This year Wellington camera club has been invited by Coldharbour Mill to record the work that they are doing to transform and restore the mill. This has proved quite a challenge but one which a large number of club members have responded to with enthusiasm.

The most recent meeting provided an opportunity to view many of their images before a final selection for the exhibition next May.

Braving extremely cold conditions on many occasions, club members have photographed every nook and cranny of this very old building which is still a working mill. Whilst steam up days provide great atmospheric action shots of pistons, wheels and pulleys there are also other occasions when the social history of the mill can be recorded. It has been possible to record the whole of the weaving process and there were some fascinating shots of giant bobbins, yarns and colourful threads which will surely make for an interesting and varied exhibition. One of the aims of the restoration is to make the mill more user friendly to its visitors and some of the club’s photographs showed a small newly-constructed cinema and the area where a tea garden will be situated.

But many pictures have recorded the life of the mill workers such as the clocking in machine, the carpenter’s workshop and of course the huge wood burning boiler and the work of the chief engineer in his bowler! Once complete the club’s exhibition will provide visitors with a fuller view of this historic building’s transformation as well as its history.