We are sorry to have to announce a price increase on all our flour products from the 25th January 2019. We have worked for many months to keep our prices down and absorb increases in the costs of grain, oat products and our other costs, but can no longer hold off the inevitable price increase. We last increased our retail prices in January 2017.

 

 

Well, the long summer is over and the autumn storms are lining up in the Atlantic! As you will probably be aware from media reports, this year has been extremely challenging for our farmers. The winter wheat crop had the ‘Beast from the East’ to struggle through which meant a delay in the growing season in March / April and then after a great deal of rain was plunged into drought which for East Anglia farms started in early May. The spring wheat crop (usually planted in March) was delayed in terms of planting because the ground was so wet, then once farmers had the crop in the ground which for many was later in April, the drought started and the crops had no real rain to establish themselves. The net result of all this is that organic wheat yields are generally down  and protein levels are lower than in previous years.

As usual, we’ve been taking samples of wheat from our regional organic farming partners and test milling and baking to see which parcels of wheat are going to provide you, our customers with the best possible wholemeal and white wheat flours. We are pleased to announce that for the 2018 harvest, we will be taking wheat from Stephen Parsley who farms at Red House Farm near Wood Walton, Huntingdon.

The picture shows Stephen amongst his 2018 crop of Mulika wheat  which you will be eating from early October!

We will launch a product update video in early October to explain more about the qualities of this new flour.

We have been informed that as of the 9th March 2018, the planning application for houses on Mill Hill has been withdrawn.

Thank you to everyone who objected to the application or signed our petition. We will continue to collect wind data to be prepared should a further application be made.

Those of you who have followed Swaffham Prior village news or our recent posts regarding our objection to the proposed development of 10 bungalows on Mill Hill, Swaffham Prior may be aware that one of our key concerns is the impact such a development will have on the availability of wind to the mill.

To assess the likely impact, the owners of Fosters Mill commissioned Steve Temple of Templetech Ltd to carry out a wind study. The developer, Mead Homes, have also commissioned a study, completed by WSP Environmental. The conclusions of the two reports are quite different.

We have therefore asked Steve Temple to complete a comparison of the two studies to explore why the conclusions are so different. In the interests of transparency, we share that report here along with Steve’s wind study and a link below to the WSP Environmental study.

These documents have been submitted to the East Cambridgeshire District Council Planning Team.

Wind Study Fosters Mill Planning Application 17_01208_OUM Rev2

Comparison of Wind Studies Report Planning Application 17_01208_OUM

WSP Environmental Report

 

As you will have read in other posts on our Blog, we are objecting to a proposed development of 10 bungalows to the East of Fosters Mill because it will harm the wind supply to Fosters Mill from the only direction in which the mill receives unfettered wind – wind that is free from obstructions of buildings or trees and because of the impact such a development will have on the settings of two listed windmills.

A key part of our argument in terms of wind loss is that Fosters Mill is already badly impacted by tree and building pollution blocking the wind supply from most directions. The wind study we have commissioned suggests that this now blocks 80% of the wind the mill would have had before trees and buildings were erected around the mill.

This blog post shows video diaries taken to show the impact of this wind restriction and a video showing how clean the wind supply is from the East because it is currently free from obstructions (buildings and trees). The videos show days / times when Fosters Mill is not able to work because the wind is being obstructed by building and trees whilst other mills in the area – Wicken Windmill or Burwell Windmill are able to grind flour.

The final video, however, shows how clean and free from turbulence the wind is from the East. Contrast this to the penultimate video!

These videos are therefore clear evidence of the negative impact that trees and buildings have on windmills, preventing the mill getting the wind it requires to turn. The loss of wind from other directions amplifies the importance of the unfettered wind from the East North East to South East – the direction of the proposed development.

This video taken on the 30th July shows the mill facing west where trees and the water tower block the wind whilst at Wicken Windmill, you can see the mill working, grinding flour.

This video taken on the 24th June again shows the mill facing west.

This video taken on the 14th May shows the mill facing to the North West and shows Burwell Mill turning whilst Fosters Mill is not able to turn again due to wind loss through trees and buildings.

This video shows the impact of trees on wind turbulence – taken whilst the mill was facing west you can see how the gusts of wind caused by buildings knock the whole top of the mill (cap) from side to side. The proposed development and associated trees will cause more and more turbulence over time from a wind direction which currently creates no turbulence.

This final video shot whilst the mill is facing to the East shows the mill working in a very strong breeze, working hard – yet, the cap is steady, not affected by turbulence – that is because we currently do not experience turbulence because the wind is unfettered, free of obstructions and therefore clean and strong.