While it is a well known fact that Holland is well known for its windmills (among other things), what is less often discussed is the fact that they have windmills for a reason. Two reasons, to be specific in this case. Reason A is because there is plenty of wind here, this being a flat country that everyone likes to bike around in. Reason number B is because they use the mill - get this - to mill stuff! Flour in fact. As in stone ground flour, from grain, pulverized between two stones powered by those cute blades that give windmills their instantly recognizable character. I realize this may not be much of a revelation to some of you, but those of you who suffered through my blog about baking bread at Elsewhere will already have a sense of the delight I felt at being face to face with a real live flour grinding operation. If only there were a stove big enough to bake bread in here...
Kolderveen is not so much a town as a road with houses/farms along it. Those of you from New England will appreciate this. Anyway, this road is a spur off of Nijerveen, also a small but lovely outcropping of dwellings which among other things that I am not aware of boasts it's very own mill. On the way back from a grocery run in Meppel, we saw the blades of the mill turning, which means the mill is open and grinding flour. I can't begin to tell you everything, and pictures won't do it justice, but I'll try a small recap of what I learned about this moellen. It got its start as a young mill in Germany 200 years ago +/- . In 1976 this mill was brought to Nijerveen to replace the old mill, and reconditioned. Everything is made of wood, including the gearing for the stones, which need a regular application of beeswax as a lubricant. This is the only mill in Holland that has a cap that can rotate 360 degrees to catch wind from any direction, and the four blades have louvers that can be opened or closed to regulate speed. The stones (I forgot to ask where they come from) have to be re-grooved once a year, which involves lifting them and filing out grooves by hand, using a template. There are two stones, because by law human and animal feed have to be kept separate. The thatch roof is tied in with nylon, because in case of fire, the nylon will melt quickly and the whole of the covering will fall off. It takes 3 years of study in different types of mills before you get your certification. There is a tiny speaker system for playing heavy metal because the mice don't like it and it keeps them away. There is a sign at the top of the treacherous stairs that says "If you can read this you are facing the wrong way". Since I don't understand Dutch I must have been ok. [For more (and possibly more accurate albeit in Dutch) information you can visit the mill's website at www.molen-sterrenberg.nl]
