I have only just realised when friends called and mentioned it, that today is Mayday. In typical English weather pattern it is dull, damp and chilly. We have had a little rain but not anywhere near enough. But all the plants have perked up.
I sat down after lunch to watch the Snooker final and woke up an hour later just as friends were calling. As is usual when waking up in an afternoon I do not know what time it is for a few minutes and am quite confused. Still I got my head round things eventually and we chatted about a local mill which is still grinding and selling flour. It is interesting just how much the coming of the railway changed things. Before the railway got here villages had their own mill and housewives baked their own bread using local flour. Once the railway arrived flour could be brought in and gradually local mills died out. Ones which are still working are mostly museum pieces and my friends had been to see a local working mill this afternoon. It is in the village of Crakehall near Bedale and is on the side of the beck which actually starts on the moor above our village here. Every village between here and Bedale had its own mill - now almost all have been converted into houses. In the 'old days' the miller was quite an important man in the village - along with the doctor, the parson, the farmer, the vicar and any other person 'necessary' to the life of the village. Now these villages are full of incomers and sadly many young people have been priced out of the housing market and often by second home owners. It is in many ways a sad old world.
And speaking of sad worlds yet another 'scandal' in Parliament after Partygate - now we have an MP resigning for watching pornography in the House of Commons. I can't help wondering if it is the first time it has happened or if it is the first time it has been discovered. Any thoughts on the subject?
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23 comments:
How lovely that you've seen a mill at work once again. Did you buy flour milled there?
We have a sunny, warm day with azaleas, iris, and our oak leaf hydrangeas in bloom but storms are possible this evening.
I've no view on Partygate as I live across the Atlantic Ocean but I'd suspect it's the first time someone has been caught at it.
I'm remembering the May song from "Camelot" with Richard Burton et al. Happy May!
Hugs!
Next weekend is National Mills Weekend when about 300 mills across the country will be open to the public. Most of these are still in working order, often maintained by small bands of enthusiasts. Enjoy the rest of May Day.
We still have a working mill here grinding locally grown wheat but our local bakery is just about to close so the future of our home grown flour is now uncertain.
We have a working mill not too far from us but unfortunately, it is more a tourist attraction than anything else. At least children can see how things used to be done. I hope you've had a nice weekend Pat!
Forgot to wash my face in the early morning dew today, darn it! Although I don't buy locally ground flour, I do make my own bread so am adhering to at least one of our ancestors customs.
I will bet that it's the first time it has been discovered.
Small villages were the same here, every town pretty much self sufficient. It lingers on in the old names. Mill St, Tanner St., Foundry St., Church St. etc. Things have changed a lot in a hundred years. Look at how much things have changed in the last 50 alone! I often find myself wondering what life will be like for our grand children.
There was an ancient water powered mill on my grandmother's farm, long out of use, but I remember playing in there as a child. It still had the old grindstones, ropes, pulleys and sacks, and the wonderful smell that mills seem to have. She bought flour by the sack and baked her own bread, in a wood fired oven set into what the Welsh call a simnai fawr, a massive chimney that you could stand in and look up to the sky.
Hi, A friend just sent me your blog and I am so enjoying it. I had a chance to spend a month in the UK and loved that trip. A week in Bath where my grandparents were born was the best part. I too am a widow and will be 80 this month. Thanks for writing, I'll be reading. Nanette
Years ago they swept the surfaces on all the parts of the toilets of the House of Commons and found that there was a lot of cocaine being used there. We are living in silly times, but the silly times are more in the open than they used to be. 'Twas ever thus.
I found your statement about mills very interesting. US mills are converted to homes and businesses as well. With Russia and Ukraine previously providing wheat to the world, alternative wheat and flour sources are going to be needed. US and UK wheat farming and flour mills might come back. There is always someone enthralled with bad behavior. Today, when they get caught the world knows about it. Secrets are not easily kept. Some survive the scandal and others do not.
Many towns about are named because of their mills, and not necessarily flour. I live in Boston, and we have Boston Mills just up the road. The water flows so fast in many of the little rivers that we have Mills appended to quite a few town. The mills also produced woven goods, rope, and yarn.
I reckon the first time he’s been caught, too.
Hayyp May Day! I remember in infant and junior school, dancing the maypole; and leaving little bunches of wildflowers on the doorsteps of my elderly great-aunts. Mind you, they were old to my eyes, but thinking back, they were probably no more than late fifties!
Mrs F
Excuse a repeat appearance, but I saw this little story about a young lad from Lincolnshire that I thought would make you smile.
https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2022/04/lincolnshires-farmer-joe-10-turns-his-dreams-into-reality/
A bit of sweetness for your day.
Having seen the cartoons of Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray from the early 1800's, I suspect that politicians have always been over-fed and over-sexed. Nothing much changes.
The UK and US has many giant flour mills and wheat is produced in many countries besides Ukraine and Russia. The market adjusts itself according to supply and demand and is already doing so. As for the House of Commons , it is as any other workplace, there are always rule breakers.
I try to use flour from local mills for breadmaking and it is funny if you use a different mill, how the coarseness of the flour changes. There is a magic about the old mills with their sails going round.
No chance here to forget about May Day - we have been working through the weekend, as O.K.‘s village band have been hosting the village May Fête, starting with erecting the maypole and then serving food and drinks in the big beer tent and playing music until late into the night, followed by cleaning up and putting away everything. Deconstructing the tent will be the last thing to do, and that will happen tonight. It‘s been the first fête since 2019 and it was BUSY!!
Once all that is done, our holiday starts for real.
I’m making my own bread here in Italy, fresh yeast is readily available but I’m not impressed with the mass produced flour.
I live in a smallish town which came to be after a flour mill was built in the mid 1800s. The old mill still has the big wheel that was powered by the brook that runs through the town. Today the building is used as a Montessori school and I'm happy to see it is kept in excellent repair. They had to build a secure fence around the playground because the brook runs directly beside it- a great temptation (and danger) for children. Every time I walk by that building, I become nostalgic for the past.
Hello Nanette - nice to hear from you. Glad you are joining the clan!
Thanks to you all and Happy May Day to one and all
Happy May Day!
I'm sure its not the first time for something like that to go on there... just the first time someone was foolish enough to get caught... Hugs! deb
I believe all scandals are just "the first time being found out". Why can't men do that sort of thing on their own time, at home, instead of at work? They can't go that long without it? Sheesh!!!!! ~Andrea xoxo
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