Last week’s start at stone-dressing was hampered by having to come home early, but perhaps it was a good thing. During this last week, I have made contact with Michael Stoate who is a 5^th generation miller, and he not only does stone milling for a living, but he has been dressing a pair of stones this week! He has not only been able to answer all my questions, by return of e-mail, but has answered un-asked questions by sending detailed photographs of what he is doing. He runs Cann Mills, Shaftesbury in Dorsetshire http://www.stoatesflour.co.uk/ 

Questions like how deep must the groove be? What angle should the sloping edge be? …are all easily picked up from the photos.

I had decided to hang the rocking chute on donkey chains, so that was the first job:

I had planned to be at La Motte in Franschhoek helping Pietie le Roux set up their Mill, so that they can produce their own meal for the bread served at the restaurant on that farm, but the pump which is used to recirculate the water to turn the wheel broke at the last minute. I suspect those stones might need dressing, so I told Pietie I’d learn instead at Compagnes Drift and practise at La Motte, instead of the other way around! 

Armed with James Walton’s book, some grinding discs and a ‘builders’ hammer, I got stuck in. On Pippa’s advice, I tested one of the broken stones outside, and it was immediately apparent that these ‘silcrete’ stones are hard! But first the ‘furniture had to be dismantled. This was surprisingly easy and within about 15 minutes, the stones were exposed.

The heading gets long if you don’t compile a report for some time! In truth, I have been in hospital for some of February for abdominal surgery, so that at least is an excuse! Luckily the ‘attack’ happened after the Open Day weekend, which was a phenomenal success, with a constant stream of visitors to watch the Mill working! Stephen Sokolic was a great help on the busier Sunday. 

From the meal milled on the two preceding Saturdays, Nici Beaumont of Zest Catering made 91 loaves of bread; the last was sold by mid-day on Sunday. Many 1-kg bags of meal were also sold direct to the amazed onlookers and from the stalls where the action was taking place up at the Big House, along with wine tasting and sales, picnics, a marimba band and games of boules…. what an atmosphere!  

Stephen kindly brought two ‘Oregon’ pine planks for the front and rear of the main elevator, but there’s been no further progress on that front. I want to set a window into the front panel so that the buckets can be seen descending.

The main elevator still needs a front and a back; the front will have a glass pane, so the descending buckets can be seen.

The first surprise was at the Houw Hoek Farmstall, which I can’t pass without popping in for one or more of their famous pies! Bennie, who hovers around the shop and wine display area, invariably wears the cap and apron of one of the other wineries, and I always tease him that he never wears his Beaumont Wines outfit. Surprise! Surprise!

Bennie, in Beaumont Wines livery (for a change!), standing at the Beaumont Wines display at Houw Hoek Farm Stall.

With the assortment of cramps off the base of the elevator, everything seemed to stay in place; it just needed a run over with the belt sander. There is a piece chipped away, but this will not affect the operation and once the new wood is darkened to the same colour as the rest of the elevator, it should not be noticeable.

There was just one job to finish on the downward trunk of the main elevator, that was the collar, or skirting where the trunk passes through the upper floor, and which aligns the upper and lower sections of the trunking.

The lighter piece was made from an offcut from the batch of Oregon which Keith Wetmore organised; there isn’t much left! 

A galvanised steel lining was cut and bent up during the week, so I was keen to see whether it would allow the meal to flow more easily.

Try saying that after a couple of glasses of Beaumont Wine! 

In the week, I had a piece of galvanised sheet cut and bent up and covered it with the ever diminishing supply of offcut Oregon floor planking.

The top end of the short chute needed to be tidied where it joins with the original trunking, both at the upper end and, on the lower side, where it joins the chute to the Stamford Mill.

On the top edge, I peeled the metal lining off (it’s tacked on) and sawed off the protruding wood with a hacksaw blade, and bent and re-attached the lining. That was easy! At the join with the Stamford chute, I had hoped to be able to bend a single metal strip and attach both ends, one to each chute, but the angles were too complicated. Instead, each chute has an extension to its existing lining, and they just touch up together at the top, in line with the run of the main chute, so that either or both can be blocked off to allow grain to proceed past them to the Vitruvian’s chute.