John who died on 1st June was the youngest of five children born to Stanley and Lilian Sargent. John was the only one of the siblings to be born at Tipton Mill where he would live all his life until deteriorating health forced the move into long-term care. John attended the village school and then Sidmouth Secondary Modern and impressed his teachers, ending his time at Sidmouth as head boy. He was keen on sports especially football, later playing for Tipton AFC alongside brother Edwin. On finishing school, he settled into life at Tipton Mill helping around the farm and learning the milling trade from his father and particularly enjoyed milking the cows and rearing the calves.
At just 17, John’s carefree life was abruptly cut short by the sudden death of his father in January 1956. Overnight he had to take over the running the mill and the farm. The family suffered a further loss In September the following year, when his beloved sister Betty lost her life in a road traffic accident at just 30 years of age. This double tragedy weighed heavily on John for many years. This period in John’s life was very hard. Finances were tight, work was gruelling with long hours and now the family was torn apart. Just at an age when John should be socialising and pursing other pastimes, he was trapped at the mill. Given all this, little wonder people considered John a recluse.
The old water powered mill was pushed to the limits often working long into the night to fulfil orders. There were no longer any farm animals at the mill and the stables, shippen, etc., were now used for feed storage. The milling business had been expanded as far as it could go. So, in the early 70’s the decision was made to build a new electric powered mill and warehouse on the current site. The new mill would offer a range of bagged or bulk products for delivery to farms. And best of all raw materials coming in were mostly in bulk and products leaving the mill were now stacked on pallets to be handled by forklift. Before the old mill finally closed, the University of Plymouth made a film of John and Eddy operating what was then one of the last working grist mills.
John conducted all his business by telephone. He regularly spoke to traders from around the country and farmers far and wide for years without meeting in person. John was a great one for collecting snippets of information via the telephone. Although he rarely left the mill it was well know that if you wanted some information, ask John Sargent. John loved cattle and over the years, with the encouragement of others established a large herd of Charolais cattle. A few were selected for showing and on occasion won rosettes. Good prices were achieved at market for the quality beef reared. As the herd grew more fields were acquired and additional barns built to accommodate the herd over winter.
One achievement John was rightly proud of was the construction of the hydroelectric Archimedes screw on the mill leat. John had spent some three years bringing the project to fruition; battling planners and the Environment Agency. The project generated its first electricity in 2010 and is still going strong.
John’s love of nature and animals was one of his passions. He enjoyed walks around the fields by the river where he would often see kingfishers and dippers. A chance meeting with other walkers would often lead to a good chat. John loved “putting the worlds to right” and would often walk across the fields to Hugh Rudham’s at Fluxton to seek Hugh’s opinion on the topic of the day. John remained a bachelor all his life and never learnt to drive which he repeatedly said was his biggest regret.
John’s final years were spent at Kings Manor Care Home. John had a lovely room beside the garden with views to East Hill. The catering was five star and the care and compassion he received from all levels of staff was exceptional.
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