Wheels

Hello again for the recently returned Five on Friday  Don't forget to visit Amy at Love Made My Home to see other fives.

This week I have five wheels for you - or at least, things like wheels. Yes, I know I've done wheels before, but I love them!

English millstone

Let's start with a mill wheel, or more properly a mill stone. This one's at Brindley's Mill at Leek in Staffordshire. Mill stones come in pairs - a stationary stone at the bottom and a rotating, grinding stone on top. They also come in two kinds. This one, (above) made of several bits put together, is known as a French stone.  English stones are carved in one piece. (see left)

This one's from a different kind of mill. It's all that remains of the old King's Mill in Castle Donington, Leicestershire. It's wlocally rumoured to have been the place where paper for banknotes was made - hence the King's Mill - but in fact it was used to grind flint and plaster for the pottery industry, which were then shipped to the Potteries in Stoke along the nearby River Trent.

This isn't a wheel at all - because it never turned. In fact it's a support for one of the walls at Caudwell's Mill (bit of a theme going on here) at Rowsley in Derbyshire. Very close to Chatsworth. It's a grade II* listed, steam-powered, roller flour mill.

This isn't a wheel either. It's an ancient symbol of eternity, a spiral, carved onto a very old upright stone in Bakewell Church yard in Derbyshire. Not sure if it's an obelisk or the base of a cross. But it's an impressive piece of carving.

Now this is a lot of wheels that all work together. This is "the bombe", the machine invented by Alan Turing to break the German Enigma code during WWII. Well actually, it's a replica of it at the National Computing Museum in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire. Bletchley was, of course, the home of the GCHQ codebreakers.  You can see it working there. What it does (did) is carry out all the different potential combinations of letters by spinning all the dials you can see in the photo. It's a very early form of computer.

Five on Friday - Wheels

Here we are again at Friday and here I am joining in with Amy at Love Made My Home for her Five on Friday feature. Today I've chosen wheels.

A nice simple one to start with. It's a penny farthing bicycle, which I always think look very impressive but I don't fancy riding one. I don't even fancy trying to get up on one! This is on show at Kelham Island Museum in Sheffield.

These wheels are what makes church bells ring. In this case at Lichfield Heritage Centre, a converted church that allows guided tours of its tower and the old bell chamber. They're fascinating to see close-up - but you don't want to be in there when they're ringing!

Here's a water wheel. It's on the side of Dyfi Furnace in Mid Wales. Dyfi is a restored 18th century charcoal fired blast furnace that was used for smelting iron ore. The wheel was used to power the bellows that maintained the furnace temperature.

This one was used to raise and lower a crane by the side of the Trent and Mersey Canal at Shardlow in Derbyshire. Canals were, of course, the main method of moving goods before the arrival of railways, and later road transport. This type of crane would have been a common sight along the banks of the Victorian canal system, but sadly very few remain - including the one in the photo. They fall victims to wood rot and vandalism. Even accidental damage can be fatal, since the workings are made from cast iron, which is very brittle, and cracks when it is hit.

And this one is for fun! It's on the front at Scarborough in an entertainment complex called Luna Park. It's changed a bit over the years, but there's been a big wheel there for as long as I can remember. I've never ridden it. You'll NEVER get me up there!

Now click on the photo below to be taken to Amy's site to see what other Fives are on offer this week.