3/30/2024 The Windmills of Kinderdijk

 Another rainy day, but not too bad for visiting the windmills.  Kinderdijk (Pronounced like Kinder-Dike) is a village in the province of  South Holland, has 19 fully functional windmills.  These windmills are not activelly used for the water managment, as modern electric pumping stations do the work now, but they are kept in reserve in case there was a situation where there was no power to the pumping stations. 






We travelled along a Canal in an 19th Century Barge that has been refitted with an electric motor. The guides at this site are all volunteers that work with the foundation that preserves the windmills.  These are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Viking provided the money to the foundation to restore the barge we rode in.



The Windmills on one side of the canal were all built out of brick while the ones on the other side were built out of wood and Thatch. The one above is one of the brick windmills.



This row of windmills are the ones bade of wood and thatch.



This windmill is the oldest in the area and was built in 1630. It is still fully functional, but is under repair because of te recent infestation of a wood boring beetle.




The "Miller" (windmill keeper) demonstrated how the sails of the windmill worked. The leadind edge is similar to an airplane wing and the blades can turn without te canvas covers if there is a strong wind.  when the wind is weaker, the canvas is unfurled and tied down across the frame.



Unfurling.



The miller had to climb the blade to connect the ropes to the frame.



Then the canvas is stretched and tied down.



The entire top of the windmill can be rotated 365 degrees.  The miller attaches the chain to a cement post (originally these were wooden posts driven deep into the ground) then he uses his right hand and right foot to rotate the top.  The upper section of the windmill weighs about 4 tons, but this can be moved by one man. This windmill could pump 11,000 Gallons per minute, an amazing feat for 1630.



The beams that make up the framework of the structure are about 12 in X 12 in Necessary to hold up the 4 ton upper stucture



Main Center Gear made of wood



The last miller in this mill had a small organ to play.


One of the local varmits were Moles, so the millers would trap them and give them to the local furier, this is a stole made of Mole Skin Fur.



Bedroom in the windmill



Some of the out buildings and a number of buildings in the area still have thatched roofs and some with thatched sides.  There are still workers that replace and repair thatch.






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