What a lovely bunch of Painters!!

On 17th July we entertained 25 ladies - and 1 very brave gentleman - in the unique surroundings of The Windmill, provided them with some liquid refreshment, and set them to work as novice painters to create within two hours their very own piece of artwork under the tutelage of the excellent Dani from Paint Circle.

Some excellent representations of our Windmill went home with our happy students. Thanks to them for their participation and good humour - and for their ready participation in our raffle!

Funds raised during the evening go towards the cost of basic upkeep of The Windmill - circa £25k/£30k per annum before the cost of major upkeep and renewals.

So our grateful thanks also go to local businesses Nisa Local Upminster, M&S Upminster and Brew Dog Upminster for their donation of goods for the event.

And finally thanks to Dani [and Brenda, her glamorous assistant and also her mum!] for her patience and expert guidance in enabling everyone to produce more than recognisable reproductions of the target image.

See you again next year??

Getting the Background right ………………

Adding the outline of the building ………..

Flowers in the Foreground ……………………

Look what we have done in two hours from scratch!!

Windmill helpers - or something - on the night!!

Our Garden is blooming ………….. lovely!!

The award winning Windmill garden leapt into Spring with many wonderful flowering plants providing much needed nectar for pollinators.

In April our fruit trees were full of blossom, bluebells (we even have some native ones) looked gorgeous against a backdrop of lime green euphoria bracts, forget-me-nots provided spots of cute blue flowers, marigolds used their cheerful flowers to entice bees and our winter wheat put on a growth spurt.

May arrived and so did our wonderful wisteria, wowing us with its blooms on the pergola. Purple tansy attracted bees as well as being a green manure in a raised bed, with aquilegia and erysimum providing yet more pink & purple flowers which bees love. 

Meanwhile, the Windmill volunteers, apart from tending the garden and maintaining the Windmill, have been busy laying new block paving by the refreshment kiosk, laying a new brick pathway around the raised beds and making repairs to the central raised bed which seemed determined to make it's way down towards Upminster Bridge!!

Don't miss a chance at our open days throughout the Summer to come and see for yourself how things are changing as the year progresses.

Blooming with pride!

At the October 2025 London in Bloom Awards held at RHS Wisley, the Friends of Upminster Windmill took home an incredible collection of awards, and we couldn’t be happier!

A huge thank you to everyone who helps make our gardens such a thriving, beautiful space for both people and wildlife.

Here’s to another year as a truly multi-award-winning garden!

End of Season 2025

Our final summer season windmill open day was on Sunday 12 October … our volunteer team are busy preparing for Winter events and the Summer re-opening on Friday 3rd April 2026.

These are some of our most significant achievements in 2025:

• The Windmill remains fully functional and in best possible condition as our workshop team, much like the old millers, continue to develop new skills to respond to the weekly challenges of maintaining a 222 year old  Windmill.

• We are seeing new schools – from within Havering and from adjoining Council areas – take up on our diverse, creative and engaging range of educational activities for schools themed around the windmill and site.

• We have seen more than 3,200 open day visitors to the site – up 41% on 2024 – with more than 1,500 of them  touring the Windmill. Many events have been especially popular with families – not least our Easter Egg Hunt and Halloween Spooktacular.

• We have opened a superb new, self built catering kiosk.

• Our award-winning garden has done it again – four top awards in 2025 London in Bloom and a nomination to Britain in Bloom for Sustainable Gardening.

What’s Next in December and in 2026?

• We close out the year with our now annual Christmas Fair and Mill Open Day on December 20th

• We will be hosting a Quiz Night in The Crumpled Horn in Corbets Tey Road on January 26th – further details to follow shortly.

• Our main 2026 opening season kicks off on Friday April 3rd with an Easter Egg Hunt and Windmill Open Day.

• Full dates to follow shortly as we also move to confirm specific additional attractions and special features.

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2025 in Pictures

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Our new catering hut, self-built to high standards.

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Hopefully visitors will not have been put off by the servers at our October spectacular!

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Wisteria in full bloom in our multi-award winning garden

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Our most travelled visitors ... school children from Japan

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Upminster Camera club 70th birthday exhibition

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"Hands around" mixed morris dancers on a sunny May day

Windmills of London

We are delighted to be featured in a new video from popular YouTube video historian Peter Stone, “London’s Windmills, Past and Present”.

Liberty Line Walking Tour

Six walking tours have been created by @gojauntly and @transportforlondon to celebrate the naming of the new Overground lines! 🎉

Explore the incredible stories behind the Windrush, Liberty, Weaver, Suffragette, Lioness, and Mildmay lines as you visit stations and landmarks along each route. These walks highlight the rich and diverse history of London, with many offering step-free options so there’s something for everyone!

And yes, The Liberty Line Walk shows off our fantastic Windmill! ✨🤩

🏰 The Liberty Line Walking Tour celebrates the historic independence of Havering. Alongside us, explore beautiful green spaces and historic sites like Ingrebourne Nature Reserve. 🌿🏞️

📲 Download the Go Jauntly app and experience freedom on foot!

Get ready to walk, discover, and celebrate! 🚶‍♂️💫