Skidby Windmill opens for behind-the-scenes tour

Skidby Mill went through a full restoration earlier this year

Visitors to a historic windmill will get to catch a glimpse of normally-unseen parts of the building as it is restored.

Continued work means small tours are being offered for a chance to see key parts of Skidby Windmill in East Yorkshire over the next few months.

A firm of professional millwrights have been undertaking repairs to the Grade II* listed structure since January.

The ongoing work sees the mill without its sails while they are restored.

During this downtime, parts of the building which are usually hidden away from the public are now available for tours.

Dr David Marchant, museums registrar with the council, said: "As the mill is currently not working, whilst we await the return of the sails, we wanted to offer visitors a little extra behind the scenes."

Tours are taking place on 5 November, 3 December and 7 January.

Skidby Mill

• 1316 first mill in Skidby

• 1764 first record of a mill on the present site

• 1821 new tower mill was built

• 1878 converted to producing animal feed

• 1954 wind power discontinued, adapted to run on electricity

• 1966 ceased to operate commercially and sold to Beverley council for £1

• 1974 restored to working order using wind power

Source: East Riding Museums