ENJOY pumpkin carving, children’s trails, tours and more on Sunday when Coldharbour Mill at Uffculme is once again in steam – breathing fire into the mill for a half-term family day out.

A full day of activities for all the family kicks-off at 10.30am with the Lancashire Boilers and steam engines running at the heart. The day offers visitors the opportunity to learn to spin, weave and knit using traditional looms, wheels and spindles, and a chance to tour the factory where Coldharbour Mill textiles and yarn have been continuously produced since 1797.

Local jazz musician Charlie Hearnshaw is visiting at 1pm and will take the rhythms and sounds of the machinery to create jazz throughout the factory as part of the half-hourly tours. Visitors will also be able to join the steam team as they explain why steam was so crucial in the development of modern factories.

For younger visitors, woolly crafts are on offer throughout the day, along with pumpkin trail and pumpkin carving at 11.30am and 3pm.

Visitors will also be able to enjoy an exclusive behind the scenes tour of the Mill Pond restoration project. It has seen a team of volunteers join heritage and environmental experts start restoring the pond which feeds the waterwheel and boilers.

With phase 1 complete, the vision is to raise the funds to extend the Community Mill Pond Wildlife and Biodiversity Project to create a resource that groups, schools and local residents can use free without entry to the mill.

Martin Halse is spearheading the restoration of the mill and is delighted to see so many volunteers share their passions and skills – from spinning to steam, gardening to genealogy.

He said: “At the beginning of the year we launched our volunteering programme, and I’m totally delighted that this event is hosted almost entirely by volunteers. Hot on the heels of the successful craft market, our volunteers help keep the mill running, safeguarding the mill and traditional skills for future generations.

“Mentioned in the Doomsday Book, we are lucky to have not only one of the last surviving and best-preserved Victorian woollen mills in the country, but also the only one in the South-West in daily production.”