It is not long over a year since the Mill of Benholm Enterprise submitted their application for the Community Asset Transfer for the Mill from Aberdeenshire Council. What has happened since has been nothing short of extraordinary!
During Autumn 2023, with a “License to Occupy” secured, the volunteers began clearing the overgrowth around the Mill and fallen branches from paths, to make the Mill of Benholm safe again. The incredible volunteers worked through the cold and wet Scottish winter to achieve this and completed their work end of spring 2024.
The following images show the scale of their work and the incredible job they have done!
Then came the arrival of Mary McCaffery, who established the Mill of Benholm Gardening Group in February.
The Gardening Group transformed the garden from this…
To this …
As Spring arrived, a wide variety of plants and flowers bloomed. More recently, a shed has been installed at the Mill of Benholm car park to sell fruit and vegetables grown in the garden. These include peas, broad beans, carrots, sweetcorn, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, chilies, and many more.
And if that wasn’t enough work for the group, the memorial garden has also been beautifully restored, into a peaceful place for reflection and remembrance.
The Mill of Benholm Gardening Group meets every Tuesday morning from 10am to 1pm and every Saturday afternoon from 1pm until 4pm. The group will continue their hard work throughout the winter months.
On September 22nd of this year, the Mill of Benholm welcomed over 300 people to celebrate their Fruit and Harvest Festival, which showcased the produce of the Mill’s Garden and Heritage Orchard, as well as some of the finest produce from the local area. It was a very successful day for both producers, who did well, and consumers who got to sample the excellent food produced in the local area.
A mix of varieties of apples from the Heritage Orchard were freshly pressed to make apple juice. If you have a juicer, or want to sample the apples yourself, come collect some from the Honesty Shed at the car park on a regular basis this Autumn.
As the nights draw in, the volunteers at the Mill will still be working away! The Gardening Group plan to do some crafting during the darker and colder days. Precisely what gets crafted and out of what depends on who visits. If you would like to get involved and have any ideas or skills, get in touch with Mary via secretary@millofbenholm.scot.
I think we can all agree that the volunteers have done a fantastic job at the Mill of Benholm and we congratulate them for all their hard work! It has definitely paid off.
Here a few dates for the diary:
- Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th of November & Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th of November – Exhibition of paintings by John Wilkinson ion the Mill And we might have a culinary surprise
- Sunday the 24th of November – Christmas Market at the Mill
Stalls, Food and Entertainment indoors and outdoors, it will be a great day
- Sunday, the 8th of December – Christmas at Benholm – Annual Christmas Concert and Carols in Benholm Kirk, together with Historic Churches Scotland, Lathallan School and Johnshaven Primary School
If you are local or in the area, do pay the Mill of Benholm a visit, I’m sure they would love to have you! To contact the Mill of Benholm, please email secretary@millofbenholm.scot.
