Disappointment and Delight in Cobham

A while back a few allotmenteers got together to form a "Bread Club". That is to say, people who enjoy making bread. We have regular monthly meetings to showcase our productions of whatever that month's theme is. However today we were on a field trip to Cobham. We had a Water Mill to see.

Our appointment time was 14:30, so to make a full day of it we decided to visit the Medicine Garden in the morning. So being allotmenteers we though they might have a selection of plants grown for medical purposes.

Well was that a huge let down. Despite the place being built in a restored Victorian Walled Garden with a huge horticultural heritage, instead the have decided to abandon all that. No, instead they have decided to go the route of hippy-dippy, "Holistic", "Crystals and Auras" type "medicine".

It's now really a large grassy area with a circle of unlabelled plants, trees with Artsy Yoga/Meditation type plaque inscriptions and over priced arts shops. But at least their cafe's serve reasonable fresh food, even going so far as to ensure that their salads arrive so fresh that they come with their own weevils.

Needless to say, I was not impressed.

But of the Mill, yes, that I was impressed with.

Cobham Mill is a restored water mill on the River Mole. It has a long tradition of grinding flour that dates back many hundreds of years. The Mill last produced flour on a commercial basis in 1928. Nowadays it is a working heritage site. But at least it now works and grinds flour for bread again.

Considering the amount of rain we've had recently after the dearth in April, I'm sure I can probably install some kind of water wheel on the plot. Not sure if I'd manage to get the same rate of flow though.

Tomorrow will tell.