The following notes are the reminiscences of Mr. Phillip Minshull, born 1905.
I suppose my first recollection of anything connected with Bunbury Mill was my dad coming home for breakfast, a short time after 8 o'clock, having been at work since 6-00am. He would return to work at 8-30am, to 12-00 noon, then come home for dinner. He would then return to work at 1-00pm, 'till 6-00pm. This would be 1914 - 1915.
This was 10 and a half hours per day, 5 days per week plus 5 hours on a Saturday morning, a 58 hour week for about £1.( I didn't work this out at the time). As agricultural workers were the majority in rural areas, their wages were used as a basis for other workers. This was 18 shillings per week.
Prices of food were cheese 10d per lb, bacon 10d to 1s2d per lb, sugar 2d per lb, butter 9d to 1 shilling per lb, margarine 6d per pound, bread was 4"d for a 2 lb loaf ( today's loaf is only 1 /4 lb ), potatoes were 1d per pound.
Cigarettes were, Woodbines 10 for 4d, Players and Capstan were 10 for 6d, Beer 4d to 5d per pint.
Note: all prices quoted are in old pennies i.e.
12 pennies = 1 shilling
20 shillings = 1 pound
Or 240 pennies = 1 pound
Today one new penny is equal to 2.4 old pennies
Returning to Bunbury Mill, it was the job of my elder brother to take my dad his "bagging" at around 4-30pm. This consisted of a can of tea and a cheese or other sandwich, occasionally I would go with him, later on I took the job on a regular basis. After this I became more interested in the Mill.
I can't put anything down in chronological order, so I will just describe things as they come to mind. I will begin with supplies to the Mill. They mainly came from Messrs Griffiths Bros. of Chester and were delivered on a Foden Steam Traction Wagon. There was maize (Indian corn), oats, wheat, and barley. There was also cattle cake (linseed and cotton seed) which was in compressed slabs measuring 24"x15"x3/4".The slabs were broken into small nuts in a machine which is still in the Mill. The maize was ground into a coarse meal, (the American "grits" is made from such meal), it was also "kibbled", and that is breaking each grain into 3 or 4 pieces. And this was also done by a machine still in the Mill.
The oats were ground and also rolled. This was done on the machine mentioned above using a different set of rollers. We lads enjoyed the days on which the maize was being processed, amongst the corn were "locust beans". Mostly these were broken, but occasionally we would find a complete bean. These were 6" to 8" long, about 1 1/4" wide and 1/4" thick. They had a sweet pleasant taste.
The machinery, which is now on view on the ground floor, was all boarded in. Access to it was through a door, which was opposite the door to the outside. There was no light inside this other than that which came through the doorway.
The two chutes from the millstones, which are on the middle floor, came down onto a long trough which backed onto the boards which hid the machinery. When the Mill was working the meal came down the chutes into the trough. It was then manually put into sacks using scoops, which held about 28 lbs.
The sacks were then hoisted to the top floor, where they were weighed on a double platform scale, and adjusted to the required weight, then tied or sewn up. The sewing was done with string and a bag needle. The weights used on the scales were 14lb, 28lb, and 56lb.
The chain used to hoist the sacks was a challenge to us to climb to the top, hand over hand, and our legs wrapped round the chain. At first we would manage to the first floor, we had to push the trap doors open; we would eventually manage to get to the top.
When they were grinding my dad would feel the texture of the meal. If it wasn't right he would tell us to go and raise, or lower, the top stone. This was done by turning the cranked handle below the mill in "the dark hole". Half a turn either way was all that was required.
Another little job that we were asked to do was to alter the amount of water going over the top of the wheel. This is done as it is today.
Returning to the supplies side, after the harvest the farmers would bring their grain to be milled. This would be oats, barley, or wheat, or some of each. They were mostly ground into meal, but oats were sometimes rolled.
After the Griffiths Bros. grain was milled, the empty sacks were folded and stacked. They had to be folded twice, and were stacked with the single edge outward, enabling them to be easily counted. There was a charge of half a crown made on the maize sacks because they were made from a very heavy material.
To deliver the meal and grain etc. to the local farms, the mill employed two carters. They were Herbert Shore and Sam Brookes. During the school holidays I sometimes went with one of the carters on his deliveries.
I remember a rhyme:
David Minshull grinds the corn
Neddy Vickers mows the lawn
Alfred Epson carts the coal
Robert Armitage saves the soul
I don't know who actually composed it, but it was very likely my dad. He used to say it to us fairly often. It was something he would have done.
The job of stone dressing was done twice a year. This was done with iron picks, re-cutting the channels which guide the ground meal to the outside of the stones.
Another aspect of stone dressing was the removal of the "high spots" from the surface of the stones. These high spots were located by swinging a heavy beam of wood over the surface of the stones. This piece of wood was hardwood; it measured about 5 feet long by 4 inches square, and was painted on the underside with a blue dye. Where the wood rubbed, the dye was left on the stones. The blue marks were then chipped off.
In those days the mill pond was quite an expanse of water, covering about 2 to 3 acres. The present car park is on part of the filled in pond.
There were a number of structures around the mill that no longer exist. There was a cart shed, stable and hayloft situated west of the car park. A large cart shed and harness room opposite the bottom door of the mill, and further to the east, backing onto the Gowy, a building comprising a shippon stable and hayloft, under one roof.
On the east side of the mill there was a lean-to building which was used as a stable.
There was also a tall square chimney. This belonged to a furnace which was used to raise steam to drive a steam engine which, in turn, was used to drive the mill machinery in times when the water supply was inadequate.
I think that the demise of Bunbury Mill began when the Cheshire Farmers began trading at Calvely Mills. This was situated along side the road at the bottom of the bridge which takes the road over the railway. (The Cheshire Farmers is now North West Farmers, they are now on the dis-used airfield at Wardle). This happened around 1921-22, and the outbreak of foot and mouth disease on the local farms more or less finished it. I don't think there was much activity at the mill after that. (There is a record of the number of cattle etc slaughtered at the local farms in a book about Bunbury by Frank A. Latham). Around this time my dad joined the ranks of the unemployed.
Although this has no connection with Bunbury Mill, it is worth recording that there were two other mills in the district that used the Gowy water.
One of the mills was at Tilstone Bank, the other was at Brassey Green. We knew it as Bates Mill. I don't know if that was the owner's name. My dad used to go and do stone dressing at the two mills. I went with him sometimes.
The original water supply for Tilstone Mill was the brook which flows past Bunbury Lock, but at Tilstone the Gowy was diverted to increase the supply of water to the mill pond.
Another job we did at Tilstone was to de-scale the boiler (they had a steam engine like the one at Bunbury). Access to the inside of the boiler was by removal of a heavy iron plate, which was clamped on the end. The de-scaling was chipping the lime scale from inside the boiler. It was a hot job and the air got bad, the hole at the end being the only vent. About 30 minutes was the limit that you could work at one time.
Back to Bunbury Mill. The belts, which transmitted the power from the shafting to the various machines and hoists, were made from leather. A hide would be cut into strips about 6 inches wide. The ends of these strips were chamfered to fit together. They were then joined, being fastened with bifurcated copper rivets and copper washers. The holes in through the rivets went were made with a hollow punch. This removed a small piece of leather slightly less in diameter than the rivet, so making a tight fit.
P.B. MINSHULL
SEPTEMBER 1995
Oil painting by K.M Palmer
Sketch
by H. Pierpoint