Yesterday I left you with a closed door ... now if I rephrase an old song ... "Two wheels off my wagon and I'm still grinding along" ...
Well, how about only two sails on an old windmill? And yes, it is still grinding flour which is sold to local bakers.
Built in 1726, Downfields which was also known as Pollards Mill, is another smock mill. Apparently the name derives from old workers and their smocks! This mill was rebuilt in 1890 after a storm and became a tower mill. Recycling the machinery explains the odd shape of it. It was originally from what I can glean a four sailed mill, but these two sails still power the mill efficiently enough, driving three pairs of stones and a dresser.
An early photograph on the website (Soham on line) shows it with four sails and a horse drawn team, now ... sadly it is surrounded by a modern housing estate and as you can see a children s play area. (Read the sign ... what are "Assistant Dogs"?)
My dog assists me all the time, but I'm not blind, yet!
I think my mad mutt is more an insistent than an obedient one at times, but gratefully he has recovered from his stolen cheese overdose last Saturday (not that it has stopped him showing interest in goats or sheeps, or ... blue cheeses, will he never learn?)
Heading back I noticed the local windmill had it's sails turned in such a way that I could capture the four sail version, which as you know from a previous post, still works thanks to the committed band of restorers. Next year, she will be 200 years old and still milling flour too! Sadly very few of the water pump mills for the Fens are still in existence, though one on Wicken Nature Reserve (owned by the National Trust) still survives. Sadly, "The Trust" has turned Wicken Fen into more of a "Fun & Theme Park" than a serious Nature Reserve and consequently several species are transferring to quieter, better run areas of the local area. At least windmills don't migrate!
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