A 2005 paper by Roger H. Charlier, Lo’ic Menanteau, and Marie-Claire P. Chaineu was recently brought to the Tide Mill Institute’s attention by Dutch sculptor and artist Lex Elsevier. The paper presents “an overview of tide mills throughout the world with emphasis . . . on recent research in the Iberian Peninsula, from the Basque Country in the North to the Gulf of Cadiz in the South, and the restoration of several mills in Brittany (France) over the last decade or so.”

Tide mill enthusiasts will enjoy reading this 18-year-old report not only for the historical information it contains, but also for its call to resurrect small scale tide mill sites for providing power locally. These days, the idea of exploiting smaller energy sources for local consumption is called distributed generation.

“The Rise and Fall of the Tide Mill,” appeared in Ocean Sciences Bridging the Millennia. A Spectrum of Historical Accounts published by the Journal of Coastal Research.

Read “The Rise and Fall of the Tide Mill” courtesy of the Flemish Marine Institute (VLIZ. be).

The 2023 tide mill conference scheduled for October 28, 2023, has been postponed until the spring of 2024.

Leadership of the Tide Mill Institute regrets this last-minute postponement, but decided it is prudent because of ongoing emergency conditions in parts of Maine and out of respect for the victims of the tragic mass shooting in Lewiston on October 25. The suspect in the shootings is still at large and may be in the region.

The conference will be rescheduled for the spring of 2024 and notice will be sent when a date has been chosen. Those who used a credit card to pay the registration fee for the October 28, 2023, conference will see a refund to their credit card account within a few days. Those who paid by check will have their check returned.

Tide Mill Institute extends condolences to the families and loved ones of the October 25 victims and is grateful for the ongoing efforts of law enforcement agencies to protect the public and apprehend the suspect.

British film maker and writer Colin Collis generously offered Tide Mill Institute photographs of two tide mill paintings by Victorian artist Alfred Omega Townsend (1845-1917) for posting on the TMI website. Information about the subject, a tide mill in Falmouth, England, is scarce, but a 2005 report about Falmouth by the Cornwall & Scilly Urban Survey project speculates that the tide mill probably was established in the late 1600s and ceased operation in the 1860s. Remains of the mill pond walls were examined as recently as 1988 when the area was developed as a marina.

Thanks to Collis and the Falmouth Art Gallery, we’re able to share three contemporaneous images of the mill. All were painted while the decaying structure still stood: the two below by Townsend and a third by William J. Boase Smith (1842-1896). The Smith painting, “The Old Bar Mill/The Old Bar Pool,” hasn’t been cleared to post directly on the TMI site, but it can be viewed on the art gallery’s website by clicking here.

One might wonder how many other examples of tide mill art exist in museums, galleries and private collections. If you know of any, please contact Tide Mill Institute. If possible, we will share them with our followers.

by Harry Hopcroft, Tide Mill Institute

When the circular saw blade on display at this summer’s Georgetown Historical Society exhibit was closely examined, it was found to have an extra plate mounted in the center, and on only one side. The extra piece is severely rusted in place now, but was originally held on by a series of short machine screws installed through holes from the back side of the blade. It is about a third to half the diameter of the main part of the blade, and thicker at the spindle than at its edges. The main blade itself is about 1/8 inch thick, and the added piece is ½ inch thick at the spindle, then tapers to almost knife edge at the outside. The main blade also has very little “kerf”, which is the measure of the width of the cut. The kerf is created by bending the cutting teeth outward in an alternating pattern from one side to the other. That allows the blade kerf to be a tiny bit wider than the thickness of the blade, and helps prevent the saw from binding.

The sort of obvious answer was that the extra piece was there to stiffen the blade, but it also appeared that it would severely limit the depth of the cut available with this blade, so we wondered why it was added. We knew the blade came from the site of the Oliver Grist and Shingle mill on the west end of the dam in Georgetown Center, so presumed it had something to do with cutting shingles, not logs.

Continue reading “Saw Blade Mystery Resolved” →

Who would think the thoroughly researched story of a massive tidal power project in the 1930s at the U.S./Canada border would be the stuff of drama? Mark Borton’s new book, Moondoggle: Franklin Roosevelt and the Fight for Tidal-Electric Power at Passamaquoddy Bay, is no dry historical retelling of a complicated series of events. Instead, it’s a whodunit with a twisting plot for even casual readers to enjoy. The title of the last chapter encapsulates the mystery: “Who Killed Quoddy?”

But this book is much more than a light mystery meant to be read for entertainment. “This is the first full accounting of the dream to harness perpetual tidal power for the nation soon to become the most powerful in the world,” writes TMI president Deane Rykerson in his recent review of Moondoggle, available on the Island Institute website.

The setting might seem to make this a story about Maine, about the Town of Eastport, but it reaches much farther, especially in light of today’s search for renewable and non-polluting energy sources. As the reviewer comments:

“Will we find a way to work with the ocean for a green energy future? Here’s a compelling account of what can go wrong.“

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Moondoggle: Franklin Roosevelt and the Fight for Tidal-electric Power at Passamaquoddy Bay. By Mark C. Borton, Downeast Books (2023). Available in hardback or electronic book.