Next step awaited for repair to Lytham windmill

The windmill on Lytham Green was cordoned off at the weekend after a gusting of wind caused one of its sails to break.

Fylde Council, which owns and maintains the structure, is awaiting the arrival of a contractor this week before full cost of the repairs and a timetable can be worked out.

The council’s chief executive Allan Oldfield said on social media in reply to offers from residents to raise money for the repairs after the damage was reported: “I can promise the team at Fylde will have this repaired by the best specialists, it will not be reliant on funds raised – thanks for the support.”

A council spokesman said today: "At the moment we don’t know what the repairs will cost.

"We have a contractor coming to look at the damage this week to tell us how much damage has been done and if a repair can be achieved or it will need a new sail.

"With regards to timescales, again we won’t know these until investigations have been done into the extent of the damage and the level of repair/replacement that is needed."

Sue Forshaw, chairman of Lytham Heritage Group, said: "Fylde Council owns the building and maintains it. We are waiting to hear what happens next - at the moment we don't know any more than it being cordoned off."

The windmill, which dates back to 1805, previously lost a sail to high winds on a stormy night in 2011 and following that, the remaining three were removed to allow for work to repair the windshaft support.

The vital repairs, which took all a day to complete, had to take place before the new sails could be attached.

As well as replacing the broken sail, Fylde Council has also had a second new sail made at the time after another was found to be weakened.

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