Owner’s lockdown makeover for beloved windmill
AHOMEOWNER has completed the ultimate lockdown DIY project of one of Britain’s last fullyworking windmills – after using a cherry picker to paint the sails by hand.
Jeanette McGarry, 58, painstakingly spent three weeks touching up the paintwork on the gigantic five tonne sails as part of a refurbishment of historic Berkswell Windmill.
The 70ft Grade II-listed building has been standing for nearly 200 years in Balsall Common village and was bought by Jeannette in 2005.
She then spent £200,000 restoring the 19th century four-bladed tower mill to its former glory with the help of English Heritage after it fell into a state of disrepair.
It has been described as among “the finest Georgian windmills in Britain” and one of the “most complete in the UK” with all its original working parts and machinery.
Jeanette has now taken the time during a local lockdown in her area to complete much-needed renovation work throughout September.
The maintenance has involved continuous limewashing of the interior, dressing of mill stones and painting the sails with the help of a cherry picker to reach the top. The mill, built in 1826, is now fully operational and Jeanette hopes to welcome visitors back into her home once Covid-19 restrictions are eased.
Jeanette said embarking on what must be one of the biggest DIY projects undertaken during the pandemic has been a “real labour of love.”
The mum-of-three, a local government worker, said the site was like the “British equivalent of the Egyptian pyramids”. She said: “I want to make sure that the windmill is preserved so it’s here for generations to come, along with the countryside around it
“It’s been a ongoing labour of love. Every morning when I wake up I feel blessed. I feel like the luckiest person on the planet really, because it’s just such a beautiful sight. I feel more like the guardian of the windmill rather than the owner of the windmill. If it is snowing, if it’s windy, if it’s sunny, the windmill never fails to bring a smile to my face. It’s absolutely beautiful. It’s all the history that goes with it. I really marvel at the windmill, in terms of how they were built. To me, it’s like the British equivalent of the Egyptian pyramids.
“They didn’t have cranes back in the day. They didn’t have precision instruments. They did a lot of things by sight. The roof of the windmill is known as a Warwickshire Boat Cap, so each county has its own style of roof. It looks like an upside-down boat, like a rowing boat. The roof can be turned so it moves 360 degrees, all the way around. You pull a chain at the back and that means the sales can face the wind.”
There has been a windmill on the site as far back as the 10th century, built originally from wood and replaced with bricks in the Georgian period.
It was last used as a commercial mill in 1948 by John Hammond and after he died, it was bought by retired couple George and Betty Field in 1972 who carried out repairs. They then both passed away suddenly and it was left derelict for a period until Jeanette moved in 15 years ago.
She said: “On the day that I moved in with my ex-husband, lots of people were coming in through the gates asking to look at the mill. I contacted Historic
England when and they agreed to help me to restore the windmill. They funded 70 per cent and I paid 30 per cent. I also had to contact the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, which was originally set up by William Morris.
“They have a list of millwrights, the people that work on windmills and they are the expert builders if you like. There are only about 12 in the whole country. We had it completely restored. We had the roof taken off, which is known as a cap, and repaired.
“We also had the whole mill repointed because it’s a brick-built tower and had all of the sails replaced.
“I’ve actually got records from the 1700s of the miller here. It’s quite incredible when you go inside the mill, it’s just as it was when it was last used in 1948. It’s all the original machinery, all of the original cogs and wheels, which very few windmills have. It’s like a time capsule.
“Like any building, any wooden structure, you need to paint the sales regularly so we try to do it at least every three years.
“We have to buy specialist paint from Scandinavia. It was pretty tricky during lockdown because it’s been hard to get hold of materials. I hired a cherry picker which costs £1,000 a day so that it would be safer to do the painting.”
I want to make sure the windmill is preserved so it’s here for generations to come. Jeanette McGarry