New Year Success at Coldharbour
A record number of visitors to Coldharbour Mill’s New Year’s Steam Day kick-started its exciting plans for 2016. Despite the rain, visitors were treated to the sights and sounds of a working Mill taking wool to yarn and cloth exactly as it was in Victorian times.
Steam Curator John Jasper was delighted to see so many people: “it was fantastic to see so many people at the Mill on such a cold and wet day – needless to say the Lancashire Boiler proved very popular not only demonstrating the making of steam to power the Mill but also to warm up cold and wet visitors.”
New for 2016 are the free historic bus tours organised by WHOTT (West Country Omnibus and Transport Trust) who are now based at the Mill. The 40 minute round trip also connects with the trains at Tiverton Parkway carrying those who come by train to and from the Mill.
The bus tours were repeated at the February Steam Day, and will be available again at the Easter Steam Day on Sunday 27th March. See the WHOTT website for timetable.
On Steam Days, local Jazz musician Charlie Hearnshaw provides a musical tour at 1pm, using the sounds of the machines to compose imaginative improvised pieces with the various looms, line-shafting and spinning machines providing a percussive element to the pieces.
Also at Steam Days, the Culm Valley Model Railway Club displays its ‘SOLDOR’ layout, which can be operated by chidlren of all ages!
The Mill, recently awarded a Heritage Lottery grant to invest in its facilities, has been closed to the public since last November (except for Steam Days and pre-booked group tours) in order to carry out refurbishments. It will reopen to the public on Friday 25th March (Good Friday).
