I recently visited Clarks Mill at Maheno in North Otago s follow n visit after an earlier one which resulted in failure of the main belt when the mill was started.
Clarks Mill in the Maheno valley, near Ōamaru, was built around 1865. By the 2000s it was owned by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and was the only surviving water-powered flour mill in New Zealand.
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| The mill today |
Originally powered by a water wheel, the mill is now powered by two electric motors, 60hp and 20hp. It is periodically started up and is in good running condition although no grain is milled now.
However the main belt failed last year just before a heritage weekend in Oamaru, Totara Estate and the mill. Fortunately a spare was available.
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| The broken main belt |
Opened in 1867, the first loads of grain were transported to the mill by bullock wagons. When the railway arrived the bullock wagons were made redundant.
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| There is a photo in the mill of a WW2 Bren Carrier used to shunt the wagons like this one. |
This shaft drives the big counterbalance below.
