A brand new family…The present custodians of Brill Windmill - the core committee of The Brill Society (TBS) - has been at it now for over 20 years. During that time, they’ve steered the windmill through a major restoration without which she would have entered an irreversible structural decline precipitated by wet rot, dry rot, and deathwatch beetle. Then, in 2015, the Society negotiated the purchase (for £1) of the windmill from Bucks Council, into whose unwilling hands the windmill had fallen back in 1948. In short, TBS has given us the windmill we love today. Jan Molyneux, present Chair of The Brill Society, will be cross that we’ve singled her out, insisting that she is “NOT the windmill”, but there is no doubt that her commitment, knowledge and leadership has made much of this happen. Jan says she has always been fascinated by the engineering of the windmill; how the deceptively simple mechanism of wood and stone can result in something of such power and grace. But now Jan - and Andrew, Merilyn, Cathy, Fran and Jules - want to move on to other things. This means that Brill Windmill needs a completely new management team, free to do things their way. Dress up as millers for school children! Go for it. Attract more commercial and film custom! Great idea. Turn the windmill into an interpretation centre for the environment, for the common, for the historic village of Brill! Excellent. And whatever else you can dream up… The old timers will give advice when needed (they won’t fade away completely until the sails are fixed) but they won’t be chuntering in the background for years to come. This would be the onset of a brand new era in the life of Brill Windmill. Just imagine, your very own windmill* to play with! Have a think. Chat to friends. Look at the Brill Windmill website. Then click the button below to start talking to us. (*Although the PC will still own her and TBS is a registered charity - so there are a few niceties, but nothing much.)
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