Thurne Mill repainted by abseiling millwrights
Broads Authority trainee millwrights are tackling their first big job --- repainting picturesque Thurne Mill by abseiling from ropes.
The five millwrights, aged from 19 to 52, who started their three year training in December, have completed a week’s rope access training on a 70 ft high tower in Great Yarmouth with one of the country’s leading trainers in the field, Access Inspection Diving Ltd.
Millwrights traditionally worked from a bosun’s chair, but more recently ladders, scaffolding and access platforms have been used.
Heritage Lottery Bursary Project Manager Graham Bayne said ropes were a cheaper, safer, simpler and more versatile method than the other options, with scaffolding costing about £5000 compared to £200 for ropes.
Nineteen-year-old Paul Abel, from Attleborough, has had to overcome a fear of heights to do the job but now he is buzzing to do more.
"I used to be absolutely terrified of heights, " he says. "But the rope access training has given me so much confidence. It’s scary when you first launch yourself off the top but once you’re in the harness it’s like sitting in an armchair.
"Ropes are considered safer than ladders and they are so much more versatile because you can move about anywhere. We’ve started using them to walk up the sails which is something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time."
The millwrights have rubbed down the 200 year old mill’s tower and cap and are repainting the glistening white landmark at the end of Thurne Dyke with an eco-friendly, solvent free paint which has lasted for 113 years on a town hall in Switzerland. Traditional linseed oil paint is being used on the sails and cap.
Stephen Pulfer from Rockland St Mary who has run his own painting and decorating business for 30 years and is a millwright trainee says he wouldn’t go back to ladders again for this sort of work.
"Rope access is an eye opener," he says. "It looks quite alarming, and it’s quite strenuous getting up there, but it feels very secure."
The millwrights, were selected from all over the country by the Broads Authority to take part in a ground-breaking bursary scheme paid for by the Heritage Lottery Fund to keep traditional skills alive. They are receiving practical training from millwrights and other experts which will equip them for careers in millwrighting.
Each millwright brings his own special skill to the job – engineering, carpentry, brick laying, painting and conservation –on which he will take the lead - and Stephen has been teaching the others how to paint.
"He’s very patient and encouraging," said Paul. "Because we’re using quality materials and the right tools for the job we’re getting lots of job satisfaction – and we get a wonderful view from the top. When we next see a picture of Thurne Mill we can think it was us that painted it."
Vincent Parteger, a millwright from Essex, has repaired Thurne mill’s turbine for the Norfolk Windmills Trust so it can once again become a working mill.
18/9/2007
