Comedian Griff revists Yorkshire Dales Mill (From The Northern Echo)

Restoration of Gayle Mill revisited

1:53pm Thursday 19th February 2009 in Search

COMEDIAN Griff Rhys Jones has taken a step back in time to capture life at a restored Yorkshire Dales mill with a BBC film crew.

The TV star was visiting Gayle Mill, near Hawes, to film an update for the BBC's Restoration show which featured in 2004.

His visit was to catch up on what has been going on at the mill built in 1784, in Wensleydale, since then.

Tony Routh, a director of the Gayle Mill Trust and the last person to be apprenticed at the mill in the 1960s, showed him round.

The TV star saw how the mill had stuck to using natural resources to operate.

Mill manager Paul Bisson said: "Much of the success of the project is down to our volunteers who give so freely of their time and skills.

"We were very pleased that some of the filming included shots of them working, finishing off a variety of the wooden products we sell, and we hope to attract more people to volunteer to be part of the Mill's future."

Mr Jones was presented with an inscribed wooden platter made by William Lambert, the chairman of the Gayle Mill Trust.

The filming included interviews with Ian Bruce, of the North of England Civic Trust, and David Butterworth, chief executive of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.

Mr Butterworth said: "The restoration of Gayle Mill is one of the great success stories in the Yorkshire Dales.

"It combines the cultural and historical identity of the Dales with a forward-looking approach to conservation and sustainability in this magnificent landscape."

It is not yet known when the programme will be broadcast but it is thought that it might be in the next few months.