This is an expanded version of an article first published in the Society’s newsletter ‘The Twitchell’. All the old pictures are the copyright of Steve Mills.
Mills Dockyard is probably the oldest family business in Sawley. Established around 1895 at a yard on the Erewash Canal, about 400 yards upstream from Trent Lock, four generations of the Mills family have been building and servicing inland waterways craft.
(Arthur) Amos Mills (1870-1942) started the business in the 1890s. He’d been born in East Leake and initially followed his father in the basketmaking trade and also been a toll collector at Ratcliffe on Soar, before moving to Sawley. The business ran two narrow boats and a horse, carrying plaster from Thrumpton to the Sheet Stores for transshipment to railway wagons. This trade ended about 1924.
Amos also used the yard for boatbuilding, converting e.g. Trent barges to houseboats, and building (in the loft during the winter months) rowing skiffs.
After the second world war Amos’s son Cyril (see below) took over, and branched out into marine engineering, working with various types of marine engines etc. After that war ex-Admiralty clinker lifeboats became available for conversion to pleasure boats.
Amos Mills also had 2 daughters:
Doris May Mills (1899-1980) became a clerk at Clayes railway wagon works, before marrying Ernest Hutchings at St. John Baptist Chapel in 1927. He’d trained as a mechanical draughtsman but by 1939 was running his own milk delivery service in Long Eaton. He was involved in civil defence during WW2.
Stella Una Mills (1905-1978) married Edward Hitchcock Holton at the Baptist Chapel in 1929. They moved to Field House Farm, Harrimans Drive in Breaston. Edward was an ARP warden during WW2.
Cyril’s son Vin (Frank Vincent, 1921-1991) was a biology lecturer at Heanor College, and the yard was part-time for him. But it continued to tick over.
The Davison brothers started working at Mills Dockyard in the 1950s, before setting up their own boatbuilding business there in 1959. In the early 1960s they bought land next to the Sawley Cut and set up what developed into Sawley Marina.
Cyril Vincent Mills was born in 1894. During World War One he served with the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC). He was gassed twice, served with the first tanks and was awarded the Mons Star and the Croix de Guerre.
On demobilisation he returned to Trent Lock, where he helped his father in the business while studying engineering. After gaining a BSc in engineering he moved to New Zealand in 1925 to take up a post as the chief mechanical engineer for the government railways. His wife (Millicent) and young son (Frank Vincent) accompanied him. He was an associate member of both the British and Australian Institutes of Mechanical Engineers.
Cyril designed the royal car for the visit of the Duke of York (later King George VI) in 1927 and was presented to royalty. On 30th December 1928 he saw a small boat with 6 men aboard capsize while crossing the Porirua Harbour entrance. He made 3 trips across the choppy water in a small boat and was able to rescue 4 of the men. For which he was later awarded the Royal Humane Society’s bronze medal.
In 1932 he returned to Trent Lock and set up a business as a marine engineer. In 1940 he was commissioned in the RASC as a 1st Lieutenant. He rose to the rank of Lt Colonel and was in charge of the Army Southern Command workshops. He took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy and was mentioned in dispatches.
After the war he returned to Trent Lock and took over the running of the dockyard with his son, his father having died in 1942. Cyril died at home on his houseboat in 1958. It was called ‘Moe Ra’ which is Māori for ‘A Place in the Sun’.
Cyril had two sisters:
Doris May Mills (1899-1980) became a clerk at Clayes railway wagon works, before marrying Ernest Hutchings at St. John Baptist Chapel in 1927. He’d trained as a mechanical draughtsman but by 1939 was running his own milk delivery service in Long Eaton. He was involved in civil defence during WW2.
Stella Una Mills (1905-1978) married Edward Hitchcock Holton at the Baptist Chapel in 1929. They moved to Field House Farm, Harrimans Drive in Breaston. Edward was an ARP warden during WW2.
See also Narrow Bridge Cottages
The present owner, Vin’s son Steve Mills, had helped out with the yard as a child, but did not think to make it his career. He trained as an aero engineer with Rolls-Royce, but only became seriously became involved with the yard from the late 1970s. The yard was very under-used at that time. He built up the dry-dock repairs and moorings side of the business, taught himself wooden boat building, and went in for vintage boat restoration as well as new boat building.
Heritage Open Day
Echoes of the Erewash Canal – Mills Dockyard
Sunday 21st September 2025, 1030-1530
Pre-booking preferred Link
