By Stephen Mills
We’ve talked about some of the mill’s long and interesting history in several previous articles, but this one harks back to an event that most villagers wouldn’t have known about.
Briefly, after Millend Mill’s commercial life came to an end, it was eventually taken over by an antiques company who used it to restore, store and export all manner of things, mostly to the USA.
The business was set up by an American, Charles Whobrey, and his wife, and seems to have operated from the mill during the 1970s and into the 80s.
Kathy Mcfadden worked at the mill during the late 1970s, and was responsible for cataloguing items as they arrived. She recalls that there were also a number of restorers and a French polisher on site, tasked with getting the antiques ready for shipment.
Loads were assembled and collected in large container lorries – these were frequently blamed for regularly damaging the bridges and railings of the two little bridges by the school at Churchend!
Precisely when the company came to an end isn’t clear, but at some point, the owners moved back to the USA, essentially abandoning the mill and its entire contents.
It remained locked up (and steadily falling to bits) for some years, but in the late 1980s, there was a grand sale of all of the accumulated stock that remained.
Needless to say, by now, much was in a sorry state. Over the years, water had continued to pour in through increasingly large holes in the roof and upper floors, raining down on an ocean of furniture, pianos, and much more. A million pigeons had also moved in, so everything was covered with a thick layer of dust and bird droppings.
It seems that the auction was aimed mainly at the antique trade, and nearly all attendees were dealers, apart from us.
We had our eye on an oak kitchen table. The problem was that much of the furniture had been combined into large lots. So, to get our table, we had to buy a small mountain of furniture in varying states of decay.
We got our table, but it took 6 trips in a Ford Sierra to get everything else back home! Some was so decrepit and full of woodworm, that it barely survived the short journey.
The mill was packed with a bewildering assortment of items that included tables, chairs, desks, wardrobes, doors, pictures, wash stands, mangles, ovens, and pianos.
The accompanying photos will give you some idea of what took place. Unfortunately, they are only of poor quality as it was fairly dark in the mill and they were taken with a cheap film camera. Note the deep layers of dust and pigeon pooh!
One of the most bizarre lots comprised two ancient motorised invalid carriages. Remarkably, these sparked something of a bidding war and fetched a lot of money.
At the end of the sale,
there was still a lot of derelict furniture and other items remaining. A lorry load was bought by an older gentleman who was living in part of Whitminster House at the time, to use for firewood!
As we left the sale, one of the dealers commented that “you won’t see a sale like this again”, and I think he was correct.
And what became of our kitchen table? It’s still in constant use!
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