My husband and I went to the New Inn Mill for Heritage Open Days. This year I was very careful and I’ve booked tickets way in advance (from 1st August). It was a really good thing, as we were told all the tours were fully booked by the middle of last month.
Today the mill is a family home and a holiday rent. We were given the tour by the owner, a lovely lady that obviously cares so much about the house, mill, and the history of the place, and a guide from the Potteries Heritage Society. Both corn and flint were milled here and it was fascinating to learn about this. I was aware of the importance of flint to make the white, high-in-demand, wares.
The owner showed us lots of pictures and that made the tour very special. It’s wonderful to see a real connection between an old building and its owners. This makes the history of the place come to life. We were told a lot of things about the mill and the problems it faces today, from flooding to the cost of renovations.
If you want to stay at this gorgeous place (the holiday let is on the right, in the back), check their page on Sykes Cottages’ website. You’ll also be able to see pictures from inside the cottage, as it is advertised. After the visit to New Inn Mill, we went to Wedgwood, as it’s only 5 minutes from the mill. We’ve had tea and a delicious vegan cake. I blogged about the Wedgwood tea rooms and museum before. The mill is also very close to Trentham Gardens and Monkey Forest. Not only it is a gorgeous place to stay, but there are great things to do nearby, including visits to the Potteries and other very interesting museums, like Ford Green Hall. Making this post made me realize how many times I’ve been to Stoke-on-Trent in these last few years.
This is where the wheel was. My husband took this picture standing on what was the mill pond. Now is a lovely green garden, home to a few apple trees (as the ones you can see on the branch up top).
I spotted a bit of rhubarb in the gardens. It was grown here by the family, before part of the land was sold to developers.
How gorgeous is this part of the mill, with the ivy coming through. It has great potential.
This is the old bridge, towards the mill. I couldn’t take a picture of it without photographing other visitors, so is just a part of it.
I’ve enjoyed my visit a lot, surely one of the highlights of this year’s Heritage Open Days.
What a wonderful place! I love that you could see old photos of the place 🙂
This is so very lovely! I’m so glad you booked early.
I like this concept of Open Days!
From the comparison in that top photo, it appears they’ve kept things looking much the same.
I think it’s wonderful that y’all take advantage of all the opportunities, both near and far, to see and explore. So many of us never do that (and I’m guilty of being too much of a home body at this point in life).