Belloc's Mill, Shipley

This rather contemporary-looking structure is in fact one of the sails (or 'sweeps' as they are traditionally called in these parts) of the windmill at Shipley, over in West Sussex, which was owned by the writer Hilaire Belloc from 1906 until his death in 1953.

I have some fond (and distant) memories of this mill, because one Sunday in my undergraduate days, the University of Sussex Conservation Volunteers did some work on the land belonging to the then-owners of the mill, and as a 'reward' we were given a drink of their home-made cider (which tasted like I imagine diesel fuel must taste!) and allowed up on the gallery that runs around the mill at the top of its two-story brick base (much more worthwhile a reward in this case!)

Sadly, the mill has now been closed to the public since 2009. However, the millwright Paul Kemp was working there this afternoon as we stopped by to admire the mill from the nearby public bridleway, so who knows if there might again be one or two open days in the future...