Last post from the Willow

The Bone Mill

This is the gearing on the other side of the wall from the Princess.

You can see the gearing and shafts to the left and right.

These shafts power paddles in 12 tanks that are loaded with about 10 tons of cattle bones that have been roasted in a kiln.

Each vat had a flint lined bottom and 3 of these hugh softer flint boulders that were tumbled around the tank by the wooden paddles crushing the bones that were in a water slurry. The steam engine started this mill on the first stroke under full load with out the help on any clutch. That's torque. Bone china is 50% ground cattle bones.

Jesse Shirleys Bone Mill

Jesse Shirleys Bone Mill was opened in 1857 and closed in 1972

The building has sunk 6 feet. due to subsidence from coal mining since it was constructed.

The mill opened with a second hand walking beam steam engine built in 1820. This engine operated the mill until it closed.

This is a shot of the Princess's walking beam. The flywheel is 4 ton and is turned at 20 rpm by 20 lbs of steam pressure coming from a boiler in the next room.

Down the Caldon to Eturia

Private home along the Caldon

Anne and Megan

Old abandoned waterworks

Nick taking a bicycle tire off the prop

Random shots of Leek

The Swan Inn originally known at "The Green Dragon" was on old coaching inn. The ale was good'

The 1694 Leek Quaker Meeting House.

Random shots of Leek

Greystones - 17th century home of a silk merchant.

St Edward's Church is Leek's only medieval church, burnt down in the great fire of 1297 but rebuilt and reopened in 1320.

Random shots of Leek

Cheddleton Mill part 2

This is the house she grew up in that was supposed to appear in the previous entry.

A close up of the wheel on the back mill.

A better shot of the 2 wheel mill

Cheddleton Flint Mill

The 90 year old woman who lives in this house grew up in the house below.

This was her kitchen as a child. Her father was the last operator of this 2 wheel mill seen below. The second wheel is to the left of Nick Scott, the owner of the Willow. The mill owner did everything. He unloaded the barges of limestone, he heated the limestone blocks in a kiln so he could move the smaller pieces of flint into the mill where he would grind it and put it in barrels, load it on barges and send it down the canal to the potteries. He also did all the repairs and upkeep on the mill. He was the only person who worked here.

Caldon Lightzone

ON the Caldon with Lightzone

All of these picturs were post processed with an obscure program called Lightzone.They are from various spots along the Caldon.