A Son of the Rock

The Netherlands are famous for windmills but though we had been in that country several times we hadn’t actually visited a windmill there till last June. It was the one at Sebaldeburen in Groningen Province. There was some kind of open day on so we could see inside.

There is a model of the windmill just at the end of the drive:-

In this photo the operator is adjusting the angle the windmill makes with the wind to maximise efficiency. Windmill model to right:-

The windmill lifts water from a ditch (to the left in background) into a canal 1½ metres higher (to the right) by means of an Archimedes screw. A full size model of the screw is at left of photo.

The canal:-

This is the Archimedes screw in operation:-

Windmill turning. For some reason the video is turned by 90 degrees:-