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Windmill's wooden sails restored

News imageJoe Bilton / BBC An aerial picture of two sails placed horizontally on a windmill. The sails are white and they are placed on a white windmill cap. The windmill is in a courtyard surrounded by farm buildings and green fields.Joe Bilton / BBC
The sails on Skidby Mill, near Cottingham, have been restored

A 19th Century windmill has had its sails restored.

Grade II listed Skidby Mill, near Cottingham, had its wooden structures removed in 2019 after wet rot was discovered.

The windmill, built in 1821, is the centerpiece of the Museum of East Riding Rural Life.

In May, the wooden cap which sits on the top of the mill and holds the sails, was lifted into place.

News imageA crane lifts a white wooden windmill sail to the top of Skidby Windmill. The building is black with a white domed top with a smaller windmill on it
The sails were repaired after being removed in 2019

More than £200,000 has been spent on repairing the mill.

Councillor Nick Coultish said people wanted the restoration, even though the sails would not be able to rotate.

"That would put too much strain on the mechanism and break the mechanism which is irreplaceable," he said.

"Not only that but it puts strain on the sails as well when they're turning, so they need to be replaced more often."

Suffolk Millwright restored the sails and fixed them to the building using cranes.

Tim Whiting, from the firm, said there were two restored original sails and two new ones.

He said his team travelled the UK working on windmills.

"These mills are really part of our heritage, so they have to be restored as they were," added Whiting.

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