SRS=20 event in June 2003 =96 The Three Mills Tour

A=20 tour to the biggest tidal mill in UK - the House = Mill

Last = year, some=20 research students founded the Society of Research Students (SRS) at City = University, in order to overcome the isolation of a postgraduate study = for=20 Master or Doctor of Philosophy. Our mission is to create a university = wide=20 research student community. We meet up regularly, exchange information, = and=20 organise common events. Every research student can join us and propose = his/her=20 own ideas for an event.

In=20 June 2003, we organized a trip to the biggest tidal-mill in the UK, the = House=20 Mill, which is located on the Three Mills Island between Stratford and = Bromley=20 by Bow, East-London. At this Web-side, we show some pictures from this=20 trip.

Now, = it may be=20 time to introduce myself. My name is Reinhold Kloos and I am a = PhD-student at=20 the department of computing, School of Informatics. As a co-founder of = the SRS,=20 I have organized some events in the past. Since I have been a tourist = guide at=20 the House Mill for a quite long time, it was clear that I would invite = fellow=20 research students for a sightseeing-tour. On 12^th June, the=20 expedition started. Here we have just arrived at the Three Mills Island. = In the=20 background is the clock mill with one of its kilns (a granary with a = chimney=20 like facility on the top of the roof for drying stored grain). On the = left,=20 mainly covered by the sign, is the above-mentioned House Mill, the = object of our=20 tour.

The=20 Three Mill island is one of many islands in the long-time industrial = used river=20 Lea running through East London. The river Lea flows into the river = Thames. The=20 tidal differences of the river Thames also generate differences of the = water=20 level of the river Lea in this area, which are up to 7 metres. We = arrived at=20 Three Mills, when it was obviously low tide. Thus, we had a good chance = to look=20 under the House Mill, with its four waterwheels and the tidal passage in = the=20 middle. Visible are also the facilities at the end of this passage, = where in=20 former time was a tidal gate, which automatically opened, when the tide = rose and=20 closed, when the tide went out. This led to a damming of the water on = the other=20 side of the mill. The dammed tidal water provided then the energy for = the=20 running of the mill (up to 8 hours!).

The=20 grain was delivered in sacks. Thus, it is a good idea to have a sack = hoist in=20 the mill. Here, I am standing on the highest level of the house mill = with the=20 machinery of the sack hoist in the background. From this level, the = grain was=20 distributed=20 into several granary bins on the next level.

In the = picture,=20 my fellow students were just standing in such a bin. The round covered = holes in=20 the floor were openings to the next level: the smutting and dressing=20 floor.

The=20 Smutting and Dressing Floor were a muddle of machinery, gearing, and = chutes. The=20 chutes delivered the grain from the granary of the upper level for = cleaning=20 before the milling process (smutting process).

In=20 the picture, I show the trap door of the sack hoist. The miller had to = count the=20 number of banging noises of these trap doors, in order to figure out at = which=20 level the hoisted sacks just were. In order to gain cleaner flour for = bread and=20 cake, the flour had to be cleaned again. Therefore, sacks of flour were = again=20 lifted from the ground level to this level for the dressing=20 process.

In=20 the picture models for explaining the functioning of a water mill and a = tidal=20 mill specifically are shown.

Theory = is one=20 thing; to test the gearing of a mill is another = one!

The=20 milling floor is located under the smutting and dressing floor. Hoppers=20 delivered the prepared grain to the milling stones. I always loved to = give a=20 history of milling stones at this level.

A=20 complete pair of stones, with a hopper, a shoe, and a damsel. A damsel = scratched=20 and shuffled the grain between the stones. This process was very noisy. = Maybe=20 this was the reason that this term found its entrance in the English = language=20 with a transferred meaning!

Finally, we=20 arrived at ground level of the mill, which hosted the waterwheels, the = gearing,=20 and control facilities. Compared with a ship, the ground floor was = machine room=20 and bridge at the same time. The picture shows the gearing. It is easy = to prove=20 that the model fits with the real gearing. I wished that the proof of = theory=20 could be just as easy in my studies, too!

These=20 are the chutes, which delivered the flour directly from the milling = stones into=20 sacks. In the background is one of four = waterwheels.

The=20 tour is over! A last group picture in the miller=92s = house.

We had = to say=20 farewell to the mill, shown from the rear in the picture. There is a lot = more to=20 say about the mill, but I do not have the space here. For all, who want = to get=20 more information about the mill, here is a web-address: <= SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New = Roman'">http://home.freeuk.com/david.charters/threemills/contents.htm.=20 Perhaps, it is me, who will show you around.

At=20 least, my fellow students enjoyed their = experience:

Yours=20 sincerely

Reinhold=20 Kloos