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The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings visited the Mill on April 26th 2007
to present their prestigious Conservation Award to the Preservation Trust. Some forty people attended the
presentation, which was made by Alan Stoyel on behalf of the SPAB Mills Section. It was held in the Mill
Ivel Room, and followed with a light buffet and a tour of the Mill for those who had
not already had the opportunity to see the restoration work. In its history, the SPAB Mills Section has only awarded
five previous plaques to watermills, making the award to Stotfold Mill even more special. This is a
tremendous accolade to the team that has worked tirelessly since 1998 to restore this magnificent
building and machinery. |
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H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh visited Stotfold Mill on Friday 17th November 2006 to see for himself this amazing building that has risen from the ashes of the 1992 fire. He was met by the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, Colonel Colin Mason. Crowds, including scores of local schoolchildren with their flags freshly prepared were in place up to 45 minutes ahead of the Royal Arrival, and were duly soaked by torrential rain! However, spirits were not dampened, and many stayed on to view The Duke's departure some 45 minutes later. |
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Anglia TV broadcast "Country Days" featuring Stotfold Mill (Episode 11 shown on 12th October 2006 at 7:30 pm). The program acknowledged the sad death of Sam Randall on 19th August.
The Mid Beds District Council Food Safety Officer awards Randalls Tea Room a 4-Star rating under the "Scores on the Doors" scheme for quality of food hygiene - September 2006.
Philip Radford appointed as new Trustee - September 26 2006.
WREN and SPAB visits - On September 8th 2006, WREN uses the Ivel Room and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings brings a coach party of thirty to the Mill for a two hour tour.
WREN Submission - On 22nd June 2006, WREN confirmed that our bid submission for £26,250 has been approved by the Board. This will enable us to restore the dressing floor, build the boardwalk, buy a second set of French millstones and buy PC projection equipment for the conference room.
Anglia TV Country Days – A successful day of filming took place on Wednesday 18th May 2006, Pam Rhodes hosted the programme and the team from Anglia TV did the filming. Having said they would arrive at 10 and leave at 2 they were so impressed that they altered their schedule and stayed on. Sam Randall has been recorded for posterity thanks to Gordon Huckle who got him talking. The programme goes out around July and we have been promised a copy of the final edited version as well as a copy of the full recording. When this is available we will arrange a showing at the Mill. The Biggleswade Chronicle also came along and will give us copies of the photographs.
Herts Fire Prevention – visited 25th May 2006, we now have fully approved and updated Fire Extinguishers with the correct notices etc. We have also had the final part of the Chubb Fire Protection installed. In the event of a fire the Fire Brigade are automatically contacted through the RedCare monitoring system.
School Visits – Thanks to Clare Whitty, Pat Clarey and Tricia How (the education team) St Mary’s school children visited early in May. Today we received an envelope full of thank you letters from the children. I thought I would pick a few of their comments to share with you: "I liked the Mill because it is interesting", "Magnificent!, Incredible!, Lovely!, Liked it!", "It grinds flour, I’m so happy", "The Mill is wicked not as good as my pet fish though", A picture drawn of the Mill on fire with the note "We hope this does not happen again". These are just a few; hopefully Clare and the team will set up a display in the Mill for all to see. |
