Going through the mill
AMBITIOUS PAIR AIM TO RESTORE A 17TH-CENTURY MILL BUT WILL IT BE WORTH THE ORDEAL?
THE star of tonight’s show is a derelict 17th-century flour mill that has been abandoned for 60 years and is slowly rotting away. But we all know by now – for every crumbling building, there’s an ambitious person who wants to restore it.
Kevin McCloud is in Cornwall with former skydivers Leigh and Richard, who first met 27 years ago while they were jumping out of a perfectly good aeroplane.
They’ve fallen head over heels in love with this listed but near-collapsed mill, which is full of rotten old timbers, rusty discarded machinery and worrying structural cracks.
In fact, they’ve decided they want to live there. They’ve sold up and moved 250 miles to live in a caravan on site, with a budget of £250,000 (more than it cost to buy), no building experience and a wing on a prayer.
Leigh thoughtfully says: “It was a mill, we don’t want to rip everything out. But she’s old and tired and sad and I think she is crying out for a little bit of help to nudge her into the future.”
The couple wants to faithfully restore the outside and retain as much of the mill’s history and charm as possible – while also creating a contemporary four-floor, three-bedroom home.
“I could put my money somewhere slightly sounder than this,” says Kevin, nervously walking inside and asking: “Is it safe?”
As ever, reality means more work and more money than the couple ever imagined. And a pandemic doesn’t help.
The relic will be restored, but after months of struggling with various crises, will the owners still be standing?