“Children loved being inside the mill – especially making flour and looking round the mill…great to see the children so engrossed… also participating in role-play about an area that was mostly new to them.”
Year teacher

The miller of Brixton Windmill works hard to make flour for the people of Lambeth. How does he do it? What is his life really like? And who else helps him along the way?

In this interactive workshop, gain an insight into what Brixton life was like nearly 200 years ago. Use pictures to compare past and present, and find out what kinds of jobs people did to get bread onto your table. Use costumes and hot seating to find out about working life in and around the windmill.

Children will handle wheat, flour and bread; help to grind some flour; visit the lower floors of Brixton Windmill; and role­-play to imagine what it was really like to work at the windmill, before writing their learning into instructions.

This session includes a visit inside Brixton Windmill and a classroom session in Brixton Windmill Centre.

Age group: Years Reception to Y2 (adapted according to age)

Duration: 1.5 hours

Cost: £120 (Lambeth and Southwark schools); £150 (other state schools); £170 (independent schools)

Pupils will:

• ask questions to find out how people worked at the windmill
• consider the skills required to do different jobs
• compare past and present using pictorial resources
• understand that flour comes from wheat and how it is made
• write and illustrate instructions.

National Curriculum links

• History (local history; questioning and comparing)
• Design and Technology (cooking and nutrition)
• English (speaking and listening; writing for different purposes)