Facing the wind

Face turned to chill wind,
Fine sails harness her power.
Proud above the heath.
.....
......
This is Nutley windmill, which is apparently the last open-trestle post mill in Sussex, and one of only five surviving in the UK.   She (mills are She's apparently like ships), is apparently the only one working.

What is an open-trestle post mill I hear you ask (if  you didn't I'm going to tell you anyway)?  Apparently a post mill is one built around a post, and which can be rotated in order to move it to face the wind, the pole sticking out at the back is what is used to rotate it.  The trestle is the wooden structure underneath which supports the mill and millstones.

The post in the mill has been dated to a felling date of 1533—1570, and the rest of the wood to 1738—1770, although there wasn't a mill on this site until 1820, so it must have been moved here from elsewhere.

The mill stands proudly atop a hill in the Ashdown forest and is lovingly cared for by volunteers .... open the last Sunday in every month .... must try and go back when it's open.   

Here endeth today's history lesson.