My friends decided we needed to do some culture – and some shopping – so we got in the car and headed to Sommelsdijk for the annual Holle Bolle Dag. This sees the town transformed into a traditional street market with all sorts to look at and buy and to participate in.
Knowing that I was on a mission to see a windmill, my friend suggested we visit the windmill in Sommelsdijk as it was open for the day. The woman was very excited to have a (grown up) child to show around, so I made sure I listened very carefully. Built in 1705, De Korenbloem is one of the oldest windmills in the Netherlands and the oldest on the Goeree-Overflakkee. The windmill has a diesel engine located on the ground floor that allows the mill to operate when there is no wind,.
The mill was operational that day – in as much as the wings were turning – so it wasn’t possible to go all the way up, but I was taken up to the second floor where I could see the millstones and some of the mechanism working. I think my favourite part of the machinery was the centrifrugal regulator which will, depending on the strength of the wind, move the millstones closer together or further apart. There is also a fabulous smell of wood. Should the brake be engaged, I was told, the place smells as if it is burning.
There are twelve mills on the island, of which one is private and still produces flour. The others – including this one – are maintained in such a way that they are capable of making flour, but don’t.
Among the exciting windmill vocabulary that I learned is: the tail – the big steering wheel where they turn the wings into the wind; the wings – the wooden structures that face the wind; the sails – the canvas put over the wings to make them catch the wind; the beard – the wooden plate under the cap with the name and the date of the mill. My favourite was the bum/bottom, which is a special chiselling tool used to regroove the millstones when they have worn flat; this led to the remarkable explanatory sentence “when de miller needs to do shome bumming, he uses dish“.
After a good hour in the windmill, we wandered round the market, bought some kruukplaetjes, went into the church, had our photographs taken in traditional dress, then went home where we sat in the garden eating frikadellen and kroketten with chips.
