Mills Conference

Event details

SPAB Mills Section Conference
Saturday 4 October 2025, 10am – 4.15pm

Watlington Hall, 44 Watlington Street, Reading RG1 4RJ   

The conference will focus on the maintenance, repair and monitoring of mills and how to create, preserve and display documents.  

Mildred Cookson and Nathanael Hodge from the Mills Archive Trust, will share their knowledge on caring for documents and images. Dr Toby Huitson and Duncan McCallum will explore the Mills at Risk theme and the intricacies of listing historic buildings. Justin Coombs will demonstrate his innovative Smartmolen Project. Millwright Cameron Southcott will talk about mill repair and maintenance and Dr. Mike Nevell will present the Industrial Heritage Support Project. 

Who is this conference for?

SPAB Members and Non-Members - particularly mill volunteers, heritage professionals, trustees and enthusiasts. 

You will learn and discover 

By the end of the course, you will know/understand/be able to: 

• how to record and preserve documents 

• obtain an overview of mills at risk and mill listing 

• learn how the newest technology can monitor the wind flow of windmills 

• hear about challenges and receive advice about mill repairs and maintenance  

• find out information about the Industrial Heritage Support Project 

Programme 

This programme is subject to minor changes. 

• 9.45-10am Arrival, registration and coffee/tea 

• 10-10.50am Mills Archive Trust - Mildred Cookson and Nathanael Hodge 

• 11 – 11.50am Mills at Risk – Dr Toby Huitson and Duncan McCallum 

• 12noon – 1pm Lunch, networking 

• 13 – 13.50pm The Smartmolen Project: Using digital telemetry to monitor traditional Windmills – Justin Coombs 

• 14 – 14.50pm Mill Repair and Maintenance – Cameron Southcott 

• 14.55 – 15.10pm Break 

• 15.10 – 16pm Industrial Heritage Support Project – Dr Michael Nevell  

• 16 – 16.15pm Q&A, event finishes 

Speaker Information

Mildred Cookson is a former miller and joined the SPAB Mills Section in 1976 and the Section Committee in 1984. She is particularly involved in working with millwrights; she also established the programme of one-day training courses and the Mill Repair Fund. She was previously a trustee of the SPAB and chairman of the Mills Section Committee, and is the editor of the Section’s magazine ‘Mill News’. She is also actively involved as a trustee of the Mills Archive Trust.

Nathanael Hodge has been Archivist of the Mills Archive Trust since 2016. In his role he is responsible for taking care of the Trust’s archival collections, making them available to the public in person and online, and ensuring the Archive adheres to professional standards and best practice.

Duncan McCallum, Chair of the SPAB, Duncan has over 35 years of experience in the heritage sector. He studied planning and building conservation at Newcastle and York Universities and undertook a variety of heritage roles across England in local authorities. He joined English Heritage in 1996, later moving to Historic England. His final role there was as Strategy and Listing Director. He left in 2022 to devote his time to various heritage-related causes.

Dr. Toby Huitson has a PhD in medieval architectural history from the University of Kent and works at Canterbury Cathedral Archives. He has been interested in mills from an early age and has been volunteering with the Mills Section since 2022, researching grant providers, revising the Mills Open list, and contributing two articles analysing Mills at Risk for Mill News.

Justin Coombs has been a volunteer at Upminster Windmill for over 40 years, and led the final phases of the Heritage Lottery-funded restoration and activity programme.  During the 2020 pandemic he transferred his professional skills from software development and electronics to develop technology to remotely monitor the windmill.  This technology has now been deployed to over 30 windmills in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany.  Justin will tell the story of how the technology was designed and built and how the data being collected is now contributing to mill maintenance and conservation.

Dr Michael Nevell, FSA, MCIfA, is the Industrial Heritage Support Officer for England, at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. He has more than 35 years of experience as a field archaeologist, and taught undergraduates and post-graduates as a senior lecturer for 18 years at Manchester and Salford universities. A former Chair of the Association for Industrial Archaeology, he is the author of over 100 academic papers and books including the Archaeology of Ironbridge in 20 Digs (Amberley Publishing, 2023); the Oxford Handbook of Industrial Archaeology (OUP 2022); The Archaeology of Manchester in 20 Digs (Amberley Publishing, 2020), and The Birth of an Industrial City: Glasgow and the Archaeology of the M74 (Society of Antiquaries Scotland 2016). He is President of the Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, edits the Association for Industrial Archaeology newsletter, ‘IA News’, and is the European Route of Industrial Heritage representative for England.

Accessibility 

• Ground floor access 

• Limited parking 

How to get there 

• The address is Watlington Hall, 44 Watlington Street, Reading RG1 4RJ 

• If you are travelling by train, the nearest station is Reading Station, which is around 15 minutes from Watlington Hall by bus or on foot 

• Parking is very limited, if you are planning to arrive by car, please send an email to millsinfo@spab.org.uk at least 14 days before the event 

Photos and filming: We may take photos or videos at this event to be used in future promotion, including in print and online. Participants may take photos and short videos for personal use, with permission of the course leader and all other participants in frame. If you want to post on social media, please message SPAB's Comms Team (press@spab.org.uk or @spab1877) for permission. If your material is good, we might ask to share it with our followers.

All bookings are subject to our Terms and Conditions.

Photo credit: Brampton Mill © James Innerdale