Watermill Tales and Big Shoulder Pads

When he was just 14 years old, Farmer T (Snr) got a job at the watermill, that was in 1940.      Back then it was still a working mill producing flour for bread and grinding grain for animal feed.   Farmer T was small, but strong, his  main job was to heave around the bags of grain and flour for the miller. 

 

He recalls that elderly customers would tell him what they remembered about a fire which caused quite a lot of damage to the mill.   A candle had been left burning in a room at the top of the mill, resulting in the thing which all millers fear, a fire, the year was around 1890.    When the building was restored the damaged waterwheel was replaced with a water turbine.    Although it doesn't work as a mill these days, the turbine and stones can still be seen by visitors to the cafe.

As well as milling flour, they also baked hundreds of loaves a day.    Many of those loaves were sent out to customers via the train station which was just along the road.

The mill changed hands a couple of times and by 1980 it was run down and almost derelict.

A Dutch couple bought it, then spent the next two years renovating the mill and creating a smokery where they specialised in smoking eels, trout and any other fish which could be sourced locally.

Last week I happened to be reading an old Lincolnshire Life Magazine from the 1980's.   I flicked through some articles,  then became fascinated by the ads for clothes.  They looked so familiar, and so very dated.   Think great big shoulder pads, big earrings,  big hairstyles, the bold makeup, high heels ... ah, but they were great at the time. 

I thought about rummaging around to find a couple of photographs of me in such garb, but I don't need the embarrassment, even if you could do with a laugh.

When I turned over the page I found a full-page ad for the watermill around the corner from here.   

The owners, the Dutch couple,  were running a restaurant which was open from 10am daily, Tuesday to Sunday, serving morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.   Smoked food was their speciality, most of which was produced in their own smokery.   The smoking process they used took 24 hours, I believe.

The restaurant critic described the place as being 'Tucked away on the edge of the Middle Marsh between Louth and Alford, where the Great Eau leave the Wolds on its way to the sea at Saltfleet.'  He took a party of eight, three of whom were Canadian, along for dinner.

He described walking over the mill race, the pleasant sound of the rushing water, the old turbine and mill workings.     The restaurant was sited in what was once the main working area of the mill, pre dinner drinks were taken in the restaurant while making their choices from the menu.

The smoked dishes on offer included - Salmon, trout, mackerel, eels, herring, chicken, turkey, prawns, shrimps, mussels, crabs or sole, Dutch cheese or Smoked Ham Salad, were the dishes on offer, along with a range of smoked pates. 

The diners were very happy with their food, so the place was given an extremely good review,  despite the fact that the wine list was not extensive.    The wine was described as being well chosen and particularly well suited to the menu on offer.

   
This is the road which leads past the watermill, a very peaceful setting.   

The Dutch couple stayed for about eight years.   Then they sold up and moved to South America, where I believe they planned to live on a boat, which is about as far removed as you can get from life in this quiet place, although I suppose water is the common feature.

The mill was then bought by a couple from Oxfordshire, they had run a restaurant and wine bar.   Under their watch lots of wild fowl and decorative birds were brought in and it became something of a wildlife sanctuary, as well as continuing to run the restaurant and the smokery.

Eventually age and ill health forced a sale and so the wheel turns again and now the 'new' owners are working hard to make the place into a tourist attraction with light meals, local food, home baked cakes, fragrant coffee, etc.   They are also hosting outdoor theatre and outdoor cinema screenings, with hot dogs and home made pizzas cooked in a wood oven.   

Big wheels keep on turning.