History of MNCC & Titchmarsh Mill
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The Club
Middle Nene Cruising Club, was originally formed in 1946 as a single entity with Middle Nene Sailing Club at Nine Arches, near Islip. The Club was then known as Kettering District Sailing Club. The site was next to Islip House on land rented from Edgar Cooper. Islip House was a Guest House and Country Club and as such became the focus of club social activities. The site had been used previously during the war as a base for Bailey Bridge builders. The club occupied a green Nissen hut facing the river which was used as a workshop in summer and in winter for the storage of dinghies. At the far end of the Nissen hut was an office for the NCO (non-commissioned officer) with a solid fuel stove. The upstream part of the site occupied part of a complex of wharves at Thrapston which would have been in use in the 17th century when Thapston was at the head of the river navigation. The anchor in the current Clubhouse was rescued from the mud at Islip, having previously stood under the flagpole there. At some point in the 50s, the sailing boats moved to their current location at Thrapston Sailing Lake on what was then a gravel pit renaming themselves as Middle Nene Sailing Club. The gravel pit being a much better location for sailing. The cruisers meanwhile continued at Islip as Middle Nene Cruising Club. In 1966 Middle Nene Cruising Club, moved to a new location at Titchmarsh Mill utilising the river channel and, as it was cleared, the mill pond in front of the Mill for moorings. Although the two clubs are constitutionally independent, our long history as one club creates a close atmosphere between us. Visitors from each other’s site are always welcome and the members from one site are automatically affiliated to the other. When MNCC arrived at Titchmarsh Mill, the first, main task, was to dredge and dig out the main mill pond to accommodate boats and to install toilets in the Millers House with a septic tank outside under the decking. Until then the toilet facility was a bucket and hole in the floor over the Mill Race. A sobering thought on a cold winter's night. 
The Evening Telegraph records MNCCs move to Titchmarsh Mill
Work continued through the 1970s when the boat moorings were located on the main river and in the small pool created from enlarging the original mill pond. 
MNCC in the 1970s
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The Mill
A watermill for the Parish of Titchmarsh is mentioned in the Domesday Book, but its location is not clear. What is known, is the present mill and attached house for the miller was built in the mid 1700s. The mill accommodated an undershot wheel with gearing to turn six mill stones. Numbers three to six are on view through the glass viewing window in the bar. Stones one and two are under the floor of the bar which is why it is raised. 
Mill stones 3,4 and 5
The position of the six mill stones and water wheel
We don't know when the mill ceased to be water operated, but a photo taken before 1914 shows a steam engine powering the mill with a drive belt connected to a fly wheel on the front of the building.
In 1944 the mill was converted to diesel power with an engine sat on a concrete plinth to the right of the mill where the raised sitting out area is now. It had a fuel tank alongside and a belt connected to presumably the same fly wheel. The fly wheel was connected to the gearing and shaft visible today, which was made by local company Smith and Grace of Thrapston The mill was in use for milling right up until 1962 when production ceased. The last millers were recorded as the Towcester Mill Trading Company. Titchmarsh Mill was given Grade 2 Listed status by Historic England in 1968 shortly after the Club moved to the site. Until 1983 the Clubhouse and Bar was in the Green Room, now known as the Miller's Table. |
In the early 1980s new stairs were installed in the Mill and a Club Room and Wardroom created from a bedroom in the old Miller's House. There was a large bar where the raised 'stage' is, and a small kitchen where the bar is now. The kitchen was used to serve Sunday Afternoon Teas. The new Clubroom and Bar was officially opened by the then Commodore, Brian Coulson, in 1983.
In the early 1990s it was decided a larger Clubroom was needed and a smaller bar would be easier for one person to manage and so in 1993, a new bar was built in its current position. It was refurbished in 2008.
At the same time, in the early 1990s, a channel was cut from the river to provide access into what is now known as the 'Big Pool', originally a gravel pit in use until the 1970s, but by then unused. The floating bridge and moorings in the Big Pool were completed in 2000 with the floating dock and slip being added more recently, along with complete refurbishment of the Green Hut and its renaming as The Millers Table.
In the early 1990s it was decided a larger Clubroom was needed and a smaller bar would be easier for one person to manage and so in 1993, a new bar was built in its current position. It was refurbished in 2008.
At the same time, in the early 1990s, a channel was cut from the river to provide access into what is now known as the 'Big Pool', originally a gravel pit in use until the 1970s, but by then unused. The floating bridge and moorings in the Big Pool were completed in 2000 with the floating dock and slip being added more recently, along with complete refurbishment of the Green Hut and its renaming as The Millers Table.