Old mill painting donated to village
A PAINTING OF Woodhouse Eaves Mill has been kindly donated to the village hall after a report in the Loughborough Echo.
An observant reader, Mrs Eileen Wardle, noticed the details that the Echo published about Mark Temple’s talk to the Friends of Charnwood Forest group, “Gone with the Wind; the lost Windmills of Leicestershire”.
Many years ago Eileen had inherited a painting of Woodhouse Eaves Windmill by Alan White, a local artist from the 1930s/40s and decided to ask the organiser of the meeting, Dick Howard, if he could find a “good home” for this heirloom.
Dick told the Echo: “Eileen retold stories of walking with her family in the late 1930s from Loughborough up the hill to Woodhouse Eaves for a picnic with her brothers and sisters and baby in the pram.
“Broombriggs where the Windmill stood was a favourite picnic spot as it afforded wonderful views across the countryside. Unfortunately the Windmill burnt down in 1947 but the base is still evident today.
After visiting Eileen, and seeing the painting, Dick decided to contact the chairman of Woodhouse Eaves Parish Council, Janie Martin, and suggested that they might be able to provide a “good home” in the Village Hall.
This was readily agreed and after Mark’s talk, to some 90 members of the Friends of Charnwood Forest, Dick presented the painting on behalf of Eileen Wardle, to Janie Martin.
Dick added: “The painting will now be on display in the village hall, truly a good home.”