What on earth is a Flint mill ? 

Gobsmacked to say the least. So much history packed into one space. Your productions are certainly world class.

If you’re down that way again take a trip to/on the churnet valley railway. It runs from froghall just down the road.

A really interesting video Martin, I like others never realised flint was used in the pottery industry. A big thanks to Nick for his excellent briefing and to the Cheddleton Mill for letting you film, another testament to your standing Martin.

One or two of the family worked at Robey's in Lincoln over the years as well as at the other foundries and engineering works in the city. It's hard to imagine the scale of the places that employed thousands of men producing everything from the first tanks to steam engines, steam locos and huge boilers so seeing a small scale industrial heritage site with all the gubbins in situ is really nice to see.

Thanks Martin ... Great vid as always and in 15 mins you answered so many of questions I have wondered about for years. Top job.

What a gem James found there . Like going back in time 🤩🤩🧱👍🏽

Hi Martin, Really interesting I had no idea about using flint to make porcelain. Good find James!! Can't have been much fun getting the flint out of those kilns. Nice to see a pair of Norias side by side👌👌 Great video, well done, have a great week.

Martin you've taken us through some wonderful old ruined mills, but this was a rare event to see one still intact and preserved. You're right about that smell of old machinery, grease, and workshops, for me it's a smell full of good memories of working in Blacksmith shops and machine shops over the years. Thanks for the video. Cheers.

The stones used to grind clay into a fine brew used for slip-ware in the Potteries came from around Bakewell, it was carried by 4 legged beasts to canal-boats at Cromford. This stone is also used today to test drills & dilling techniques because the local limestone is ridiculously hard and this is why it got shipped across to Stoke. The Bakewell area is also famous for Black Ashford Marble - THE funereal stone for the posh and much admired by Queens Elizabeth & Victoria. Limestone fragments were used, until relatively recently, in Davey Blocks that are now banned for building by the Peak Park.

Another great video guys. I've been there a few times when the kids were young. The weir is not actually an overflow, but it's there to raise the water level so there is a head of water to flow into the mill leat. Also at Cheddleton is a steam railway line (North Staffordshire) and there is a corn mill in Leek. Also, maybe you don't know about Nether Alderley Corn Mill just south of Alderley Edge which is worth a visit, but it's not open often these days. Looking forward to the next video. Best Wishes Pete

Hey Martin! I have fond memories of going here when I was very young with mum and Grandad when he was alive when I used to go on trips to stoke. Its so nice seeing this mill again. If you want a fun place to check out try the dissapearing river in the Lathkill Dale gorge with all the old mine works and the river coming out of a cave its a great day out walk and fantastic history :)

You learn something new with each of Martins videos. *I* - for one - hadn't known about the purpose of milling flint either. Nor that it once was sea-sponge. Thanks for sharing !

There is so much to see in that area. I used to cycle from Cheadle Hulme through Macclesfield to Leek and take a sandwich break at the Cheddleton flint mill. They have done a really good job of removation and turned it into a real nice museum. It is close to the Churnet Valley preserved steam railway. Also Leek itself has a traditional market and is great to visit with the chance that if you visit on a Saturday you might hear the church bells change ringing. In the area also are Lake Rudyard, Titesworth serervoir,The Roaches (NT estate used by the BBC Pride and predudice mini series), and near to Danebridge there is the Hanging Stone which cane be seen from the main Macc to Leek road. Great Vid and so very informative.

I've driven past that mill so many times, and wondered what it was all about. Thanks. 😊

Holly crap i volunteer there and you picked the only day i wasn't there , absolutely gutted 😪 Its a great place i did invite you over about a year ago on here

See how good your videos are when James is with you? Great one, loads of stuff I was curious about is finally answered.

So funny story… I saw James in Leek then spent an hour racking my brain wondering who that lad was an where I knew him from 🤦‍♀️

What a fantastic location! I couldn't believe that the water wheel was working and it looked like most of the site was very complete! Nick was a very knowledgeable and enthusiast about sharing the interesting history! Good find James!

Fabulous . So interesting. We never stop learning. That sticky sharing bun looked rather tasty. Nice to see James back and Timmy too. Thank you all.

Thank you Martin and James. The video is perfect.😊😊😊.Timmy is a super dog❤

Fantastic video Martin. What a find Well done James . That's a must-visit on my places of interest list.👍 😃

Hi Martin, thank you for this great video and wow, such an interesting place to visit. Thanks to your visit and video, we too had the pleasure of a personal guided tour of the mill with the very capable and knowledgeable Nick. On our arrival on May 1st, the first thing we noticed was that both wheels are once again turning with the new bearings having been fitted to Helen around 2 weeks ago. With your love and interest in the water aspect of things mechanical, I’m sure you will need to revisit Cheddleton Mill to stand between the two wheels and be mesmerised by the beautiful stereophonic tune of Helen & George powering the mills, an absolutely wonderful experience. We told the volunteers that it was your video that led us there and Nick told us that after you had posted this video, they had a noticeable upturn in both interest and visitors that was directly attributable to your work. He also noted that he thought that your videos have helped a lot of other smaller interest volunteer groups like theirs to get their work out into the public arena. We discovered your RU-vid videos about 12 months ago while planning our current UK trip and enjoy them immensely and to actually get to just one of the sites you have documented has helped us to further appreciate the work you are doing to document these lesser known historical sites. Keep up the great work, we love it! 2 Aussies abroad.

Garry is such a rebel sitting there on the bench drinking tea.

Thanks Martin and guys and of course the dog. Woof. Very interesting and picturesque. Once again, you have saved me heaps in air fares. I didn't know flint was used in porcelain.

Illuminating, interesting, produced with passion. Your vids are amongst the top on RU-vid.

Martin, all your videos are outstanding, but this vid set the bar a bit higher. Nothing like the sound of greasy cast iron gears grinding away. This was a top-notch, enjoyable and educational watch. Now I see where the term "Hovel" came from to describe a small broken-down house. Renee's back story was a nice touch, she must smiling down on you, James and Gary. Thanks to you and your team for your time and work......... mike

Excellent really intresting videos always look forward to them.

Another 2 great places to visit.Thanks.👍

This is one of the great things about this country, you can head a few miles away from where you live and the scenery and industry is so different.

If your looking for a places to go try the Welsh slate museum at Llanberis, there is a 50 foot water wheel, a Pelton wheel, forges a casting shop a pattern shop saw mill. A working gravity incline and two quarries to explore, and the Llanberis lake railway, you will need to stay in the village to get the best of this trip you can spend 3 days and not see everything. Loved the flint mill, keep up the great work. God bless

Fascinating video with excellent description by volunteer Nick. Thanks for posting.

Thx Martin and crew; what a great find! I'll be adding this to my wish list of places to visit.

Learnt something new there about the use of Flint. Another great video, Martin and the crew. Keep up the good work 👍.

Great video. Certainly learnt something today. Never heard of flint milling or the fact that flint stones are basically sea sponge fossils. Great work lads.

This is a really interesting video, Martin. To see everything intact, and lots of machinery still in working order is a marvel. It's in a beautiful setting too, with the River Churnet present. Nice to see that you popped over to Buxton and Solomon's Temple. I was born just over half a mile from there! Anyhow, it's nice to see James the tea brewer back with you + little dog, and so, many thanks for presenting this video for us all to see. Take care.

Fascinating video Martin, thanks. I've lived in Kent all my life and our family home was on the chalky dip slope of the North Downs. Our garden was full of chalk and flint (my Gran's house nearby was even more so), so it's really interesting to know the flint was transported to Cheshire. Our present home, however, is near Tunbridge Wells and the soil is solid clay. Absolutely no flint whatsoever.

Thanks Martin! Great video mate. What a wonderful place, stunning. Hello James, good to see you as well. Thanks gents, stay safe. Cheers.

Great film, and nice to see Timmy again! I have in fact visited this mill, many years ago and it is indeed an idyllic place. Nice one Martin and team! ⭐👍

It's good to see old machinery moving.

Would loved to have seen more about Rene and her life there. Another superlative video Mr 0 thank you

A very worthwhile video, Martin & Co. Interesting and informative; I learned a lot. Thanks.

What a beautiful place to find. Well done Jamie. Lovely to see Gary again too.

Really i teresting, never knew about the Flint. Another one for the list and not far to travel to. Thanks as always Martin and the team, you never disappoint.

Thank you for another great video, and thanks to Nick for the flint info.

Nice one, Marty - I had no idea about any of this, and it's going straight onto my list of places to visit. Thanks to you and the crew... ☝️😎

An excellent video, right up my interest level. Many thanks - Full marks to James for finding these. Cheers

Never heard of a Flint Mill - & now I know - thanks for sharing!!! 🙂🚂🚂🚂

Brilliant again Martin

Another great video Martin!!

Love a waterwheel, mesmerising to watch!

Great video. Thanks for sharing. Love old mills.

Great to see you in my neck of the woods, Martin and co. Been to the flint mill many times but never when it’s been open. The steam engine from Minton…., Minton was a world renowned pottery manufacturer in Stoke on Trent for many years, however, long gone now. The factory was bulldozed, along with the stunning, “Minton house”, which was also on the same site, and should have been a listed building !!, (thanks Stoke council !!), about 20 years or more ago and is now a Sainsbury’s…, !!. Thanks again, Stoke council, for saving our heritage !.

Splendid. Thanks very much.

Some beautiful camera-work and lots of fascinating stuff in this video. I did get confused by the idea of flint mill because flint is famously hard and I was wondering what it took to actually grind it...

Wonderful find

Beyond exceptional James.

Amazing as usual

A stunning looking place!

What a fantastic little museum!

Great stuff again.

Another great vlog guys.

G'day from Australia, too the Boys thanks for a wonderful look into a part of history that l new nothing about, never too old to learn as they say, cheers mate, Neil 🤠.

Another Derbyshire treasure, regards to Gary, well found James.

😊 fantastic find

I'm pleased to see you back, James❤❤❤

Very interesting, I read about this mill years ago, and it's great that it's been preserved in working order.

a real pleasure to follow you on this exploration

Great upload! I learnt something there about porcelain. Thanks!

Great snapshot of a bygone era. Simpler, but harder times when folk were closer to nature. Particularly liked the cottage building and the furnishings. Makes you realise just how much we take for granted these days. It's heartening to see the place restored and in such fine shape, the wheel is spectacular. Hopefully the other one will be turning before long.

Thank you for another amazing video.

Yet another great Doco Thanks Martin Bill from W/A

Keep it coming

Nice place james, good find. Excellent video as always.

Really interesting historical tour. Thank you young man

Brilliant bit of history and I never new it was there,hopefully pay a visit next year 👍

What a great find, well done James. A really fascinating place to visit, and very informative .

Very interesting Martin, thank you.

nice bevel geasrs! what a fantastic place. thanks Martin and James

Great video ,visited the railway near there a year or two back .Must go again to see this wonderful place . many thanks mate , take care ,God bless.

Excellent video Martin!

Brilliant! Great video quality as well.

Always good to see Timmy.😁 Great video too. thanks Martin and James 👍👍

Brilliant video again guys looks a fantastic little place & a little Brucie bonus vid aswell 👍🏻

Excellent video are ever. The scenery was breath taking,. Thanks for or showing us this this mill.,

I really enjoyed this one. You explained it with great detail.

Hi Martin I know you like your trains but only a mile a long the canal is Churnet Valley Railway. I'm convinced it would make a great video for your subscriber.

TTTHAT was incredible. Thank god we still have places like this to visit, And if we cant get there, we have fantastic films like this one to show us our heritage and long lost way of life Bronze age burial site included also, Amazing. Thankuou team Brilliant viewing as always. 🙌

Damm good video Martin................................thank you.

Great vid Martin...I live literally up the road on cheddleton Heath...Great bit of history 👍

Good stuff.

Incredible. That mill was great having a working waterwheel. Lovely learning how they made porcelain.. this history is fabulous, just loved it. Thanks for taking me along. Please take care

I'm interested in ceramics, so I was pleased to see this video on the use of flint in many types of pottery. Just to be pedantic, I don't think these would usually be described as *porcelain* , though that is (in the world of ceramics) a notoriously ambiguous term. For example what is called 'soft paste porcelain' (e.g. early Sevres) may contain more glass than clay. Pottery made from clay and calcined (roasted) flint would usually be called creamware or stoneware. One of the criteria for 'true' porcelain is that it should be translucent, which this stuff isn't! Some time in the 18th century English potters discovered that calcined animal *bone* could be used in the mix and gave a result more like the real (Chinese) thing, hence the term 'bone china'. (Don't tell the vegans - they might have to throw out their crockery!)

You've not let me down Martin , I wanted a new vid from you to watch whist we have our tea , thanks a lot . We're having pork chops , chips & broccoli 😀

Brilliant. It beggars belief what was invented, and built, in the latter half of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Absolutely wonderful! Thankyou for sharing 🎉 the place screams of history! I hope you both visit again soon. but if I could ask one thing it would be a longer video pleaseeeee!☺️

Crackin vid Martin…… loving the quality of production mate! I honestly had no idea about flint mills 😮👍🏻

Looks an interesting place that👍

That was really interesting. Thanks

Great video Martin! I knew flint was used in pottery but didn't know it was in porcelain. I really like the historical museum type videos you do. That flint mill seemed like such a nice one.

Thanks guys this weeks video was very interesting , really appreciated and was informative too ,as i had no idea about the flint , regards liz .