Windmill Restoration Archive...
28th January
The curb is off...
The legs, however, are in a pretty poor state. The very strong cement mortar lining the inside of the cap floor and the cement repointing of the brickwork are likely to have stopped the wall from breathing. The oak legs, which extend nearly three feet into the tower, have mostly rotted and will need replacing.
The curb is on its way to the workshop where it will be repaired and put together with new legs and cogs before being refitted. The new legs will support it in the same holes left by the originals, packed out with lime mortar.
It seems the curb always had the gaps between the seven sections and this may have caused the succession of millers who worked it a few problems. The pitch of the cogs - their spacing - was not quite right which meant it may not have turned smoothly into the wind and so not been as efficient as it could have been. When the curb is refitted it will be as it always should have been - with perhaps a little extra support - and so be a smooth running live curb.
The brick facing at the top will be taken down three or four courses and then rebuilt up to a level surface for the curb to sit on, but gaps will be left so that the new legs will easily fit back into the tower.
