Sea Scouts become Woodbridge Tide Mill Eco Warriors With a SHARE Museums East Recovery Grant supported by the Art Fund The latest group of Eco Warriors assembled on Sat 25 Feb at Woodbridge Tide Mill and later at the Woodbridge Community Hall to complete eco-friendly projects.
Woodbridge Tide Mill launches Eco Warrior Workshops Thanks to a SHARE Museums East Recovery Grant supported by the Art Fund Woodbridge Tide Mill has been demonstrating renewable energy for centuries, and now, with the help of a grant from SHARE Museums East supported by the Art Fund, plans to spread the word. The grant will allow it to establish an environmental student group which is interested in environmental issues. The Mill’s Education Lead, Tassa Deparis is driving the initiative. Tassa says, “We hope the workshops will encourage young eco-warriors in the issues that matter to them. [...]
Two Trustees Sought The Woodbridge Tide Mill Charitable Trust is recruiting for two new Trustees to join the Board on a voluntary basis. Woodbridge Tide Mill Living Museum is an award-winning, Grade I listed visitor attraction on the Suffolk coast. Built in 1793 and now fully restored, it provides a wide range of learning opportunities for all ages, as well as milling and selling its own flour. This is an exciting time for the Mill with several projects in development and a chance for you to play an important role in its future. We are a [...]
New Education Lead for Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum New Lead, Tassa Deparis, is an educator and facilitator Woodbridge Tide Mill is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Education Lead who will continue the great work of Heather Sheehan in bringing the story and ecological relevance of the Mill to young people. The new Lead, Tassa Deparis is an educator and facilitator, having worked with and for primary and secondary schools for over a decade. Tassa explains, “Having regularly taken my son to the Tide Mill since he was 6 months old, I am thrilled [...]
New Curator for Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum Dr Amy Jane Barnes joins the Mill Woodbridge Tide Mill is happy to announce the appointment of a new Curator. Dr Amy Jane Barnes joins the Mill at an exciting time when, under Chairman John Carrington, it is expanding its appeal to museumgoers through improved communication for both physical and online visitors as well as widening its accessibility to younger visitors. Amy received her PhD in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester in 2010 and has experience of working in curatorial roles and on exhibition and interpretation projects. [...]
Mill picture protection Looking after the Mill's gallery We’ve been busy turning the beautiful Weaver room into a space to house our archive of images and stories documenting the Tide Mill. With huge thanks to All About Framing for sponsoring the project and providing the excellent STAS picture hanging systems for what turned out to be a challenging hang. Our Senior Warden, Stephen Molyneux carried out the work wearing his Woodbridge Art Services cap, a new art technician service for Woodbridge and surrounding areas. Stephen has also recently fitted UV protection film to the Weaver Room [...]
Penstock Maintenance These old Mills don't repair themselves! The Tide Mill Engineering Team lead by Rick Chapman hard at work maintaining the Mill's Penstock. The work they are shown doing is to replace the worn side runners on the sluice gate, the space is very tight so they had to remove some paddles from the water wheel (see pics). The chain block and tackle is to keep the water wheel from turning due to it being out of balance with 7 paddles removed from 1 side. The pic of the timber next to the worn one [...]
Woodbridge Tide Mill earns another Gold Carbon Charter Award We have a clear and credible plan for achieving Net Zero within the Mill Following a further assessment of Woodbridge Tide Mill the Suffolk Carbon Charter panel has decided to renew its Gold level award of the Suffolk Carbon Charter. The Tide Mill previously received the Award in 2015 and 2020. Free energy generator sponsored by AONB The Carbon Charter is awarded to companies that are monitoring and reducing their carbon emissions; it is intended to provide public recognition of those involved in making Suffolk [...]
Micro Generator Installed We've installed a micro-generator to demonstrate electricity generation from hydropower Woodbridge Tide Mill has installed a micro-generator inside the Mill to demonstrate electricity generation from hydropower. The purpose is to educate and provide activities around STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) themes for the many KS1, and KS2-3 students who visit the Mill. The micro-generator takes its energy from the Crown Wheel Lay Shaft in the Mill. It's coupled to outputs such as phone chargers, a disco light and a voltmeter so visitors can see the electricity generated. Key Stage 1,2, and [...]
Lively Lammas Day Craft session Our Education Lead, Heather helped youngsters to craft corn dollies On a sunny Monday 8 August, Heather Sheehan our Education Lead welcomed youngsters over a two hour session to make traditional Corn Dollies. Corn Dollies are a form of straw work made as part of harvest customs of Europe before mechanization. Before Christianisation, in traditional pagan European culture it was believed that the spirit of the corn (in American English, "corn" would be "grain") lived amongst the crop, and that the harvest made it effectively homeless. Among the customs attached to the [...]
Picture perfect Tide Mill Volunteer Steve curates our Gallery Tide Mill Senior Warden Stephen Molyneux and Curator Dr Amy Jane Barnes are sorting out the collection of paintings, photographs and other memorabilia held in the Weaver Room at the Mill. The pictures will be hung and labelled professionally using Stas hanging systems. Because the room gets so much light, with it's unobscured view over the River Deben, the windows are also to be lined with a UV filtering film so that objects in the Room, like the images and art, don't suffer from the light. [...]
Brilliant video found fascinating Anglia Productions (ITV) programme We were lucky enough to get hold of a DVD (remember those?) of a fascinating Anglia Productions (ITV) programme outlining the renovation of Woodbridge Tide Mill which had been in decay from just before 1900 until the final straw of a broken waterwheel shaft ended its commercial life in 1957. Following its purchase in 1968 by Mrs Jean Gardner and her husband the Mill was completely renovated by the Tide Mill Trust. The Mill was gifted to Woodbridge Town Council in June 1977. The film also pays [...]
Summer 2022 Newsletter Developments, appointments and plans at a busy Mill Dear Supporters, Volunteers and Friends of Woodbridge Tide Mill It's a pleasure to be sending this Summer Newsletter with the Mill open daily and visitor numbers close to 800 a month and growing. Dan and the team of volunteers are busy welcoming these healthy numbers to see the Mill and the Committee remains busy with several projects, many outlined below. In the six months since our last Newsletter there have been a number of changes in personnel, notably: - Fraser Hale, has resigned as Trustee [...]
Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum adds micro-generation education project Woodbridge Tide Mill is to install a micro-generator inside the Mill to demonstrate electricity generation from hydropower Woodbridge Tide Mill is to install a micro-generator inside the Mill to demonstrate electricity generation from hydropower. The purpose is to educate and provide activities around STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) themes for the many KS1, and KS2-3 students who visit the Mill. The micro-generator will take its energy from the Crown Wheel Lay Shaft in the Mill. It will be coupled to outputs such as phone chargers, a light [...]
New Tide Mill video Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum from the perspective of, and narrated by, the Mill's Head Miller; Dan Tarrant-Willis Made in Spring 2022, this video provides an insight into the Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum from the perspective of, and narrated by, the Mill's Head Miller; Dan Tarrant-Willis. He describes how the Mill uses the 'free energy' of the tides to mill flour.
Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum awarded accreditation accolade Accreditation is the benchmark for well-run Museums and Galleries Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum, a rare and much-loved working tide mill on the banks of the River Deben in Woodbridge Suffolk has been given full Accreditation status. Administered by Arts Council England on behalf of the UK Accreditation Partnership, Accreditation is the benchmark for well-run Museums and Galleries. It means that Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum is properly managed and governed to the nationally agreed industry standard and shows the museum takes proper care of its collections, sharing them with visitors [...]
New Curator for Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum Dr Amy Jane Barnes brings a wealth of experience Woodbridge Tide Mill is happy to announce the appointment of a new Curator. Dr Amy Jane Barnes joins the Mill at an exciting time when, under Chairman John Carrington, it is expanding its appeal to museumgoers through improved communication for both physical and online visitors as well as widening its accessibility to younger visitors. Amy received her PhD in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester in 2010 and has experience of working in curatorial roles and on exhibition and [...]
Model Maintenance The Mill's useful demonstration model gets fixed There's a model in the Tide Mill that demonstrates how the process of harnessing water from the Deben at high tide and then releasing it back into the river at low tide, after it has run under a water wheel, powers the Mill machinery to grind flour. It's a very popular exhibit because it is a simple and clear way to show the process that can be quite confusing. There are many who think that the Mill operated at high tide. The model is quite old now [...]
