Ashford's Willesborough Windmill recognised with new floral sculpture in the Memorial Gardens
11:21, 03 June 2019
updated: 11:22, 03 June 2019
A landmark has been recognised on its 150th anniversary with a floral tribute.
A nine-foot-tall interpretation of Willesborough Windmill has been placed in Ashford's Memorial Gardens on the eve of the structure's birthday.
The milestone will be marked with a raft of events and activities at the mill, which still produces flour despite being built in 1869.
One such event, a teddy bears' picnic, took place on Sunday and hoped to break the world record for most stuffed toys abseiling down a building.
The Mill Lane site originally relied on its sails to grind flour, with a steam engine added three years later to speed up the process.
Following a series of other uses due to tough industry competition, the windmill eventually became abandoned in 1989.
Extensive restoration work was carried out after the mill was bought by Ashford Borough Council in 1991, and further sprucing was carried out when The Friends of the Windmill took it over in 2003.
The historic facility is open to the public every weekend until October, plus Wednesday afternoons in the summer holidays.
