Mills?

Of course, the Broads is littered with what look like windmills in various states of decay. In the days before electricity, these mills were used, not for grinding grain, but for pumping huge quantities of water from one dyke to another in an effort to maintain water levels. One of the more celebrated of these mills, can be found at Horsey - close to where we were staying.

Built in 1912, Horsey Windpump is among the youngest of its kind but has seen quite a lot of action through its life. It has seen floods, lightning strikes and storms and has even suffered collapse at one time. It replaced an older pump called the 'Black Mill' because it was covered in a weather-proof fabric coated in tar.

The current building is undergoing extensive restoration by the National Trust who now own it, so it wasn't possible to see much of it - but at least the sails are now in place, having been missing for some time.
Close by, Horsey Mere offered some nice views across the water.

While a few please boats were moored up along a small channel which leads to the mill.

Always with the mill keeping watch...

... and as we walked around the mere, the sight of sails gliding by over the tops of the reed beds, seemed a little incongruous .

Still a few more pictures to come!