Sails back on popular windmill after four years

Photographer Damien Walmsley was quick off the mark to catch the first sunrise on Thursday after the new sails had been hoisted into place

The wait is finally over for lovers of a hugely popular windmill which has spent four years without any sails.

Chesterton Windmill has sat on a hill in Warwickshire for nearly 400 years, but its sails were removed in 2021 after cracks appeared in the wood.

Now a specialist conservation team have finished the installation of new sails after spending five days at the site, near Royal Leamington Spa.

Owlsworth Conservation, which is based near Reading in Berkshire, started work on building the new sails towards the end of last year.

The tower, which can be seen from the M40 motorway near Warwick Services, is situated just off the Fosse Way

The windmill is one of the most photographed landmarks in the West Midlands, with more than 15,000 images on Instagram

Ayub Khan, Warwickshire County Council's Head of Heritage and Culture, said: "It means a lot to local people, not just in Warwickshire, but across the Midlands.

"Heritage and culture is so important to our sense of belonging here.

"We are so lucky to have heritage sites like this windmill here."

Millwright Paul Sellwood, who led the team on the project, said it was a "great buzz" to restore the sails, and a steady stream of visitors were at the site on Wednesday evening as the sun began to fade

The installation team had the use of a hoist, but most of the work on the stocks and sails was completed with ropes and pulleys

Chesterton Windmill is both a Grade I listed and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is one of only four windmills in England with this classification