Houghton Mill

I woke early to the sound of rain...... it looked like the forecast was right but by the time I had dragged myself out of bed the weather wasn't bad!

So where to? I decided that as I hadn't been to the national trusts Houghton Mill I ought to fix that obvious omission.

There has been milling on the site for over a thousand years, a mill is mentioned in the Doomsday book and there was a mill in the 10th century. In 1500 villagers rioted when the abbot of Ramsay Abbey blocked the river to divert water to the mill flooding the village.

The mill you see today is 18th century and is the only working water mill on the Great Ouse river. The mill was almost demolished but was saved by the local villagers. It was used as a Youth Hostel for 50 years until 1983.

The mill works and is self sufficient in power with surplus going to Wicken Fen.

The rats are part of a childrens trail. 

 A reminder of the mills of Youth Hostelling past.

There are some exhibits you can play with which are good for kids.

The rats need to watch out

  As I say the mill still works and there is a demo tomorrow and you can buy the flour....

There are some decent walks which will be well worth doing in better weather (although I STILL have walked from Flatford to Dedham and back!).

So I wandered into the small tearoom for lunch. As I'm not a fan of mushroom soup I went for a scone (made from Houghton flour) and a cup of tea and read a bit. The scone was nice and I was reminded of how much I've missed a traditional tearoom after my overseas trips.

If you're in the area it's worth a visit.