Charlie's Frogmore Paper Mill visit Review.
My visit to Frogmore Paper Mill was a very enjoyable and interesting one. I found out lots of information including how they make handmade paper, how old the mill is and what they put in the paper.
In the 1200's the mill was a corn mill called Covent Mill and they only know this from written records. In the 1700's the mill started making paper by hand and then by machine in 1803. They still make handmade paper and this weighs up to 600grams. Paper made by machine weighs 110 - 350 gsm. An approximate calculation shows that they make about 250,000,000 sheets of A4 paper a year.
On our tour we got to see and make handmade paper. First of all they mix minced paper with water and then drain the water away. This mixture is known as 'crumble'. They then get a big tub and add the crumble into it the mixture is then made complete by adding 90% of water. They then get frames that are made out of wire and wood and sift the solution onto them till the whole of the frame is covered. They then sponge the water out and tip the paper mixture onto the mat which is made out of felt. The mat then gets put onto a heater and turns white paper into even whiter paper. You then have to get another mat and leave it there to dry. Your paper is now finished.
Sometimes the mill adds Banana skins, wild flower seeds, denim jeans, petals, Elephant dung and sometimes bank notes that are shredded up into the paper mixture.
Sounds like you had great fun.
ReplyDeleteWow, that sounds like a great day out. Sounds like a very long and complicated process though!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing day!!! I have a vague memory of making paper once but I cannot remember where. I was so fascinated by the experience that numerous times I have tried to recreate the paper that I made - and failed every time.
ReplyDeleteSounds a very interesting day - makes us realise how important recycling paper is and that perhaps we shouldn't take it for granted as much as we do! Not sure about elephant dung, though!
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