Keep on turning - a photo on Flickriver

Keep on turning

            Strijkmolens K and I, two of the three windmills of Rustenburg, Noord-Holland (North Holland), Netherlands

Some background information:

With a population of 220, Rustenburg is just a little village that belongs to the municipality of Koggenland in North Holland. It is located between the cities of Alkmaar near the North Sea and Hoorn at the Markermeer. In 1573, it was first mentioned in a document. Today, it just consists of a main street, two side streets, a handful of residential houses and an inn.

However, Rustenburg is put on the map by its three windmills, the so-called Strijkmolens I, K and L. Seen from their construction, these windmills are clearly ground-sailers. That means, that their sails reach to the ground, which is rather comfortable for their operators, as the sails can be maintained and repaired just by climbing up from the ground. But on the other hand, ground-sailers are also more dangerous than windmills with sails above face value. Serious and even deadly accidents have already happened, because unmindful people were hit by one of the sails while looking elsewhere.

Ground-sailers belong to the main class of Dutch smock mills. Smock mills usually have a weatherboarded or thatched tower with six or even eight sides. They are topped with a roof or a cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind.

Though, the Rustenburg ground-sailers are quite special as they belong to the subclass of strijkmolen (in English: "bow mills“). 14 strijkmolen were ever built in this region of the Netherlands of which just eight are still in existence, although none of them is still in operation (with regard to their initial purpose).

In the face of it, strijkmolens don’t differ from other ground-sailers. It’s their function that makes them different as their purpose was to transport water from one channel to another by their wind power. That’s why strijkmolens were pretty much dewatering pumps. One channel was emptied while another one was filled and water levels were balanced. Hence it’s hardly surprising that strijkmolens were usually located on strips of land between two channels. 

The older two of the three still existing windmills of Rustenburg, Strijkmolens K and L, were built in 1627 and 1631. The younger one, Strijkmolen I, was built not before 1864 to replace its predecessor that had burnt down due to a stroke of lightning. In 1941, all Rustenburg windmills were no longer of any use for the water management of the area, as two complex systems of channels, ditches, lakes and basins, which previously needed the windmills to balance their water levels, were merged with each other. 

In 2000, the three remaining windmills of Rustenburg passed into the ownership of the Schermer Molens Foundation, an organisation, whose goal is the preservation and restoration of its windmills. Meanwhile one of the three windmills of Rustenburg was converted into a museum, while the other two show signs of habitation. I don’t know if they are really inhabited, but it wouldn’t surprise me, as many Dutch windmills have already become cozy litte homes by now, while some others are still in operation.

Taken in: Holland / North Holland / Rustenburg (show map)

Taken on: September 7, 2017

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Sets appears in: • Netherlands 2017 • Buildings - Netherlands more » • Ponds, fountains and canals • Summer « less

Groups appears in: • Nederland/The Netherlands • Dutch more » • European Vacation • Windmills • Geotagged: Netherlands • Windmills: The old fashioned kind. • Mühlen (Mills) • ANTICANDO!!!(P2/Aw3)Please,only Subject ANCIENT • "History & Antiquities (Post 5 - Award 3)" • Historical and architectural gems • Baugeschichte "History of Architecture" • Strictly GeoTagged (no 30/60 limit) • Fotografie Nederland • The concept is Europe • ₪ HISTORY & MYSTERY Society ₪ Add 1 | Award 3 • Sky Above [Please, NO photos with Moon in it!] « less

Camera: Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, f/5.0, 1/1250 sec, 8.5mm, ISO 160 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon PowerShot SX20 IS
Lens:	5.0-100.0 mm
Aperture:	f/5.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/1250)
Focal Length:	8.5mm
ISO:	160
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)
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