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Tom Light a Waltham Chase Miller

THE BEGINNING

Tom Light was born 14 February 1914, at Ashton, Bishop's Waltham. He worked at Waltham Chase Mill, Winchester Road, for seventeen years. Me first went to the Mill in the early part of 1939. The Mill was then owned by a Mr Robinson, who lived in the Mill House. Cecil Doveton leased it from him.

Doveton lived over Davis's shop in Bishop's Waltham High Street between Houchin Street and Red Lion Street. Later he moved to Thatchover Lodge, near the Black Dog Public House (now The Vintage), Winchester Road, Shedfield. It was Cecil Doveton who originally offered Tom three days work. When Tom's time was up Doveton said he would take him on full-time. And so began Tom's association with Chase Mill.

During that time he did any job he was called upon to do from grinding the mill stones, driving the lorry, delivering feed and collecting money, taking orders and working in the office. On one occasion Tom remembers working the Mill on his own for a week.

One of Tom's maintenance jobs included dressing the mill stones, which were made of French burr stones. He used an instrument which looked like a chisel but tapered out to a point at the end. These French stones were really difficult to groove but softer stones, Emery Stones, were also used and these were much easier to maintain, although they needed grooving more often.

However, his first job was mixing animal feed but later he took over the working maintenance of the Mill. At one time he was put in charge of the boys who worked there, and this could be as many as five at a time. Most of the boys were between fourteen and eighteen years of age and stayed until able to find work elsewhere for more money. One he remembers was Frank Houghton.

RUNNING THE MILL

The mill day began at 8 o'clock and at 9.30 am came the first tea break. Sometimes the workers had a dinner break and, if on the road, they might stop for a snack. The usual finish time was 5 o'clock but sometimes the Mill continued working until 10 o'clock at night if they had a lot of grain to mill. Because it relied on water movement to turn the wheel the water supply was very important as to whether or not overtime could be done, it was regulated by a sluice gate.

In the winter when the head of water was high, one board or so would be taken out to allow the water to flow away when it wasn't needed. In the summer Tom launched the Mill's punt on the pond. He cut the pond weeds using a scythe and once free, they would float downstream and away from the pond itself.

This would give the water a clear passage and ensure what water there was had maximum chance of turning the wheel. Running a mill is dependent on the water flow and things began to go wrong when a pumping station was built in Paradise Lane. It took away some of the water and reduced its efficiency. If the Mill was to be brought to good working condition now a new way to regulate the water would have to be found (more recently new steps have been built over the regulating sluice which means it would be difficult to get the Mill up-and-running efficiently). The pond itself would have to be cleared of weed to get a good flow of water to turn the wheel.

DANGERS OF WORKING IN THE MILL

Inside the Mill itself were two sets of long stairs and a third with only four steps. Tom would run up the stairs carrying sacks on his shoulder and on more than one occasion fell back down when he missed his footing on the last flight. He remembers tumbling to the ground floor without injury. Another obstacle was a low beam and several times Tom would hear the phone ringing and run to answer it, forgetting about the beam and cracking his head on it. The mill-wheel turned a dynamo and powered everything in the Mill including the lighting. As soon as the wheel was stopped the lights went out. The handle for shutting off the water was on the second floor, it was very difficult to find your way out of there.

Tom's left hand still shows the scars of a terrible accident which kept him away from work for nine months. In 1939 a loaded lorry arrived at the Mill. Pulleys were used to hoist the sacks from the back and Tom went to disconnect the cogs to free the millstones. Because of the pressure of water, it forced the mill wheel around quicker than Tom could get his hand out of the way. His left hand was crushed between one set of cogs and another, all his fingers were trapped but he managed to keep his thumb out of the way. He was taken to the doctor's surgery in the Mill's lorry and from there in an ambulance to Winchester Hospital. His recovery was long and tedious as some fingers had to be amputated.

His middle finger was left but it wouldn't bend and stuck out. He continually caught it in clothing, etc, and in frustration he asked for it to be amputated as well as it was useless as it was. He was given £500 in compensation but he used £400 of this to buy shares in the Mill. Each year he earned a bonus if the Mill did well, but got nothing if it didn't. Unfortunately, he lost most of his investment when the Mill closed many years later.

CATS, RATS AND PIGS

The Mill kept a few animals - pigs and the usual mill cats to try to keep down the rat and mice population. They crawled into the Mill at night from the river banks. They would eat into the sacks and spoil grain. Although the Mill employed the British Ratting Company to put down poison every six weeks the cats were still invaluable. One particular cat Tom remembers enjoyed catching rats and also taking rides on the lorries. One man from Boarhunt returned to the Mill to bring it back after one outing. The pigs were kept in the stables. Tom took on the job of feeding them.

He sometimes found more than he was expecting during the early hours when he walked into the yard on his own. For instance, the remnants of two break-ins. One morning he noticed a sack truck in the yard and wondered what it was doing there and then when he went into the office the safe was missing, he found it in the workshop where thieves had ripped the back off. All they found were postage stamps which they didn't bother to take. During a second robbery the thieves ripped a safe off the wall and gained as little as they did the first time.

WORLD WAR II

During World War II a German bomb was dropped on the outskirts of Bishop's Waltham. It was a Saturday night and Tom was on his way home from the Fountain Inn. The next day he went to feed the pigs and cats and found the pigs wandering around the yard. The blast from the bomb had blown the boards off their shed. At this time the ATS girls were camped in the field at the Mill House.

During the war years it was difficult to get good grain and so other items were added to bulk out the grain. Apple pumice (residue from Cider) was purchased, ground and mixed in. Cheese parings were also bought through one of the Mill's wholesalers and mixed in. At one time, several loads of currants and sultanas were brought to the Mill. The food manufacturer had been bombed and in the ensuing fire the fruit had been scorched. But once mixed with grain the top layer was still in good condition. No doubt many fruit cakes baked during those hard years benefited from the left overs.

MILL LORRIES

The first lorry Tom remembers at the Mill was a Ford, 30 cwt, with 'Waltham Chase Mill' painted along the side of the trailer unit. The base paintwork was greeny-blue and the lettering a gold colour. Tom drove a three-ton Austin which he had from new. As soon as one particular cat heard the lorry's brakes he would appear, jump on the lorry and go ro Tom's lunch box where he would always find a snack Tom had saved for him. At this time the Mill only had one lorry which was purchased and maintained by Godrich and Ewan from Hedge End.

OUTINGS

The workers were taken to the Kings Theatre for an outing one year and Tom remembers, 'Doing the Lambeth Walk', from the show. All the people from the Mill went and the boss arranged for them to be driven to Southsea in cars.

THE END

Tom was very happy at the Mill and only occasionally fell out with his boss. After one such occasion he decided it was time to leave. He got a job with the local council and stayed there for the rest of his working days. However, he never forgot his life at the Mill and the happy times he had there.

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