A diary by James Attfield...

We arrived in Winchester in the morning and walked the long way round to the mill, taking in a river walk so we could play 'Poo Sticks' on the way.

We passed a place called the Palace and saw the only part of a Roman wall visible in Winchester which was over 1,700 years old. When we got to the mill we walked into the shop where my brother bought a couple of things with his pocket money. I thought there were plenty of things well priced for us to buy with our pocket money.

© James Attfield

We then saw a helper on the desk who told us what we could do and what time the milling of the flour was going to begin. Peter wanted to do the quiz so he was given a clipboard and pencil and we all helped him find the clues around the mill.

On entering the mill I went straight to a working model of the mill which I could work by pressing a button on the side. Peter went to a small sized stone mill that he could grind his own flour with so as we were playing we were also learning about how things worked. At the back of the room there was a T.V. with pictures of otters moving around. They were taken at different times of the day on the lower floor, where the river flows.

The Mill Race

My dad and I then went downstairs to see the Mill Race and we were both surprised at how loud and fast the water was. It was then that I saw the little chute and path that the otters used in the film upstairs. Because the flour was going to be ground at 2pm we decided to leave the mill and have some lunch so we could come back later. We found a small pizza place next door to the mill which was perfect so we had some lunch looking over the Itchin River and did not have to walk very far to get back to the mill.

© James Attfield

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Grinding the flour

When we came back we saw another helper called Charles who said he was about to stop the wheel and start the process to grind some flour. He was very good in telling us all about how the mill was restored a few years ago and explained to us how all the wheels and cogs worked. We very quickly then saw the grain come down the chute and get ground into flour and then went downstairs to see the flour going into the bags. My dad bought some flour so we could take some home and make things with it.

Peter handed his quiz back to the lady who told him that he had got all the questions correct and gave him a 'Trusty Hedgehog' sticker. I really enjoyed our time at the mill and learnt a lot about how important the River Itchin was in times when there was no power from things like engines and electricity.

© James Attfield

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