Water wheel

History

Darley has a rich history of mills driven by hydro power. Darley Mill one of 8 manorial mills in Darley was built in the 17th century on the banks of Darley Beck; one of many streams that flows into the River Nidd. A flour mill originally, with a miller's cottage and walled garden added in 1761, the Mill was re-powered by a large locally manufactured iron and wooden waterwheel (J. Todd of Summerbridge Foundry) in 1874. The 27ft (4.5m) pitch breast shot wheel finally ceased to operate in the 1950's; though it continued to operate sporadically as a tourist attraction until the early part of the 21st century. In the early days the waterwheel was totally covered by a single pitched roof; once this was removed the wooden constructed buckets and spokes deteriorated.

Restoration

The waterwheel at Darley Mill is now taking on a further new lease of life as Dr Phil Leigh a senior lecturer in Environmental Engineering at the University of Cumbria and of Blue Sky Sustainable Solutions Ltd has put together a team of craftsmen that have restored the Waterwheel once more to its former glory. A search by the renovation team failed to turn up the original drawings of the wheel so they used a combination of traditional and modern methods and thinking to carry out the work to enable the waterwheel to retain much of its original look. The 10 pairs of spokes radiating out from the cast iron hub are English Oak sourced in the north of England. These are connected to the existing cast iron rim which still retains the name of J. Todd by a cross member (transom), also English Oak. The buckets of the waterwheel however are of Elm, the best choice of wood for its excellent water resistant properties. The buckets of a waterwheel spend much of their life carrying water and must be as water repellent as possible in order to extend their lifetime.