Friends put mill back in the stream of things

Sep 15 2006 By Tony Henderson, The Journal

An old Tyneside water mill was the centre of attention yesterday as a group of volunteers unveiled almost £25,000 of improvements.

A year's hard work by the Friends of Jesmond Dene has improved one of the Newcastle beauty spot's landmark features.

They used a £24,477 lottery grant to clear weeds and graffiti from the ruin, and opened up views inside the building.

Information boards have been put up to tell visitors the history of the mill and its part in the industrialisation of the Ouseburn Valley.

Information leaflets are being printed and a model has been commissioned showing the mill in its heyday, which will be on show at the dene's Millfield House.

Friends chairman Robert Wooster said: "The mill is a landmark in the dene and is in such a picturesque setting. It has always been important to the Dene and this project is putting it in the spotlight."

It is thought that the there has been a mill on the site since the 13th Century and in the 18th Century, when it was one of around 20 on the Ouseburn from Callerton to the Tyne, it was known as Mabel's Mill.

Volunteer Keith Pringle said it is believed that the listed structure stopped milling corn in the mid-19th Century and switched to milling animal feed, then grinding flint for Tyneside's potteries.

It became a home to a stonemason and his family in the 1920s.

But after that it became dilapidated and turned into a scenic ruin, Keith said.