Geoff Wheeler began the restoration process, but he died in 1995 leaving it in the hands of his sons.

Jonathan Wheeler has started marking out the 54 foot long sections of timber: "When my father died a group of villagers came round to see my mum and said they didn't want to see the windmill become derelict, so what could they do?"

When the original sails were ripped off by the wind, Geoff made careful notes of how the sails were put together. These were thought to be lost, but Jonathan recently found them and is using the blueprints for the new restoration: "We spent £100,000 restoring the tower and cap - this included a lot of grant aid alongside the fundraising we did at village jumble sales and other events."

"However, English Heritage and local council grants have strings attached.  You have to use proper surveyors and that uses the money more quickly."

Now the work's being undertaken by Jonathan himself with a friendly Millwright supplying expert advice: "It's owned by the family, but we consider it to be a village windmill.  We hope to have plenty of open days and it'll be a visitor attraction."

Work on the new sails

He hopes to have the sails up and running by the end of the summer.  The sails are costing around £40,000 and they still need to raise £24,000 to complete the job.

Donations can be made by ringing the windmill on 01359 251331.