Dry Feet

That we can walk, work and live in these flatlands called the fens is owed to the Dutch, their Cornelius Vermuyden and his workers excavated channels and installed thousands of wind pumps to conduct water and pump it to higher levels to drain into rivers and eventually to the sea. He was knighted for his efforts in the 1620s.

Although this area looks as flat as a pancake there are subtle differences in levels, some of the more inland areas are slightly lower than others closer to the sea, hence the need for the pumps to lift water to higher drainage channels dug by manual labour, no JCBs then, which conduct water away.

This windpump functioned in another part of the fens, was dismantled and rebuilt at Wicken Fen - controlled by the National Trust; see the extra. Some kind soul positioned the sails so as to please photographers!

Incidentally, February is usually pretty cold in the UK, but today we enjoyed 18 deg C (64F), sun - not a cloud to be seen, no wind - marvellous.