The magazine ‘As you like it’ was created for the staff of Joseph Rank Ltd in the 1920s. They provide a fascinating glimpse of the lives and interests of the people who worked in flour mills a hundred years ago.Named after one of Rank’s flour brands, the first issue of ‘As you like it’ was…
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Building a Mill: Workforce
Women in the Northwestern Miller magazine
Starlina Rose Parlac’s 1934 ad featuring a woman fending off her pursuing bakers titled ‘Stop! It’s my turn to speak!’. How women are discussed in the articles and advertisements in the Northwestern Miller throughout the 1930s is invariably situated within the male printing and advertising perspective. Even articles written by women primarily address the needs…
Word Jumble
Since November 2023, I have been working as the Renewable Energy Intern at the Mills Archive Trust. My main project has been to create a digital exhibition exploring the often overlooked connections between traditional milling and renewable wind and waterpower technologies. Amidst the twists and turns of my initial investigations, something vital caught my attention:…
Priority Collections
Getting our priorities in order With 286 collections in our archive, ranging from 1 to over 200 boxes in size, it is important for us at the Mills Archive to determine which collections are the most significant. This helps us to know what material to focus on when applying for funding and working with our…
Renewable Roots
This is the beginning of a new series that explores the link between milling, renewable energy and climate change.We can condense this idea into the following sentence:Understanding Our Milling Heritage Encourages Local Initiatives In modern Renewable Energy Which impact Global Climate ChangeThis ten part series, which kicks off our new monthly newsletter, Renewable Roots, is…
Sketches by Thomas Hennell
This sketch, showing the machinery in an unnamed mill, is one of a number drawn by artist Thomas Hennell and rescued as part of the Rex Wailes collection, now preserved by the Mills Archive. The life of Thomas Hennell Portrait of Thomas Hennell, by friend and fellow artist Vincent Lines. Thomas Hennell was born in…
Work experience at the Mills Archive
Breathing Fire
Chris Viney Sonning Mill – Steam Traction Engine, 1890 (Mills Archive Collection,EIGH-SON-02-007) This photograph shows a steam wagon outside Sonning watermill. The wagon is called Catherine Cooper; it was produced by Foden Trucks, a British truck and bus manufacturing company, and is an overtype steam wagon. The man on the right is the mill owner…