Local history

Holgate Windmill Preservation Society needed to find an extra £20,000. Help came in December 2007 from the York Conservation Trust which donated the full amount.

The Chairman of the Windmill Society, Bob Anderton, said "This very generous offer has enabled us to carry on with the work on the mill without having any debt worries hanging over us."

The removal of the scaffold in October, 2007, was the most recent development in the project to restore the 240-year-old mill.

Crane in action at the windmill

There's still a lot of work to be done - and more money needs to be raised to complete the project. But the Holgate Windmill Preservation Society is pleased with what's been achieved so far.

"Inside we've just had all the machinery on the ground-floor restored and it's a really, really good set of machinery. In fact, we've been told it's one of the best sets of mill machinery in the country," said Bob Anderton.

The project hasn't been without its problems.

Damaged windmill cap

"The building has had a few surprises up its sleeve for us," said Paul Hepworth, the society's press officer.

One of those surprises came to light after the onion-shaped cap - which tops the four-storey mill and rotates its five sails - was removed by an 80-ton crane. The cap rests on a metal track and this was found to be fractured and the wooden timbers beneath were rotten. They've been repaired and replaced.

A watercolour painting of the windmill

The cap is to be put back on in the Spring- with the best yet to come.

"When that is done our millwright will be starting to put the sails together. He's already got the wood for that," said Mr Anderton.

So far, £250,000 has been spent on the restoration -- but another £120,000 is needed to finish the work so that York once again has a working windmill.

"There are very few mills in towns and cities left. Most windmills are in small villages or market towns around the country. So I think it will probably be quite a sight," enthused Mr Anderton.

"I imagine it will become part of York's collection of historic buildings."

The windmill - which last ground corn in the early 1930s - will eventually become part of York's tourist trail and will also open for school visits as it tells its story about York's agricultural past.