Last August, the sails at Wilton Windmill were removed for maintenance – the first time in the over 40 years since the windmill was restored in 1975.

Next Wednesday March 15, the sails will be put back on the windmill, after a complete overhaul, carried out by our millwrights, Reading-based Owlsworth IJP

Weather permitting, an artificial road will be laid, to allow the crane and cherry-picker safe access to the windmill. Then the four sails, each weighing over one tonne, will be reinstalled. Restoration of the sails will be just in time for Wilton Windmill to re-start milling of stoneground flour for the opening of its season at Easter.

The work will cost around £25,000, paid for by Wiltshire Council (which owns Wilton Windmill) and the Wilton Windmill Society (which operates and fundraises for it). That cost compares with a similar sum that it cost to restore the entire mill back in 1975 – such is the effect of inflation over 40 years!