September 30, 2014, by Kathryn Summerwill

George Green and his windmill

Green’s Mill, Sneinton, 2014

Tomorrow sees the first of a series of lunchtime talks associated with our new exhibition, George Green: Nottingham’s Magnificent Mathematician.

The brick tower mill which dominates the Sneinton skyline was built by George Green’s father in around 1807. Green worked there – with the assistance of a mill manager – until he entered Cambridge University in 1833, at the age of 40. It seems that he disliked the hard, physical work at the mill, preferring his mathematical studies.

University of Nottingham Newsletter, October 1985

Like many other windmills, Green’s Mill fell into disuse in the 1860s. Despite being ravaged by fire in 1947, the shell remained standing. In the early 1970s a group of enthusiasts worked with Nottingham City Council to rescue and restore the mill, and to build a Science Centre alongside as a permanent memorial to Green’s genius. The  Chairman of the George Green Memorial Fund was Professor Lawrie Challis of the University of Nottingham’s School of Physics, and many other members of staff from Physics, Mathematics and Engineering were key players in the project. The article in the University of Nottingham Newsletter (left) gives much more information about the opening of the mill.

Tom Huggon, the Chairman of the Green’s Windmill Trust, will present tomorrow’s talk about the history – and more importantly the future – of the mill.

The lunchtime talk takes place in the Djanogly Theatre, Lakeside Arts Centre on Wednesday 1st October at 1pm. To reserve a place please telephone the Box Office on 0115 846 7777.

The exhibition runs in the Weston Gallery until Sunday 4th January 2015.

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