FINALLY the veil of silence has been lifted by the owners of Gayle Mill.

For months, volunteers, locals and fans of the historic Wensleydale attraction have been waiting with bated breath to have their worst fears over the building’s future allayed or confirmed.

Thankfully it is good news for the much-loved attraction as its owners, the North of England Civic Trust (NECT), say it expects it to reopen next Easter following repairs.

But what a shame that a mysterious ‘legal process’ has prevented this news - or any news for that matter - from coming out sooner.

It has meant that the whole situation has been marred by bad feeling and suspicion that the mill would never return to the attraction it was.

Volunteers were angry, parish councillors were angry and there was a general feeling that the community was being shut out of the building - both literally and metaphorically.

Curse that pesky legal process preventing the NECT from engaging with the community for the last two months.

But finally, in a public statement, the NECT has said that the phase of works was always planned and the volunteers who ran the mill, the GMT, knew that they would have to leave the building temporarily.

The NECT also says it didn’t know whether the GMT would “comply with the legal process”, therefore delaying the process of preparing for and implementing the next phase of works by almost five months.

But now there is “certainty on the legal position” so the ball can get rolling.

Hurrah!

Aren’t legal processes a wonderful thing?