Tag Archives: Mill

Andrew Johnson: Thorley Marshes 1960s – 2000

Thorley Brook was once a navigable creek leading off the Western Yar almost as far as Thorley Manor until it silted up and a causeway was built across its entrance where a tide mill was established in the mid 17th century and the current one at the end of the 18th century.

Mill and stream 2013

Mill and stream 2013

The Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport railway was opened in1889 and ran across the marsh, under the Thorley Road and on the edge of the marsh, north of Thorley Manor before continuing on higher ground towards Newport.

The mill, the mill causeway and the railway line all had an effect on how Thorley brook and the marshes around it would operate in the future. The marshes act as a flood plain to the catchment area of the Thorley brook which in itself divides to the north of Thorley Manor, the main arm towards Thorley Street and the small watershed east of Broad lane, the lesser arm to Cranmore.

Old railway track 2013

Old railway track 2013

The drainage of the flood plain back to the main watercourse was laid out in a series of ditches fed by shallow runnels back to a feeder ditch running parallel to the Brook. This ditch is in turn emptied back to the brook by a series of hinged flap sluices which open when the brook level is low enough. The brook level lowers when the tide goes out allowing the two sets of sluices one at the station and one by the mill connected by the mill race to open. This was the original means of driving the mill wheel.

Mill low tide Robert Adams 1950s

Mill low tide :photo Robert Adams
1950s

My interest in the Marshes began in February 1969 when I arrived on the Island following a very wet autumn and winter, to manage the Thorley Manor Farm of which the marshes were an integral part.

At this point the marsh drainage system was in a poor state of repair and as the farm’s intention was to graze a single suckled beef herd on these marshes in the summer,  housing them in the winter when the marshes were flooded, it was essential to have it returned to its original state. The main brook course was controlled and maintained by the River Authority and so they dredged the brook using a tracked drag line on mats, putting the spoil along the banks raising the level of the banks and increasing the capacity of the brook.

Mill gates 1950s R Adams

Mill gates 1950s : photo R. Adams

The sluice gates were repaired and the feeder ditches were dug out  and fenced to prevent treading in by cattle. This in turn created a series of paddocks which allowed a rotational system of grazing for the livestock.

This made a great improvement to state of the ground at all times of the year, so that as it continued to act as a flood plain in winter, it dried out in a good condition in the Spring. Access for cattle and for footpath users was greatly improved.

marshes 1950s Robert Adams

Work on marshes 1950s :photo Robert Adams

In the Spring if heavy rainfall coincided with the neap tides the emptying time of the brook to the estuary was much reduced and increased during the time of the spring tides. This could result in delaying the cattle grazing in the Spring by up to 3 weeks, a critical factor in the management of the herd. A further improvement to the drainage was carried out to reduce this delay. The feeder ditch was dug deeper to increase its holding capacity from the station to the back of Thorley Manor. A series of three pumps controlled by level switches were installed near the station. This allowed water to be pumped from the marsh into the brook over the bank before the level of the brook had fallen to allow the minor sluices in the banks to open. (The difference in level between the pump site and the back of the Manor is only one foot. It is worth noting that if the main sluice gates at the mill and the station failed, the salt water would reach Hill Place lane and beyond, at high tide.) We had now gained in most years, 3weeks extra grazing in the Spring and two weeks in the autumn.

On the upper reaches of the brook the grazing was improved by re-seeding, and the major perennial weeds of dock, thistle and ragwort were controlled by topping before they seeded.

By this time the beef suckler herd had been increased to 100 cows, with half calving in the autumn and the other half in the spring, with two thirds of their grazing being on the marshes.

Marshes, track and stream

Marshes, track and stream

In the mid 1990’s a high percentage of the marshes were declared a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) and although the Thorley Brook remained as a main waterway under the River Authority the ultimate control passed to English nature. This affected the level and timing of the dredging and drainage. The amount of silt and plant growth which now accumulated in the brook meant that the banks of the brook now needed fencing to avoid cows and calves falling in and getting trapped there. This extra cost of erecting and maintaining these fences would eventually make the cattle an uneconomic venture. In 1999 all the cattle were sold following a change of the farm ownership, the pumps were switched off, and in time it is likely that the marshes will revert to its state of 30 years previously.

Andrew Johnson 28-5-2013

 

Brian Pomroy: Services, Gasworks 1940s, 1950s

I started off life at Gasworks Cottage, down by the Mill.
There was a small gasworks.  There was one small gasometer and one big one and that little one was only a back up. They had the big one alongside of that, but that’s all gone.

Yes, the bridge used to open for the coal barges to go up to the Gasworks, and my dad and his mate had so many hours to unload them so they could go back on the next tide.  I used to go over there sometimes to see him and watch what was happening.  Some of those barges belonged to an Isle of Wight firm, Coles of Cowes.  I think they owned 2 coal barges.  The barges were always coming up the river and getting stuck, never get up there on time to the gas works.  They used to come through the bridge and have to make a sharp turn to the creek to the gasworks but couldn’t get there half the time.  Not very deep there if the tide wasn’t right.

My Dad got electrocuted over there at the Gasworks  across the river.
They was changing the lighting from gas to electric. He went to work one morning, I will always remember, the 6 – 2 shift, and he went in to get the lights on. There was two live  wires in water and he picked it up  thinking it was lights.  After that we moved from Gasworks Cottage because they wanted us out, and then the Council found us a council house in Victoria Road.

Brian Pomroy  b1938

Gasometer behind Sandhouse and Bridge

Gasometer behind Sandhouse and Bridge ; photo Sue Russell

Nick Chandler: Yarmouth School 1940s

I remember Miss Chambers who lived down by the Mill. If you swore she used to wash your mouth with soap and water.  She used to grab hold of you with a cup of soap and water, and put it in your mouth. She kept her handkerchief tucked in her knickers, the old long bloomers.   She was a good old gal though.  She made sure that what she taught, you knew; taught you to read.
Then there was Mrs Barton, she could be a bit severe at times. I remember once Mick and Barry got the cane , which they didn’t  like. Come lunchtime, in the classroom was this fish tank that had tadpoles and stuff in it. What did they do? They both peed in it and killed all the tadpoles, we saw them do it. Nick Chandler b 1937

Miss Chambers retires from Yarmouth School  after 26 years service

Miss Chambers retires from Yarmouth School after 26 years service

Phil Kelsey: Free Time at Sandhard 1920s

Sandhard 1950s

Sandhard

One of our trips was to go to Sandhard with my mother and the rest of the family.  We used to get in the boat down by the Mill.

 Sometimes mother got in if it was reasonable but she didn’t often.  George and perhaps the rest of the kids rowed over to Sandhard, dumped them off, then rowed back to the bridge. There used to be a landing stage right in the corner there and we used to get Mother in there and take her across. We used to drop her off there because, probably by the time we were coming back, the tide would be gone out.  It was awkward to get out down the Mill so we used to drop her off there, and one or two of us used to come and scrabble up over the wall down the bottom. Phil Kelsey b 1920

Nick Chandler: Free Time 1940s,

Work at the Mill  by River Board 1950s

Work at the Mill by River Board 1950s

Harry Jackman was my great uncle.  I remember him having 5 or 7 cows.  He rented the Mill off Ball, the builder from Cowes, and also he looked after the Copse for Ball for shooting.  Him and old Angell, who was the game keeper for Ball, hated anybody going over the copse disturbing anything.  To us, it was a game to get over there, but he walked with a terrible limp so he could never catch you, unless he caught you up a tree.  He caught me and Mick Morton up a tree one day and it was about an hour before we could get down.  He could be pretty firey, he was cantankerous. Nick Chandler b 1937

Phil Kelsey: Free Time 1930s

When I was young, Dad had his boat down the Mill and when I was about ten I used to take it out all day long in the summer. I was up and down the river, I reckon I’d propelled the boat in every little inlet.  Once when I was quite small, Dad had taken us over to Sandhard. Coming back, we got alongside to get out and I was just getting out. George was supposed to be helping Dad get me out and there was some swans there suddenly started fighting. They let go of me and dropped me down into the water!  Didn’t Mother create when I got home!  Phil Kelsey b 1920

Phil Kelsey: Free Time and Leisure

Stone Pier with Bun Cotton, Eric Doe, Jim Ryall, George Kelsey and Jack Noyce

Stone Pier with Bun Cotton, Eric Doe, Jim Ryall, George Kelsey and Jack Noyce

Before the Rec. was done, we used to go down and kick about  in what now is all brambles, down the Mill. Old Harry Jackman had cows down there then , and he also used to have them out around the copse.  Providing they weren’t there for milking, we used to go down there and kick about.  It was cut a bit like a field, it was nothing much, it was very rough.
Other than that we used to get messing about in Mill Copse and Thorley Copse, we were always out there.
In those days you couldn’t go over the bridge because you had to pay so we always went towards Bouldnor.  We used to try and scrabble along the front – Nicholson’s path – down by what is now Port La Salle.  It’s still there now.  To save having to come up and go right round there, we used to try and scrabble along there and keep out of sight of the gamekeeper with his dogs.  It wasn’t too bad if the tide was out, we used to get by.  We used to go right along then as far as the old Stone Pier usually. Of course that’s mostly disappeared, during the war most of it.  It’s a pity really that went. Phil Kelsey b1920

Brian Pomroy: swimming

Mill at Yarmouth with Gasworks Cottages beyond

Mill at Yarmouth with Gasworks Cottages beyond

Swimming lessons?  Learnt to swim on my own at the Mill.  We were in and out of the water all summer.
I just learnt to swim in the river. I’d nip over the wall, and into the water if the tide was right. Yes, I spent more time in the river than I did on the beach.
We used to get big oil drums and planks and make rafts and set off paddling. You’d get half way up the river and look round, and one drum’s gone floating off that way and the other one’s gone the other way, and there you were in the water, not on the raft anymore.  Yes, it was good down there. Brian Pomroy b1937