Struggles with a stone nut

Yes, we are still trying to free one stone nut.

The weather was not as bad as had been forecast but it was still pretty wet. A small but dedicated band turned up today to try and do a little more work.

It was too wet for bricklaying so John contented(?) himself with cleaning off old bricks ready for re-use.

Colin and Hedley stayed inside the mill and had yet another go at freeing the offending gear. Hedley provided some modelling clay and built a 'cofferdam' around the boss which was then filled with the ultimate penetrating agent, Coca Cola!

The fourth member of the depleted band was me, Richard, who arrived late, spent half an hour waving a broom around and made some excuse about opticians and sloped off. As a result I don't know if the stone nut has come loose yet or not.

Waving the broom at the woodwork does reveal an awful lot of woodworm holes, but also reveals the amazing finish that the original mill-wrights put on their work. The centrepost is one piece of timber as far as we can see and has been lovingly carved as you can see from the photo. Even the floor beams have been carved on their lower sides. There can be no doubt that the workers who constructed this mill were proud of their work.

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