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Or making a chair
from a tree without using electricity or machine tools by Allan
Fyfe |
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The “Island” is
the land that accompanies Lethenty Mill. It stretches from its
widest part at the Mill to its narrowest about half a mile up
the Lochter Burn. It used to be very important to the Mill;
water was collected in a long narrow channel leading to a dam
near the Mill, and it could be released into a variety of
channels under and around the Mill which were arranged to feed
the water to the two water wheels or back into the water course
(the Lochter) if the system was full and liable to overflow.
Several pages of
the title deeds of 1886 spell out the mill-owner’s
responsibility to open the sluices when flooding was imminent
and there was a risk of neighbouring fields being inundated. It
must have been impressive when the system was in operation – the
dam water surging into the channel,
the mill wheels creaking into life, the
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rumbling in the ground floor and the various augers clattering
away as grain was moved around the building. |
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The swans on the
dam would make for dry land and the mill cats would ready
themselves for attack as mice appeared from the most unlikely
places. Most of the doors in the mill had holes in them to allow
the cats complete access to all the floors.
It’s said that you never completely get rid of the grain in an
old mill and it’s true, there are still pockets of oats and
barley despite your best efforts at getting rid of them. When I
bought the Mill in 1983 the mill wheels were long gone, the
water channels had been removed or filled up and the dam
and its channel had been filled with
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of tons of builder’s rubble
and debris. The Victorian system for providing water power was
unrecognisable and the swans and cats had moved on long ago.
Changes had been made in the
century after 1886 - I suppose the Mill became busier and the
dependence on water power from the Lochter became more critical.
A large steam engine was installed in a new granite building
either to back up or replace the main mill wheel, and a chimney
towered over this extension. All this is gone now as well.
Then electricity was brought in and an enormous Ransome’s grain
drier installed in the 1950s. All this was silent and rusting
when I took over the derelict buildings in 1983 and I made a
deal with a local scrap merchant – “ Could you remove it and
we’ll call it quits”. |
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We moved from our previous workshops in
the Old Brewery, Oldmeldrum and gradually restored the Mill,
installing woodworking machinery, continuing to make and sell
furniture and a few years later converting one corner into a house
on 4 floors.
The “island” or “the site” as we call it has stayed much the same;
the trees providing perches and homes for the growing families of
birds, from tree creepers to Sparrow Hawks. Robins and Pheasants
come within talking distance and it’s still a surprise to see a
heron languidly lifting its great sails into the skies.. |
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Now and again deer graze
in the rough grass and this is a great privilege, as is the presence of
badgers in the river bank even though they undermine the willows which
hold the bank together. I saw a black otter slide out of the river one
afternoon a few weeks ago and trout like it
sneaked along the bank to disappear. Moles, water rats, frogs and
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rabbits live here and all are welcome
except the last ones.
Then there are moths, dragonflies and
butterflies in the warmer weather and worms and beetles etc etc. We
don’t use chemicals on the ground and I have always felt that this
“island” was a safe haven for local creatures of all kind ( except
rabbits which help themselves to the garden) I have built a frame to
keep the birds away from our fruit and veg – there are wild cherries (geans)
and raspberries for them ! The garden is situated between the Mill and
the Blue Shed and, unlike the Pitcairners, we are grateful for one crop
a year. |
Allan Fyfe is proprietor
of Lethenty Mill Furniture. He is passionate about the designs and
techniques associated with traditional furniture from the North East of
Scotland. His website,
http://www.lethenty-mill.com, allows other
woodworking enthusiasts to learn these techniques via a series of self
study furniture making projects. |
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