Pupils discover historic stones (From Stroud News and Journal)

Pupils discover historic stones

SCHOOLCHILDREN beat historians from TV show Time Team at their own game when they spent a day at a famous Stroud mill.

Three pupils from Bristol who were helping to restore Kimmins Mill in Dudbridge on Thursday, uncovered mill stones that were last used in the nineteenth century.

Curator John Keenan said the find was hugely significant to the mill's ongoing restoration project.

"We have done very well," he said. "We were much quicker than Time Team. They take ages to find things but it only took us about five minutes."

Mr Keenan had heard about the stones from a diary by historian Ron Rose, who wrote a history of Dudbridge in the 1960s.

The three French burr stones with iron rings were described by the author.

After reading about the stones, Mr Keenan decided to search for them during a visit by students from Bristol's Portway School, a school for children with behavioural difficulties.

Mr Keenan said: "We needed something to keep them active. "So we decided to dig down."

The children were invited to the mill, which houses hundreds of historical records, as part of a Kimmins Mill scheme to get young people interested in local history.

Pupils Josh Tiley, Jesse Kaye and David Harvey were brought to Stroud by teacher Bev Campbell and Mike Pepper.

In the future organisers hope the project will be taken over by the Prince's Trust.

Other schools who would like to arrange visits should contact Mr Keenan on 07966 227575.

Kimmins Mill was saved from demolition in the 1990s when pensioner Eileen Halliday, who lives next door, stood up to a retail giant who wanted to build a new store.

Sainsbury's had to build around her house, which now stands in the car park.

Since 1999 the mill has been leased from the supermarket by the Stroud Mills Heritage Centre.

* On Easter Sunday Stroud Heritage Forum will hold an open day for local heritage organisations. Activities will include tours of Stroud mills, historical walks, rides on restored old buses, a canal trip and a traction engine display.

Groups taking part include Stroud Vintage Traction and Engine Club, Cotswold Bus Preservation Group, the Cotswold Canal Trust and the 3mm Society, which has created intricate scale models of Woodchester and Nailsworth stations and the timber yards.

To book call John Keenan on 0117 968 7850.