With Christmas just a couple of months away you might imagine that the Mill team are looking forward to putting their feet up and relaxing for a bit until Spring time is upon us once more, but the truth is very far from that. Before the year is out we have one more event for you to enjoy in the form of our Christmas Crafts Fair on November 24^th and 25^th, and behind the scenes there is a hive of activity. Work continues apace to complete the restoration of the Dressing Floor, which will at last be opened to the public in 2008. I think you will be amazed and fascinated when you see the dressing floor with its complex maze like collection of rare and historic machinery, flywheels and drive belts, which even include one machine built in Biggleswade many a year ago! The restoration team are also busily restoring the sack hoist mechanism, which will make life much easier for us as we can allow waterpower to do all the hard work rather than having to lug sacks around ourselves! At the same time the Events Committee are hard at work getting ready for the big May weekend as well as the 2008 Stotfold Mill Black Tie Ball, more details of which in future editions of Stotfold News! Meanwhile the Mill continues to host various clubs and societies on private visits.

But as Christmas time approaches it’s also nice to take some time to reflect on the year that’s almost passed. Curiously today has been a beautifully sunny autumn day, the russet gold’s and reds of the sycamore trees set against a crystal blue sky, quite breathtaking. All very different from May when it rained and rained and rained before, during and, just to be complete, after the May open days! Despite the weather the crowds turned out and the event was still a great success. By the time you read this we will have had our autumn threshing weekend – a full report on that next time! Randall’s Tea Room has gone from strength to strength and the further strides have been made in the continued restoration of the Mill.

Water powered milling is about as green as you can get – the simple flow of water turning a great wheel which in turn powers the mighty mill stones and a host of other machinery. However, when the Mill stands idle all that power goes to waste when it could perhaps be producing clean renewable electricity and making a little contribution towards the battle for a greener Britain! To this end the Trustees are investigating the possibility of producing hydropower at the Mill. This would be a truly exciting new chapter and a very natural development in the Mill’s long long history. A thousand years ago waterpower made sense for a number of very good reasons and in these days of climate change it would seem that it makes sense for yet one more reason. A bid to fund the project has been submitted to GrantScape who along with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings have launched the Wind and Watermill Challenge.

Don’t forget to visit the Mill on November the 24^th and 25^th for our Christmas Crafts Fair. There will be an exciting selection of arts and crafts for you to choose from as you seek to find that really unique Christmas gift for someone special! And whilst there you can pop in to Randall’s Tea Room for some festive refreshments!

As we prepare for the biggest May event yet the Mill will once again be looking to it’s friends for a bit of help. So if you’d like to get involved then there’s never been a better time to join Friends of The Mill. Helping at the May event or at any of our other events and open days can be great fun! Friends of the Mill is also an excellent way just to lend your support to the Trust, to get involved with the work at the Mill if you choose, and it also now allows you to enjoy our special Friends of the Mill events. So, why not be a part of it and join the team today? We’d be delighted to welcome you to the Friends of The Mill group!

Mills can be very dangerous places, so please, for your own safety, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ENTER THE SITE OR THE MILL WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION!