Restoration Update 16

2024 Restoration Update 16 Spoiler Alert!!  Mostert’s Mill has been completely restored and is operating fully and smoothly!  So this will be your last Update.  But before jumping ahead, let’s look at the important finishing steps. Before the tun (the cylindrical casing around the millstones) and the rest of the nearby “furniture” could be assembled, […]

Restoration Update 15

2024 Restoration Update 15 In the last update, Kimon Mamacos had installed the beams for the floors.  His next job was to machine the 50mm (2 inch) thick floor planks which were a gift from the Parker family on Zonnestraal in Wynberg and cut and fit them to the intricate shape of the tower, leaving […]

Restoration Update 14

2023 Restoration Update 14 At our last Update #13 we described how the sails were being fitted to the Mill, and once this was completed the Mill looked its normal self from the outside as you can see in the photo.  The crate which brought the second-hand millstones from the Netherlands is standing in the […]

Restoration Update 13

2023 Restoration Update 13 Windshaft In the last update (#12) we told you that the windshaft is complete and ready to be inserted through the hatch in the thatched cap, using a large mobile crane.  If the windshaft were to be suspended in the middle, it would not be possible to get the shaft more […]

Restoration Update 12

2023 Restoration Update 12 Masonry and Thatching The thatched cap has been completed, and after work stopped for a while during the festive season, the next step was to connect the tail pole to the long and short horizontal stretchers with the long and short braces.  These are the heavy green-painted beams that enable the […]

Restoration Update 11

2022 Restoration Update 11 Masonry and Thatching The masonry repairs are complete, apart from one or two square metres of internal plastering that can be done only after the internal two floor decks have been installed.  The thatching has also been completed, and we acknowledge the generosity of JNA Thatchers (formerly Lucas) who did this […]

Restoration Update 10

2022 Restoration Update 10 Masonry We have good progress to tell you about this month. The plaster repairs to the masonry structure have been completed, over some light stainless steel mesh in places for extra reinforcing. Two rings inside the Mill have been left unplastered until the two wooden floors have been installed, when we […]

Restoration Update 9

2022 Restoration Update 9 On 9 March 2022 we received the welcome news from the Department of Public Works in Pretoria that we could go ahead with the full restoration of Mostert’s Mill. While much of the wooden machinery inside the Mill has been manufactured over the past months, now for the first time since […]

Restoration Update 8

2022 Restoration Update 8 There is still no news from the Department of Public Works in Pretoria, and the workshops fabricating our new wooden machinery were closed over the festive season.  But since then, Mike Sutten at Solid Engineering in Grabouw has made good progress on the big Brake Wheel and the Lantern Pinion. The […]

Mostert’s Mill after the Fire

Mostert’s Mill After the Fire – For a different, more in-depth view on the mill fire and the restoration process, read Andy Selfe’s blog. You can find it here: www.mostertsmillafterthefire.blogspot.com Read more blog posts