and do swimming demonstrations for visitors.
The Great Northern Railway, later the London and North Eastern Railway, used to run special trains from Leicester at about 1 shilling per head.
The trippers would get about two hours at Mablethorpe in the evening. It was a spur line Louth to Willoughby off the main line to London. My
brother used to collect the Lincolnshire Echo to deliver in Huttoft. The guard used to throw them off the train at a bridge in Huttoft.
My uncle, the blacksmith was called Graves. The road to Mablethorpe ran right past his house and the sandhills were the other side of the road.
He had a spring of water that ran into a ditch at the back of the house and when the tide came in the pressure would make the spring run faster.
Sutton on Sea was a more select place and did not get the trippers. At one time there were lifeboats stationed at Mablethorpe, Sutton and
Skegness. They were pulled into the sea by horses.
We used to go to The Primitive Chapel down Victoria Road in Mablethorpe and I attended the Sunday School there. When the new chapel was built
the Sunday School children collected money and had their initials put on a brick. I remember mine was in the entrance. Anyway, owing to mother
complaining about the damp house, my father decided to move to Alford about 1909.
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
THE LINCOLNSHIRE WINDMILLER: Frank Dobson
PART TWO
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
Burgh le Marsh
Heritage Centre
@ Dobson’s Mill
1909 to 1915
We
went
to
live
in
Chauntry
Road,
Alford
not
far
from
the
Congregational
Chapel.
In
Chauntry
Road
was
an
old
gentleman
called
Ludlow.
He
had
been
a
joiner
and
he
made
my
mother
a
paste
board
for
keeping
her
eye
on
him.
His
daughter
used
to
bring
him
bread
cut
into
squares
for
his
broth
but
he
always
washed
it
in
hot
water,
afraid
they
might
have
‘put
something
in
it’.
We
later
moved
to
Hamilton Road, just around the corner.
My
father
worked
for
Mr
C
W
Myers
at
a
six
sailed
mill
which
also
had
a
steam
mill
attached
to
it.
It
had
been
run
by
a
steam
engine
that
had
a
huge
chimney
that
was
still
there.
Then
it
had
been
changed
over
to
a
Hornsby
engine,
16
BHP.
In
the
steam
mill
were
two
storeys
both
connected
to
the
windmill
as
the
two
floors
were
not
the
same
level.
There
was
a
run
down
from
the
windmill
to
the
steam
mill.
The
children
would
get
a
mill
barrow
and
sit
on
it
to
ride
down
the
slope.
There
were
three
pairs
of
stones
in
the
steam
mill
on
the
ground
floor,
two
pairs
of
grey
stones
which
came
from
Bakewell
in
the
Derbyshire
Peak
District
and
one
pair
of
French
stones
for
grinding
wheat
for
flour.
On
the
second
floor
were
the
corn
bins
that
were
fed
from
the
ground
floor
by
elevators.
Also
on
the
second
floor
was
a
flour
dressing
machine.
It
was
very
special
as
it
had
silk
partitions
to
dress
the
flour,
most
mills
only
had
wire
sieves.
My
father’s
wage
was
£1
per
week
and
he
had
his
own
rent
to
pay
for
the
cottage,
£8
a
year.
My
mother
did
the
washing
for
the
bakers
in
Myer’s
bakehouse
and
also
went
to
work
at
Mr
Richard
Corey’s
who
had
tailor
shops
in
Horncastle,
Boston,
Louth
and Sleaford. They were very good to mother and she often brought some food that had been left.
I
started
school
at
the
National
School
in
West
Street.
It
was
just
for
boys,
only
the
headmaster
had
his
own
daughter
there
called
Kathleen.
He
was
called
Hadfield
and
was
also
a
captain
in
the
Territorials.
He
was
called
up
in
1914
to
go
to
France.
He
was
wounded
in
the
leg
and
I
believe
he
was
given
an
artificial
leg.
A
man
called
Mr
Richards
came
to
take
his
place.
He
was
a
nice
old
gentleman.
In
1913
I
saw
an
advert
in
the
paper
that
a
County
Scholarship
was
vacant
at
the
Grammar
School
(Alford).
I
bought
an
Atlas
for
1
shilling
and
read
that.
I
applied
to
go
in
for
the
examination
which
was
held
at
the
Grammar
School.
There
were
thirteen
boys
entered
for
three
places.
Fortunately,
I
came
out
top
with
a
boy
from
Maltby
second
and
a
boy
from
Beesby
third:
1st
Dobson,
2nd
Graves,
3rd
Jackson.
Unfortunately,
if
I
had
tried
the
year
before
there
was
a
Spendlove
Scholarship
that
found
all
books.
My
mother
had
to
buy
mine
but
there
was
a
lot
of
second
hand
books
from
other
boys.
It
was
hard
work
for
mother
to
clothe
me
and
buy
books.
She
bought
a
football
shirt
from
Ted
Tomlinson
for
1
shilling.
There
was
always
rivalry
between
National
School
and
Grammar
School.
National
School
ones
were
called
‘Gnats’
and
Grammar
school
were
called
‘Bugs’.
I
liked
being
at
school and worked hard. All the time I was there I won 5 prizes out of 6 first year and 4 out of 6 second year.
My
father
was
a
Primitive
Methodist
preacher
and
we
went
to
chapel
in
South
Street
but
he
would
also
preach
for
Wesleyan
and
Free
Methodists
and
the
Congregational
Chapel.
He
would
also
go
to
the
Salvation
Army.
The
Primitives
formed
a
brass
band.
I
played
second
cornet
and
my
father
beat
the
big
drum.
We
used
to
go
to
the
Primitive
chapels
in
the
villages
around
Alford
to
play
at
their
camp
meetings
which
they
used
to
hold
once
a
year
in
a
field
with
a
wagon
drawn
in
the
field
for
a
pulpit
and
a
tea
afterwards
in
the
school
room.
Of
course,
they
were
held
on
Sunday
afternoons.
We
were
marching
down
the
High
Street
in
Alford
when
the
drumstick
head
came
off
and
my
father
had
to
run
after
it,
put
it
on
again
and
continued
beating
time
all
the
while
on
the
big
drum.
We
went
and
played
in
the
big
houses
around
Alford
in
various
villages
on
Boxing
Day
and
the
people
gave
us cake and coffee. We weren’t allowed to drink beer etc as it was a Temperance Band.
The
Grammar
School
masters
were
Mr
J
A
Staley,
Head,
who
was
very
strict,
and
the
second
master
was
a
Mr
Riches
who
was
very
nice.
His
two
boys
went
to
the
Bluecoat
School
in
London.
There
was
a
younger
master
named
Mr
Evans
who
was
called
up
for
National
Service
in
the
Army
and
he
returned
after
the
war.
We
went
to
school
on
Saturday
mornings
as
well.
We
had
Wednesday
afternoon
off
but
we
were
expected
to
attend
for
games.
The
headmaster
was
a
keen
cricketer
and
he
liked
having
the
boys
bowl
at
him
in
the
nets
for
practice.
In
the
winter
he
formed
a
football
league,
6-a-side,
and
called
the
teams
by
professional
football
teams
at
that
time.
I
remember
mine
was
called
Sunderland.
The
captain
of
our
team
was
called
William
Belton
and
he
got
killed
in
the
1914/18
War.
The
boy
called
Graves,
a
scholarship
boy
with
me,
had
a
habit
of
saying,
“I
nobbut.”
A
word
I
cannot
find
in
any
dictionary and the master was always telling him about it.
One
of
the
boys
from
the
National
School
was
called
Cockerel
Hornby
because
his
father
was
a
huckster
which
meant
a
poultry
dealer
and
he
had
crates
built
into
his
cart.
For
some
reason
the
boy
and
me
had
a
fight
near
the
Congregation
Chapel.
I
don’t
know
who
won
but
we
were
good
friends
afterwards.
He
married
one
of
Harry
Wholey’s
daughters
from
Burgh
station
and
worked for years at Carnleys Solicitors office in Alford.
1915 to 1930
I
n
October
1915
my
brother,
Alf,
had
been
invalided
out
of
the
army
having
been
gassed
at
Mons.
My
father
decided
to
take
a
business
on
his
own
at
Theddlethorpe
belonging
to
Joseph
Hoyles
of
Maltby.
At
Alford
my
father
had
worked
from
6
a.m.
to
6
p.m.
and
5
p.m.
on
a
Saturday.
He
had
to
go
to
the
shop
on
a
Saturday
to
collect
his
money.
He
said
to
the
boss
there
is
4
hours
overtime that will be 1 shilling.
When
we
flitted
to
Grebby
in
April
1916
our
(delivery)
round
ran
into
theirs
at
Willoughby
and
we
got
a
lot
of
their
trade
with
being
first there on flitting day which was April 6th each year.
I paid for a trap from Richardson’s of Louth for eight pounds out of my Post Office Savings Book.
My
father
started
at
Theddlethorpe
by
borrowing
fifty
pounds
on
a
life
insurance.
The
landlord
let
him
a
cart,
weighing
machine,
dough
bins
and
a
lot
more
utensils.
My
uncle,
James
Smith,
made
one
hundred
bread
tins
for
six
pence
each
which
we
used
for
years
at
Grebby
to
make
plain
bread
in.
He
borrowed
a
horse
from
a
small
holder
at
Theddlethorpe
work
for
meat
and
he
used
to
buy
oat
sheaves
from
the
man
at
one
penny
each.
The
oven
was
an
old
brick
oven
and
too
large
for
us
to
use.
It
used
to
burn
the
bread.
So
my
father
got
a
living
by
grinding
corn
for
the
surrounding
farmers.
I
remember
that
one
cottage
sent
a
grinding
and
they hadn’t paid for something else so the sack of corn was kept in pawn till they paid.
The
house
wasn’t
any
good.
It
had
been
kept
added
to
as
some
previous
miller’s
family
had
increased.
It
had
two
staircases
but
you
could
get
through
upstairs
by
a
half
door
as
the
roof
came
down
to
your
adjoining
room.
They
said
it
was
so
the
maid
could
get to the room without going downstairs. There were some lovely marble fireplaces.
The
mill
sails
weren’t
very
good
and
my
father
put
a
plough
trace
to
the
sail
from
top
to
bottom
to
help
to
hold
the
shades
in.
so
he
decided
to
try
for
something
else.
In
spring
1916
he
went
to
look
at
a
watermill
at
Barrowden,
near
Grantham.
It
was
on
a
river.
They
had
an
eel
trap
there
and
used
to
send
eels
to
London
each
day
but
the
inventory
was
too
much
for
him
to
take.
He
went
to
look
at
Withern
water
mill
in
the
adjoining
parish
belonging
to
Mr
Tickler,
a
jam
manufacturer
from
Grimsby
who
made
a
lot
of
jam
for
the
troops
in
France.
It
would
have
been
very
suitable
as
we
could
have
taken
the
trade
we
were
already
doing
with
us.
It
was
a
turbine
water
mill
with
the
water
wheel
on
the
flat
fed
by
a
spout
which
didn’t
waste
so
much
water.
Mr
Tickler
was
at
London
and
he
didn’t
get
the
letter
but
a
letter
came
from
him
the
same
morning
as
my
father
had
been
accepted
as
tenant
at
Grebby.
From
October
to
December
1915,
I
stayed
at
Grammar
School
and
my
father
paid
five
shillings
per
week
to
some
friends
of
ours
called
George
Hoyles,
brother
to
Joseph
Hoyles
at
Maltby,
and
they
had
a
baker’s
shop
with
a
small
café
and
sweet
shop
and
a
grocer’s
shop
just
opposite.
They
also
had
an
ice
cream
stall
on
the
market.
I
used
to
help
them
in
the
school
holiday
time,
either
at
the
grocer’s
shop
or
on
the
ice
cream
stall
by
myself.
There
were
first
and
second
cornets
and
we
mixed
it
by
hand
in
the
morning by packing ice around a tub which we turned by hand.
I
used
to
cycle
home
at
weekends
from
Alford
to
Theddlethorpe
and
it
was
often
bad
weather
at
that
time
of
year.
We
could
go
to
school
at
night
and
do
prep.
The
masters
would
take
it
in
turns
to
supervise
and
you
could
use
the
school
library.
You
could
also
buy
a
book
of
answers
to
the
mathematics
books
from
the
newsagents
only
some
of
the
boys
would
put
the
answers
down
without any workings, which would cause trouble.
My
father
went
to
take
over
the
Grebby
Mill
the
last
week
in
March
and
on
the
Tuesday,
about
March
26th
1916,
it
came
an
awful
storm
and
blew
about
fifty
fir
trees
down
on
Welton
wood
side.
My
brother
and
I
were
left
to
square
up
for
leaving
and
that
Tuesday
we
had
got
all
the
corn
ground
and
had
to
leave
the
mil
running
on
bare
poles.
A
mill
is
safer
in
a
gale
if
it
is
moving.
Anyway,
moving
day
came
and
Captain
Hoff
sent
his
wagoner,
Jonny
Southwell,
the
night
before
and
put
his
horses
up
at
Hodgson’s farm, a friend of my fathers.
We
got
the
wagon
loaded
up
with
my
father,
mother
and
Alf
following
later
after
they
had
cleaned
up.
My
father
said
you
will
have
to
go
with
Jonny
Southwell
as
he
said
he
did
not
know
the
road.
So
I
had
to
walk.
They
caught
us
up
at
Willoughby
and
then
I
got
a
ride in the trap.
We
had
to
start
the
rounds
and
bake
bread
next
day.
Mr
Pycock,
the
previous
tenant,
went
to
Alford
and
kept
some
of
the
Willoughby
trade
so
we
had
some
bread
to
spare
first
time
round,
but
we
gradually
picked
some
trade
up
and
managed
to
make
a
living.
I
was
15
when
we
went
to
Grebby
and
soon
had
to
go
on
the
round
by
myself.
It
was
very
hilly
there
and
the
roads
were
slippery
in
the
winter
time.
We
used
to
put
special
studs
in
the
horses’
shoes.
Miriam
Smith
was
maid
at
Grebby
Hall.
On
a
Monday,
when
the
housekeeper
and
Captain
Hoff
went
to
Spilsby
market
and
it
was
my
first
call
with
bread,
the
maids
would
ask
me
in
for
strawberries
and
cream
when
they
were
in
season
-
also
a
tune
on
the
piano.
That
was
when
I
actually
started
courting
Miriam,
which
was
mostly
meeting
her
on
the
way
home
to
the
Hall
for
a
few
minutes
after
I
had
got
the
dough
made
for
the
next
day’s bread.
I
started
rearing
chicks.
I
bought
a
second-hand
incubator
and
set
some
hens
at
the
same
time.
I
sold
twelve
chicks
at
sixpence
each
and
a
hen
for
four
shillings,
making
ten
shillings
in
all.
One
day
I
delivered
a
clutch
of
live
chicks
while
on
my
round.
I
had
a
horse
called
Bartoft.
I
had
put
the
chicks
in
one
basket
and
the
hen
in
another.
The
hen
kept
calling
to
the
chicks
and
poor
old
Bartoft
couldn’t
make
out
what
was
going
on.
So,
when
I
stopped
at
a
call,
he
would
spin
round.
Wasn’t
I
pleased
when
I
got
them
delivered and paid for!
My
father
used
to
go
to
Spilsby
market
on
a
Monday
to
meet
the
travellers
of
flour,
maize
corn
and
offal
so
I
got
well
trained
into
buying
corn
and
flour
at
the
best
rate.
The
travellers
worked
for
different
firms
such
as
Messrs
Rank,
Spillers
(formerly
Marshall
from
Grimsby)
and
Howsams,
who
were
just
corn
merchants.
He
would
bring
flour
back
from
Spilsby
station.
The
merchants
had
stock
in
the
goods
shed.
We
had
got
extra
horses
by
that
time.
My
horse
was
called
Daisy
and
had
been
bought
at
Pycock’s
sale
for
forty-four
guineas.
She
was
a
nice
old
mare
and
we
had
three
foals
by
her.
The
first
one
was
a
horse
which
we
had
to
castrate.
He
wasn’t
much
good
though
he
was
what
we
called
a
crib
sucker.
He
would
get
hold
of
the
crib
and
it
made
him
have
wind
so
he
did
not
put
much
flesh
on.
The
second
one
was
a
mare
and
we
called
her
Lady.
She
was
a
beauty.
When
she
got
to
five
years
old
she
wen
to
the
blacksmith
shop
and
got
a
loose
nail
in
her
hoof.
We
didn’t
know
at
the
time
and
she
died
of
lockjaw
in
three
days.
I can’t remember much about the third foal.
Daisy
would
only
drink
out
of
a
clean
bucket.
In
one
or
two
places
on
the
Willoughby
round
there
were
springs
running
into
a
stone
trough
and
she
used
to
like
to
draw
up
there
for
that
water.
Often,
when
she
was
in
foal
and
I
couldn’t
take
her
on
the
rounds,
I
had
to
take
an
old
kicking
mare
called
Kit.
She
wouldn’t
let
me
get
into
the
cart.
She
would
squeal
and
kick
every
time
I
put
my
foot
on
the
step.
So
I
walked
all
round
Skendleby
and
led
her.
When
I
got
to
Bolton’s
farm
yard
I
had
to
go
about
a
mile
to
the
next
farm.
The
men
in
the
farmyard
were
stacking
hay.
I
got
into
the
cart
over
the
tailboard.
They
said,
“What
are
you
getting
in
like
that
for?”
I
said
it
was
good
exercise,
I
wouldn’t
let
on
that
I
was
frightened.
Another
time
I
was
going
up
Bassingham
Hill
and
got
nearly
to
the
top
and
the
throat
band
broke.
I
jumped
off
clear.
Kit
started
kicking
and
kicked
herself
clear
of
everything
except
bridle
and
reins,
which
were
broken
and
the
remains
of
the
collar.
Fortunately,
she
spun
round
and
the
cart
landed
in
the
hedge
bottom.
I
had
a
box
of
buns
on
the
top
of
the
cart
boards
with
bread
underneath.
The
buns
slid
off
but
didn’t
damage
any
goods.
I
took
the
mare,
Kit,
and
saw
the
foreman
at
Bass
Yard.
I
left
her
with
him
and
walked
home.
My
brother
bought
me
Daisy
that
day
and
I
had
to
be
very
careful
with
her
and
not
back
her
into
the
cart
with
all
the
weight
on.
Eventually
my
father
said
take
Kit
in
a
cart
and
sell
her
at
Louth
Fair.
Alf
took
her.
When
he
got
there
the
gipsies
said
take
her
out
of
the
cart.
My
brother
said
he
had
to
sell
them
both
together.
They
made
a
ring
like
they
used
to
do
when
selling
horses
and
he
had
to
run
her
up
and
down
in
the
ring.
The
gipsies
started
to
prod
her
with
sticks
so
after
a
time
or
two
he
got
to
the
end
of
the
ring,
drove
straight
through
and
came
home.
She
was
turned
out
into
a
field
and
supposed
to
be
sold
for
meat
but
we
heard
afterwards
that
she
had
been
sold
to
someone else for work.
My
father
bought
a
cow.
Alf
used
to
milk
it
at
first
until
he
went
to
Rhodesia.
One
Monday
he
got
all
dressed
up
to
go
to
Spilsby
market
and
the
cow
kicked
the
bucket
over
him.
We
had
a
kicking
strap
made
for
safety.
Later
on,
I
used
to
have
to
milk
it.
I
used
to
have
to
come
home
on
a
Sunday
from
courting
to
milk
the
cow.
She
was
a
red
cow
and
cost
£50
and
gave
14
pounds
of
butter
when she first calved.
Folow the story so far:
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
Continuing Frank dobson’s autobiography. there is now a lot more information for this period which has been split into two web
pages. the second will be added soon.
Burgh le Marsh
Heritage Centre
@ Dobson’s Mill
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
Continuing the unabridged autobiography of Frank Dobson
The pages may seem to be long. It is difficult to split down any further without the narrative being lost.
Grebby Mill
The windmill was six storeys high with two pairs of grey stones and one pair of French stones. It had
four sails and was well blown in three quarters, east, north and south. On the west there was a belt of
trees near. In the house there was a stove on the second floor that we used to light at night in the
winter. I remember once in a gale my nephew, Jack, and myself ran three pairs of stones and the
dressing machine for making flour. It kept us busy.
And so on until 1920 when my father died on January 1st. My brother John who worked on the
railway at Goole decided to come home and help with the business. He sold his house in Goole and
bought out my mother’s share of the business which was a third of £1000.
My other brother, Alf, had married in 1919. His wife, Elsie, was my wife’s sister. She was also living
and working at Grebby Hall for a time. My brother’s health was not good so he decided to go to
Northern Rhodesia to an orange farm which was owned by Major Rawnsley from Well Hall near
Alford. Elsie moved in with her mother and Betty was born in 1922. Owing to the farm being 150
miles from the nearest doctor, Alf decided to move down to the Transvaal so Elsie and the baby could
join him out there. He didn’t settle very well there being a different race of people, the Africanders
(Afrikaners), there to him. He moved up into Southern Rhodesia and took a government section
which was 250 acres. He went into dairy farming. They all came to England just before the Second
World War, about 1937. In 1939 he was producing milk for our forces stationed in Rhodesia.
I was married at Scremby Church to Miriam Smith, Elsie’s sister, on April 17th 1923 and stopped at Grebby Mill until 1930. Edwin Dobson,
my first son, called after his grandfather, was born at Grebby on November 3rd 1924 and in the year 1929 Marjorie was born. In May
1935 Kathleen Mary was born in the Grace Swann Hospital at Spilsby. This being advised by Dr Wright owing to complications with
Marjorie’s birth at Grebby.
Before my father died, he arranged to have a lorry made. He bought it through L S Dodds of Spilsby. We got it in 1920 at a cost of £300. It
was a 1912 Ford car with a brass radiator front. They took two rear wheels off and put sprockets on and bolted a Boico attachment to it
with solid tyres and ancillary wooden wheels driven by a Reynolds chain from the sprockets. We kept it four years but it was useless on
the roads when it was frosty. We decided to buy a horse dray in 1924 but it needed at least five horses to get it up Bassingham Hill.
Burgh le Marsh Mill
One of the travellers told me that Martin Barker of the five-sailed windmill at Burgh le Marsh
was retiring so my brother and I decided to go into partnership and keep both businesses
going. We paid £1400 for property, Mr Barker leaving £800 at 5% which we paid off in 2
years. All the other inventory we paid for at once. Mr Barker had two one-ton Ford trucks.
One was left hand drive but they were more modern than the one we had. In 1938 we did
improvements to the house and replaced the old brick oven with a Patent Oven from Bristol
Steam Ovens which used coke instead of coal. We had a boiler put in over the fireplace to
supply hot water to the house and the bakehouse. Unfortunately, when Bill Smith came to
make the bread in the morning, he used all of the hot water and Miriam did not have any for
washing. So we had a Beatrix stove put in the stokehole and when Bill came he took some
fire off the oven and started the Beatrix oven. We had a special pipe put in to connect. It
worked very well and Miriam could keep it going all during the day for all purposes.
My brother, John, retired from Grebby in April 1939, just before the Second World War
broke out and I paid him out. Just after the war I had an extension built onto the
bakehouse. We kept the trade on in the Grebby area and one of John’s men, Leslie
Borman, came to live in Burgh.
From Grebby Mill Captain Hoff used to let his men have half a stone of flour per week, so many potatoes and ‘kids’ which
were ash twigs done into bundles for firewood and a 30 stone pig once a year. In 1932 Captain Hoff gave up farming and
Miriam’s father went to work for a Mr Dixon at Candlesby Top, only Mr Dixon died that year. The farm belonged to Magdalen
College Oxford. I had a word with Miriam’s father and he said he could manage the farm if I could look after the money side.
That was in 1933. The farm was about £1 per acre but produce was not making very good prices and for six years I lost
£600. Then the Government brought in a wheat quota and I retrieved my loss in the first year.
In 1935 I took some more land at Burgh belonging to the College. I eventually had about 70 acres there. In 1937 I took
College Farm, Candlesby, from them so it made quite a large holding, about 300 acres. Lincoln Red cattle were bought from
Mr Robinson at Anderby. He had a wonderful breed of cattle. I bought two cows and three heifer calves. I did a bit of
showing at agricultural shows at Lincoln and Peterborough and got a second prize with Candlesby Bob, which was an A1
calf, at Peterborough. I went for Lincoln red cattle and quite a lot of pigs. We farmed through the NFU and Lincolnshire
Quality Bacon Association with a factory, Roberts and Birch, at Burton on Trent. It did very well, we were each allotted a
district and persuaded a grocer to sell it in that area. Afterwards I had a lot of poultry on free range in huts on wheels which
we kept moving when the grass got stale. Later we went into deep litter method and battery cafes at the Hollies at Burgh
which I had bought. It was a five bedroomed house. I made it into two. One for Marjorie and one for the poultryman at a cost
of £1200.
Burgh le Marsh
Heritage Centre
@ Dobson’s Mill
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
Continuing the story: Farming Changes and World War 2
Changes in Farming Methods
Farming was on the old methods in 1930 with horses and implements usually many years old. It was on the four-field system of crop
rotation, cropping wheat, turnips, barley and grass or clover – crops for growing or mowing. On the strong land they would have a bare
fallow which meant ploughing land over about every fortnight. It was mixed farming with stock and crops so there was work all the year
round. The smaller farms would keep poultry running around in the stock yard, a milk cow and a fat pig to kill for bacon each year. The
farmer’s wife’s only means of money for groceries etc was from the sale of eggs and butter.
When first we got tractors, we used to pull the old horse implements behind. There were steam cultivators which had an engine on each
side of the field and with a wire cable that pulled a plough or drag across the field with a man riding on it to steer the implement. The first
tractor I bought was an International 10/20, second-hand costing £200. It was on spade lugs with a road rim to bolt on to go on the roads.
I eventually bought two trucks, one with a 100 gallon tank on for paraffin and one with a little shed on to carry oil and spares such as
plough points and drag teeth and with a draw bar to pull the implements behind while moving from one field to another. There was also a
hook on the shed to carry the tractor driver’s bicycle for him to get home between operations each night. The trucks were made at Messrs
Cawthorpe and Sons at Ulceby, near Alford, and proved very satisfactory at that time. We were a few years before we got tractors with
rubber tyres. Ford Ferguson brought out a power lift draw bar which was a bar for fixing implements on. The tractor driver could move
from field to field with implements attached. Also, he was able to use the tractor like a motor car to get home from work. Then came the
combine harvester. We used to sack the corn off on a platform like with the older threshing machine and drop the sacks off all around the
field to be picked up again. Next came the tanker combine, running the corn through a spout into farm trailers which would pull alongside.
With that came the problems of storing and drying grain. We had to build corn dryers with the corn on ducts and a big fan driven by
electricity to dry the corn. Also we had to have a moisture tester to ascertain when corn was ready for combining. It took a lot of the heavy
work out of harvesting. The combines were very dusty machines for the men driving them at first. Then of course you had to bail the straw.
Nowadays a lot of it is burnt to the detriment of people living nearby.
The weights of sacks of corn were different: oats - 12 stone, barley – 16 stone, wheat – 18 stone, beans and peas – 19 stone (a stone
equals 14 lbs). In the old days corn was measured by the bushel. There were 4 bushels to the sack, hence the different weights of various
sorts of corn. The miller didn’t use to charge for grinding but he had a system of tolling so much out of each sack to pay for grinding.
Going back to windmills, both Grebby and Burgh had a wooden floor on the ground floor which was four feet from ground level to facilitate
loading of vehicles. You could wheel the bags of meal straight out of the mill onto the dray. We got rats under the floor so we had both
mills filled up with chalk and then concreted. At Grebby, when you started the mill from the outside and went inside up the ladder, a rat
would come from the top of the mill and jump over your shoulder and down the ladder. When we were doing Grebby mill floor, we
fastened our trouser bottom up. We fetched Captain Hoff’s two dogs. The groom and gardener brought them up. The mill chain that we
used for pulling sacks up was down and the rats started to run up the chain. We got twenty-six rats killed that day. My brother made a
block of wood and covered it with tin so that the rats outside would not knarl through it. We used to put it down every night and fasten the
doors to it and so we dealt with the rats. Burgh mill was a bit different. We had to leave a pit in the floor because of the elevator carrying
the corn to the steam stones. Anyway, it all worked out very well.
In 1938, Anne Elizabeth was born at Burgh. Miriam stopped at home and Mrs Dawson came and looked after her. In the same year we did
the oven replacement. In 1940 Michael was born at Burgh and Mrs Dawson looked after Mother as before.
The Second World War broke out in September 1939. We were soon on rationing both for feeding stuffs for cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry
and ration books were distributed for household commodities. Howard and Norah came to Burgh and took Marjorie and Kathleen back to
Gloucester to stay with them as it was considered a safer area than the Lincolnshire coast. In fact I got the first bombs dropped at Burgh
in my field down the Green Lane at the rear of the Red Lion. One was an unexploded one and we saw the round hole in the field about
nine inches across. We reported it to the military that were stationed at Burgh and they came and exploded it. I had to hire a bulldozer to
fill the holes in but got paid for it by the Government.
Jim Cox and Johnny Johnson who were baker’s roundsmen were called up for military service. I replaced them by three girls, Kathleen
Simpson, Eva Baxter and Margaret Chester. Eddie joined the navy as soon as he was old enough.
Wartime Service
I had various voluntary positions during the war. One was Leading Fireman in the AFS (later the NFS) with about 12 men. We had
Farmer’s Garage opposite (the Mill) to keep a tractor and trailer fire engine and we used to get all the air raid warnings by phone which
was ‘Air raid warning Red’ and then ‘All Clear’. We had a warning buzzer in the garage which we could use if necessary and the firemen
had to take it in turns to fire-watch all night with the Air Raid Wardens. It was quite interesting. We had a pump that we used to pull about
with a truck. We attended lectures at Boston or Skegness either at weekends or at night. We would train with the Skegness Fire Brigade
and along with other village fire brigades we would meet at the boating lake in Skegness. We would practise with the turntable ladder over
the lake. We had several call outs with bombs being dropped in the neighbourhood and once to a farm stack fire at Halton Fen to relieve
Skegness Fire Brigade. The first job I had was to fetch a gallon of beer from The Three Tuns at Thorpe. The landlady put it into a gallon
chamber jug full to the top and I had to drive with one hand and hold the jug to stop spilling it. I kept having a drink so it wasn’t wasted. It
was hard work pulling a stack to pieces. We had a room in Burgh and used to play darts to fill the time in.
I was also on the War Agricultural Committee to supervise the wellbeing of the land and order the cutting down of thistles. I had to
supervise a farm at Well for Bob Allis who was not farming it very well. I used to go every Thursday afternoon. The first time I was going,
Mrs Allis phoned me and shouted at me for doing the work. I told her to wait until I got there and see. Anyway, after that we never had an
angry word. Bob was £3000 in the red at the bank. With the help of Bill Needham’s father of Bilsby who farmed at Thurlby we got him
£3000 in the black but he did not live long enough to enjoy it.
Burgh le Marsh
Heritage Centre
@ Dobson’s Mill
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
The concluding part
After 1945
The War was over in 1945 and we soon got back to normal. The men came back from the services. As I was taken ill with a burst
blood vessel in my inside and laid up for six weeks, Eddie was given a discharge from the navy by The Welfare Officer.
In 1947 I put an entirely new ogee cap on Burgh mill which is a Lincolnshire name and some of it was paid for by return of Income
Tax. It was called Excess Profit Tax and was allowed for different repairs. It was in the region of £5000 and I also put a new oil engine
in. A Ruston from Lincoln. It ran on diesel instead of paraffin. I built a new section on to the bakehouse with new steam ovens in
place of the old flash oven. It made it into a very up to date bakehouse. I also installed a lot of electric machines in it to make the
work easier.
Community Involvement
I was a member of Burgh Parish Council 1934 to 1971, being Chairman from 1956 to 1971. I was also a member of Spilsby Rural
District Council for 28 years from 1946, being Chairman of Public Health, 1955 to 1960, Chairman of The Council from 1960 to 1963
(during this time I was also a Justice of the Peace) and Chairman of Planning from 1971 to 1974. I retired when the new district was
called East Lindsey District Council.
I was on two charities in Burgh, 1942 to 1987. One was Thomas E Walls’ Bequest. Walls had been a brewer. He left £500, the interest
to be given each year to any unmarried mothers. Eventually we gave it to the needy at Christmas.
The other charity was Jane Palmer’s Charity (from 1938 to 1987). It was land left in Burgh le Marsh, the rent to go towards the
education of children at the Skegness Grammar School, but when the state scholarship was formed, we gave a grant to older
children such as nurses when first starting, any students at university and apprentices. They had to be living in Burgh. Sometimes it
was £100 each, paid in three terms which helped them get home more frequently.
We formed Burgh Bowling Club in 1932 out of some land that had been tennis courts. I was a member for 50 years. Tom Willson
bought the land and when he died his sister gave it to the Bowling Club. My first lot of bowls were lignum vita and cost 21 shillings.
After Burgh le Marsh
In 1955 I went to live at College Farm, Candlesby, and let Eddie take over the business for which I charged him 30 shillings a week
rent. He carried on until 1965 when I sold the mill and premises to Hansons of Skegness. It was too costly delivering bread to all the
places in the country. The supermarkets had spoiled the trade. Eventually Lincolnshire County Council bought the mill and premises
and turned the bakehouse into a restaurant.
In 1966 I took over Park Farm at Candlesby which belonged to Major Owen, solicitor at Spilsby, making my full acreage to 550. Major
Owen let me have the farm for £5 per acre. In the meantime, Michael had got married and worked on the farm. He lived next to the
grocer’s shop in Candlesby.
1966 Miller’s Rest
I bought 72 Boston Road, Spilsby, a very nice bungalow which Mother liked very much. It cost nearly £5000. I retired in 1971 and
kept doing a few jobs on the farm until 1972, my being 71 years of age.
Church Involvement
I was confirmed at Burgh church by the Bishop of Grimsby about 1938. I was elected Vicar’s Warden from 1942 to 1947 until we
went to live at Candlesby where I was church warden for Candlesby Church for a period of thirty years from 1947. Miriam was
electing member for The Mothers Union and, for most of our time at Candlesby, did all of the cleaning etc in the church.
I had been President of Spilsby Master Bakers Association in 1937, Chairman of Spilsby National Farmers Union from 1951 to 1953
Masonic Lodge Involvement
In 1964 I was invited to become a member of the Masons at Spilsby, Shakespeare Lodge, and a member of Royal Arch in 1965. I was
a member of Mark Masons and Royal Ark Mariners in 1972 and 1973. A founder member of Eccles Lodge in 1975, I was Worshipful
Master of Eccles in 1976 and the Chair of the Royal Arch Chapter in 1979. I got two promotions in Eccles Lodge - first to Past
Provincial Standard Bearer in 1979 and a further promotion to Past Provincial Junior Deacon in 1985. In the Royal Arch Chapter I was
promoted to Past Provincial Grand First Assistant Sojourner in 1983.
At this point the journal stops. it is now our intention to try to complete the story with a few updates and reminiscences
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
Burgh le Marsh
Heritage Centre
@ Dobson’s Mill
Dobson’s Mill in Burgh le Marsh
While
some
historians
think
the
mill
was
built
around
1813,
a
map
from
1810
shows
a
windmill
already
on
the
site,
this
particular
mill
tower
could
possibly
be
the
one described as ‘newly built’ in 1850s!
The
windmill
is
one
of
two
built
in
Burgh
in
the
mid-
19th
century.
The
other
mill
fell
into
disrepair
in
the
30s.
It
has
now
been
renovated
and
is
a
private
residence.
The miller’s of Burgh were:
Before 1810 - c. 1840
Thomas Jessop
c. 1840 - 1855
Agur (or Agar) Jessop
1856 - c. 1880
John Hewitt Jackson
c. 1880 - c. 1885
Robert Barker
c. 1885 - c. 1913
Mrs Susan Barker
c. 1913 - 1930
Martin Barker
1930 - 1965
E Dobson & Sons
The
windmill
is
preserved
as
a
heritage
site
and
gives
a
clear
picture
of
a
windmill
at
work
in
the
early
20th
century.
Burgh’s History in pictures
In
the
Granary
building
on
the
windmill
site,
there
is
a
fascinating
time-line
display
showing
the
history
of
Burgh
le
Marsh
from
early
times
up to the present. This is accessible by stair lift.
Other historic sites of interest
The
other
grade
1
listed
building
in
the
town
is
the parish church.
The
centre
of
the
village
is
a
conservation
area
and
the
market
place
and
the
surrounding
streets have changed very little in recent times.
Another
focal
point
of
interest
is
Cock
Hill
(so
called
because
it
is
believed
cock
fighting
was
organised
there
in
the
past).
This
is
a
preserved
site
with
Roman
and
Anglo
Saxon
connections.
A
series
of
pictures
in
the
wrought
iron
railings
depict Burgh’s heritage.
All
of
these
are
within
walking
distance
of
the
mill
site.
There
is
ample
parking
on
our
site
and it is free.
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
Burgh le Marsh
Heritage Centre
@ Dobson’s Mill
On behalf of Burgh le Marsh Heritage Group based at Dobson’s Mill, I wish to draw your attention to the following developments in the life of
Lincolnshire’s Heritage as it affects our group.
History Timeline
The Burgh le Marsh Heritage Group has been in existence since 2011 and in 2013 merged with The History Group and the Friends of Burgh
Windmill, both longstanding local groups. In 2013 The History Group’s ‘museum’ was relocated to the Mill Granary from the old school
buildings where the items were stored in boxes, no longer on display, and retitled a Heritage Trail to avoid the constraints and expense of
museum authentication. This has been regularly updated with the assistance of grants from various sources and is now almost completely up
to date with new signage, information boards and display cases. Local people regularly provide us with fresh items which we try to incorporate
into our displays. Alongside this we have just revamped the tea room layout, having recently replaced the utility furniture and, through grants
from the Marsh Heritage Project, the other display areas have been a ‘work in progress’ - this is taking some time to get right but is now almost
reaching its conclusion.
Throughout this time, we have duly brought about the restoration of the mill to provide a working example of a unique Victorian building. As
the mill site is owned by Lincolnshire County Council, this has not been easy, and more recently almost impossible, as the County Council
finances have been stretched to the point that the rate of even general maintenance costs has proven too much for the shrinking budget.
Historically, our mill has always been the last to be repaired due in some measure to a minimal input from previous groups responsible for
running the mill.
We now have a membership approaching 100 as we have taken measures to increase the use of the outbuildings surrounding the mill by 500%,
and, as a result of our maintaining an all-year-round presence, we have expanded the footfall of visitors (tourists and regulars) to the site.
The 5 sailed windmill that turns clockwise
Burgh le Marsh
Heritage Centre
@ Dobson’s Mill
Thank you for your interest in our current efforts to ensure the ongoing preservation of the mill buildings
The following form was published at the event
(an attached version is available for completion off-line and for returning to the mill)
The agreed strategy agreed at the meetings is
•
to form a steering group, as an independent subcommittee, to pursue the acquisition of the site for the
village hopefully to preserve the mill as a working machine
•
to investigate fund raising possibilities
•
to acquire charitable status
•
to negotiate with the County Council to achieve these aims
High Street
Burgh le Marsh
Lincolnshire
PE24 5JT
www.heritageburghlemarsh.co.uk
The Future of Dobson’s Mill, Burgh le Marsh, including the Heritage Centre
I
wish
to
register
my
support
for
action
in
maintaining
the
mill
as
a
unique,
working,
historic
building
I am prepared to assist in the following manner
a
.
Registering as an interested member of the community
b
.
Being involved in Fund Raising activities
c
.
Assisting in organising Fund Raising activities
d
.
Being included in the list of volunteers (for future use)
The following information will not be stored electronically
NAME(S) :
ADDRESS:
TELEPHONE:
EMAIL:
Comments for consideration
Burgh le Marsh Windmill Heritage Centre
To find out more about the steering group and express your interest in assisting please follow the link to the next page