A FORMER mill, which now houses a popular theatre, has gone back in time to the days when it produced its own electricity.

The Mill at Sonning has become the first theatre to use a hydroelectric scheme to be powered by the natural resources of the River Thames, almost 11 years after the theatre's founder, Tim Richards thought of the idea.

David Vass, general manager at The Mill, helped Tim's daughter Sally Hughes re-start the scheme following Tim's death in 2002. He explained how the new green electricity scheme will work.

He says: "It's a huge pipe in the river that has a syphonic action. The tail part is six feet under the river. The water, once it starts syphoning over goes through a large pipe with a boat propeller inside. The water pressure turns on the propeller which drives the generator and that generates the electricity."

The hydroelectric scheme will produce 18 kilowatts of electricity an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and will produce enough electricity for 80 per cent of the theatre, restaurant and bar for lighting, heating and cooking, and cost £70,000 to build.

David adds: "The main reason we decided to pursue Mr Richards' dream was because of the whole green issue. The mill was always used for generating power in the 15th Century onwards.

"We thought all this power is going underneath us everyday and is being wasted, so we thought why not go back to the way it was in the old days and make good use of it."

The hydroelectric scheme will save 75 tonnes of carbon dioxide from going in to the atmosphere every year.

The former mill was used for grinding corn with the help of two wheels. One wheel would be use to generate power and the other would be used to grind the corn.

Peter Egan, former artistic director of The Mill and a close friend of the Richards' family, spoke about the Theatre's new scheme.

He says: "We are utilising one of the oldest sources of energy known to man water. Tim has always wanted to harness the power of the river to create green electricity but he was not destined to see the project come in to fruition as sadly, he died in 2002, two years after he originally started the project.

"Sally then started up the project about two years later with the help of David, and without David it would have been impossible to set up this hydroelectric scheme so efficiently."

The Mill at Sonning is the first hydroelectric scheme to be powered by the natural resources of the River Thames although there are other such schemes near rivers across the UK.

Any excess of this green electricity which will be generated by the theatre will be passed on for sale to the National Grid.

Eileen Richards, owner of the Mill Theatre and Tim's widow, says: "It was my late husband who instigated this project a few years ago having been involved in hydro schemes in South America earlier in his career as a civil engineer.

"It is thrilling to see it reach fruition and realise that we will soon be generating our own clean power. A fitting tribute to my husband. He would have been so please."

Family friend and neighbour Uri Geller was just one of the many stars and actors who attended the inauguration ceremony of the hydro scheme at The Mill.

He says: "I think this fantastic. They have done a remarkable job here."