Best wishes for Thanksgiving! On a rainy day, we go back to a memorable visit to Kinderdijk in the Netherlands.
Greetings everyone and a Happy Thanksgiving to folks in the United States. As today ends up being a rather rainy day in Massachusetts, I thought that an image with rain in it might be appropriate.
This shot is from one of the stops that my wife had along our cruise with Viking River Cruises from Amsterdam to Basel…
Kinderdijk Rain and Shine
In the Netherlands the weather can change pretty quickly and this day typified that phenomenon; as rain was falling the Sun was already making an appearance creating for a rather interesting vista.
This wonderful site is a great place to visit to get steeped in the history of windmills and what the Dutch did centuries ago to keep their feet dry and water table under control. Of course, this tends to be visited mostly by tourists, as those of us who grew up in the Netherlands are very familiar with windmills, as they literally are just about everywhere across the western part of the country.
A closer look at these behemoths of power! Don’t tilt at them!
In yesterday’s Kinderdijk post I shared the variety of weather conditions that we experienced at Kinderdijk; during the 90 or so minutes that we were there, the only season we missed was Winter!
The classic Dutch windmill is an engineering marvel that can withstand centuries of whatever Mother Nature throws at it…
Rearview of the Cap
Starting at the top, we have the cap of the windmill; its head, so to speak. This section can be rotated around its vertical axis, as it sits on wheels inside the cap. This enables the miller to turn the windmill into the wind, so that it can generate its power.
Capstan Wheel
This rotation is achieved using the capstan wheel, which is on the tail of the windmill. Chains are attached to anchor points in the ground, and then the wheel is turned to rotate the cap in the direction of the anchor point. Note the gentleman in the wood shoes; he’s the miller responsible for this windmill, the Nederwaard No. 2, which houses the Windmill Museum.
Brake Handle
Of course, you need a braking mechanism to slow down rotation of the sails; the brake handle sticks out from the cap; this on his painted in the colors of the Dutch flag, red, white and blue.
Canvas and the Sail
When the miller wants to operate the windmill, one of the interesting jobs is to unroll the canvas to cover the sail; this involves climbing up the lattice and tying the canvas to the sail. Not that it can be reefed, just like a sailboat, to adjust for the strength of the wind. Imagine climbing up in wooden shoes when the breeze is picking up; I think this could be a harrowing bit of work.
A View through the Capstan Wheel
As we’re getting ready to wrap up, I took one more look back through capstan wheel to soak in this majestic view!
I felt lucky to get this turnaround in the weather, because with this sun and clear air, the scenery of Kinderdijk is simply glorious!
A big part of our Rhine river cruise was the opportunity to visit a lot of wonderful places, including some in the country that I was born and raised in: the Netherlands. As the windmills of Kinderdijk were one of the options, my wife and I decided to do that tour…
Rain and Sunshine
As we arrived at Kinderdijk, the sky looked threatening, so luckily I had put the rain gear on my camera, as it started pouring while the sun was bright across parts of this scene. It made for a great dramatic shot that captures 5 of the 19 windmills.
Nederwaard Windmill Nr. 1
Within minutes was dry again and some of the sky started clearing. This is windmill number 1 on the Nederwaard side; this windmill is of the type ‘Grondzeiler’, which translates literally to ‘Groundsailor’. The name makes sense, as the blades or sails come close to the ground when they turn.
When there is rain and sun…
Of course, one of the benefits of these weather conditions is that rainbows will appear and they were stunning!
And then the sun came out!
And then the sun came out in its fullest glory! Even though the light was strong, I couldn’t resist capturing this shot. Let me know how many windmills you count in this shot!
Our guide for this tour was really knowledgeable and made the whole presentation very interesting; it helps that she was born and raised in Kinderdijk! During a break, we chatted in Dutch and she wasn’t surprised to find out that growing up in the Netherlands, I had never visited Kinderdijk; it’s not uncommon, as there are 1,200 historic windmills in the entire country, so you’re never very far from one. As matter of fact, in the house where we lived when I was just finishing elementary school and going to high school, I had British friends who lived in a windmill.
Tomorrow’s Kinderdijk post, I’ll chat about some of the details of these iconic symbols of Dutch culture, and we’ll talk about their operation.
