A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM

During the war the WAAFs based at the nearby heavy bomber airfield were billeted in a number of Nissan huts built on the windmill site, the only remaining Nissen hut, in which the museum is now housed, being used as their canteen and recreation hut

At the end of the was this building was used for a number of purposes, one being a motor vehicle repair shop, and another as a general store till it was eventually taken over by the newly created Windmill Trust who then used it to store a number of items of old farm equipment such as ploughs) seed drills and several old tractors

Although having been officially opened as a museum in July 1988 by the Commanding Officer of RAF Binbrook it was rarely open to the public except when someone expressed an interest and were given a key and allowed to look around by themselves, this being due to a shortage of Trust volunteers able to open it on a regular basis And so it slumbered for a number of years, there being nobody available with the time and enthusiasm to take on the task of bringing the building to life, and it was in this condition that it was discovered by the present curator.

In the autumn of 1990 a group of volunteers met together and decided that a rural life museum should be created to show how the wheat which used to be ground in the mill was produced, from the time the seed was planted through to harvest and finally to the mill.

It is now some twelve years since the museum first opened its doors to visitors, and in that time it has changed out of all recognition.   What is now the parlour was being used as a tea room by a team of work experience volunteers who were building the men’s toilets, the kitchen display area was a wood store₇ and where the costume display is now was an old thrashing drum - that was all the space that was available in the first few years of the museums existence.

But from the outset it was evident that more space would soon be needed if the items were to be displayed to their best advantage, so when the work experience team had left their tearoom was convened into what is now the parlour. The wood store was then cleared to create the kitchen display - and that was just on the inside.

If one had visited the museum and site in its early years you would have found no tarmac parking area, no paved walk. up to the museum, and no pottery workshop at the end, that was being used as a depository for several old mill sails. The front of the museum displayed the ploughs, seed drills and other large horse-drawn farm equipment which had once been inside, but which had had to be cleared to make space for the new displays

Inevitably space soon began to run out inside the museum, so in 1993 a lean-to cover was erected along the front to protect the outside displays and to allow further items to be shown, and in 1994 the frontage was paved as you see it today

In 1995 the decision was made to enlarge the museum by adding two portacabins, the space thus gained enabling a number of completely new displays to be created.  But even then space was at a premiun, so during the winter of 1998 the lean-to at the front was boxed ~ to create a sense of displays, thus whetting the appetite of visitors before they entered the 'museum

In 1999 the thrashing drum. which. had been on loan to the museum, was returned to its owner and the space that became free was used to create a small display of RAF wartime memorabilia dedicated to the memory of the heavy bomber crews who flew from the local airfields

When the museum closed for the winter in 1999 it bad been in existence for ten years so the decision was taken to completely revamp the interior by moving various displays and so create fresh interest for visitors when the museum re-opened at Easter 2,000   The major changes that were made entailed moving the craft. And agricultural displays to the middle of the museum, moving the RAF display into the space thus vacated and using that space to create a totally new costume display, whilst at the sane time creating an office display where the costumes used to be    And that is how visitors will see it today….

The Memorial section to the 875 young men who failed to return from operations in 142, 100 & 550 Squadrons from November 1941 to April 1945