YOUR paper did itself and the Holgate Windmill Preservation Society a disservice by publishing the article on the mill by Kerry Beadling (December 7).

There were a number of incorrect or ill-researched statements.

The article states that the mill 'was built in 1792' which is difficult to reconcile with the fact that it was an item in George Waud's will on February 1, 1782 and that he had owned land in the area since 1768.

The article is accompanied by a photograph showing the mill 'when in use in the 1900s' when we are told it was 'known as Acomb Windmill'.

I have never heard it called that and the two earliest photographs of it I have (from around 1905) are clearly labelled 'The Old Mill, Holgate' and 'The Windmill, Acomb Road' which places it quite clearly in Holgate.

There was a much earlier mill in Acomb (a little beyond where the Holgate water tower now stands) but the last recorded existence of this was in 1618. I have written fairly extensively about both mills in my books on Acomb and Holgate, which are available in the library for those who wish take the trouble to consult them.

The situation is somewhat complex because there were at least two other mills in the area between Blossom Street and Acomb, besides a number of others which stood in The Mount area.

One of the former appears to have been in the area now occupied by Enfield Crescent and was described as being 'called Holgate mill'; the other was a water mill at the junction of the Holgate and Dringhouses becks and was known as Folly Mill.

So it is out of order to state that the present mill stands 'on the site of a 15th century mill'.

Geoffrey H Hodgson,

Maythorpe,

Rufforth,

York.

Updated: 10:35 Wednesday, January 02, 2002