Day 11 - Bath to Nottingham

Nearly everyone made it up early this morning for a quick breakfast followed by leaving the hostel at 7:40 for an 8 AM train to Bath.  We have a 13:30 appointment at the museum and I needed to leave time to walk to the hostel/hotel.  The train ride was pretty uneventful and many people got in some good journaling and napping.  We got in to Nottingham at about 11:45 and walked to the B&B in about 20  minutes with no wrong turns.  There was no one at the reception, but there was a phone number to call and for the second time  I was very grateful for the telephone I have.  The receptionist said he would be there in about 10 minutes and we dispersed for some hot lunch while we waited.  The rooms were nearly all ready for us and we dropped our bags and walked off to George Green's Mill.  We only had one little mishap where I had everyone cross a busy road, only to realize that the crosswalk was only on the side we had just come from.
We hiked up the hill to the Mill and Jordan gave her report on George Green, not the miller, the mathematician.  Apparently George's father (also named George) had built the mill so that his son would have a trade, but all Jr wanted was to study mathematics and its applications.  We spent quite some time exploring the little museum at the mill and then the miller himself gave us a tour.
 I was so fascinated by all the engineering tricks that I didn't take any pictures.  There are two types of mill sails, one has an open structure and canvas surface that can be reefed in heavy winds.  These sails are good for light winds.  The other two sails are wood with shutters on springs that can be opened and closed as it gets windier.  The grain is raised to the top of the mill by a chain driven by the wind.  Every so often there is an extra length of chain that can be made into a noose by passing the chain through a ring at the end.  The top of the bag is then passed into this noose and lifted four floors.  The wheat is fed through a hopper and the shaking of the hopper is what feeds the grain into the mill stones at the proper pace.  The faster the wheel turns, the more shaking and the faster grain is fed.  Finally, under the stones is a regulator that makes sure the gap between the stones is constant as the mill speeds up and slows down due to the variability of the breezes.  I think I might have been the most interested of the group about the mill.
There was a Poundworld on the way back to the B&B where most people tried KinderSuprise eggs.  We walked back to the hostel and had an early dinner at an Indian restaurant.  After this, some of the students and I drifted off to find a geocache not too far away.  We had a quick find and then watched, fascinated as three boats were squeezed into the manual lock nearby.  There is a lot of water coming down the river and it is  not safe for these boats to moore on the river, so they are moving into the canal to get away from the strong currents.  One boat owner was pretty green and the others were complaining about her lack of experience including falling into the river twice in the last 3 weeks and trying to move her boat in slippers.
I didn't get to bed as early as I might have planned due to the availability of internet, but I had a very sound sleep when I did.