Bob Adams

Robert James “Bob” Adams was born on 4 May 1945 — VE Day — at home in Stony Stratford, an 11lb baby delivered before hospital births were common. His connection to Bradwell Windmill runs far deeper than local interest: it is woven directly into his family history.

Bob is Robert Adams the Fifth. His great-great-grandfather, Robert Adams the First (born 1809 in Flitwick, Bedfordshire), became tenant farmer at Bradwell Abbey Farm in 1844, land then owned by the Worshipful Company of Mercers. He was a respected figure locally, serving as parish constable and participating in the Bucks Militia. During his tenure, military manoeuvres and even a rifle range operated on the farm.

Bradwell Windmill entered the family story when Robert Adams the First became guardian to a young ward and purchased the windmill to provide him with a livelihood. The ward soon abandoned milling, reportedly selling his share at a Bedford market. Ownership appears to have reverted to Robert Adams, who then passed the business to his son, Robert Adams the Second.

In the early nineteenth century, milling was a viable local trade. Poor roads meant grain was typically processed close to where it was grown. However, the arrival of the railways in the late 1830s transformed distribution. Industrial-scale steam mills near ports could grind flour more efficiently and transport it nationwide by rail. This rapid industrial shift undercut traditional wind and water mills. Bradwell Windmill is believed to have ceased operating commercially around 1860.

Bob’s great-grandfather was the last miller to live in the mill cottage before later working at Haversham Watermill. The mill may have operated seasonally, with family members dividing time between farming and milling. Payment was likely taken as a proportion of the flour — a system sometimes known as “swearing the sack.”

Bradwell Windmill itself, probably built around 1810, includes unusual features such as an internal fireplace — risky in a flour-filled environment. Family lore also suggests that when wind failed, a steam ploughing engine from Bradwell Abbey Farm was used to power the mill via belts and pulleys — an ingenious if unverified adaptation.

For Bob, the windmill represents both family legacy and the wider story of rural industry disrupted by industrial progress — a vivid example of how national change reshaped local lives.