Above is the eighth in our series challenging readers to identify where particular photos were taken.
Do you know where this photo was taken? If so, please use the comment box below to provide your answer.
We will hold off publishing any comments for 24 hours so we don't give the game away.
If you have any suggestions for this feature, or photographs of your own, please do email them to me at [email protected].
If you click on the tag below 'Alderley Edge Photo Challenge' you can see the previous photos published.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Ceri Pugh, Sarah Green, Derrick Plant, Martyn Wharmby, Susan Dawson, Dina Robinson, Sue Joseph, Stu Tomlinson and Dave Chalmers all guessed correctly that the photo was taken at the front of Nether Alderley Mill.
Thanks to Jenny Youatt for kindly providing the following information about the mill.
The National Trust, Nether Alderley Mill has played a central role in the Nether Alderley community since the 14th century. The mill provided the crucial flour-grinding service that kept the whole of Nether Alderley fed, from the lord of the manor (the Stanley family from the 16th century) to the local agricultural community.
The earliest mention of the mill dates back to 1391, although little is known of this early building and no trace of the machinery survives. The lower part of the present mill dates to the 16th century, about the time it became the manorial mill of the Stanley family, and was built using local red sandstone. The upper section of the mill was added in the mid-eighteenth century, and its sweeping slate roof, visible from the road, weighs almost 200 tons and is supported by an oak frame inside.This charming rustic mill is one of only four virtually complete corn mills in Cheshire.
With the Repeal of the Corn Laws and later with the introduction of steam power and cheap transport, the trade in milling flour sadly declined. Shortly after 1939 the machinery had become so derelict that it could no longer be worked and the mill remained derelict and unusable until, after the Second World War, the owner, Mr J.A. Shelmerdine, presented the mill to the National Trust.
Between 2008 and 2012 vital work was carried out on the sadly sagging roof of the Mill to make sure that it was preserved for another few hundred years and ensure it was safe to welcome visitors. Specialist trades people were employed with skills appropriate to the age of the building; stonemasons, millwrights, carpenters and joiners.
Behind a giant tent of plastic sheets and scaffold poles the entire roof was removed. Next, every single roof beam was painstakingly assessed to work out where repairs were needed and, if necessary, replacements were to be put in. Finally each roof tile, fitted with a new hand carved oak peg was returned to its original location, like a giant three dimensional jigsaw puzzle!
The Mill really comes to life when the waterwheels are turning and the millstones are grinding. While the roof was off, the internal machinery was repaired; a team of millwrights replaced the buckets, axles and spokes on the waterwheels, the teeth on the gear wheels and refurbished the millstones and the mechanism around it so one again the mill can grind grain.
We grind grain and produce flour so you can see the water wheels, the mechanism, and the mill stones in action. Our flour is not yet available for sale to the public, but we hope that will change soon.
Come and see us!