A short film of National Trust workers turning the sails at the usually static Stembridge Tower Mill in High Ham. The sails are turned manually every four months to ensure even wear on the mechanism and to prevent anything seizing up.
Tourne, Tourne, Petit Moulin – a traditional song about windmills sung in French!
This is a very popular tune and sung by most children in France.
The lyrics roughly translated go something like this:
Turn, turn, little mill
Clap, clap, little hands
Fly, fly, little bird
Swim, swim, fish in water
Little mill is turning well
Little hands are clapping well
Little bird is flying well
Little fish are swimming well …
And in the original French:
Tourne, tourne, petit moulin
Frappent, frappent, petites mains
Vole, vole, petit oiseau
Nage, nage, poisson dans l’eau
Petit moulin a bien tourné
Petites mains ont bien frappé
Petit oiseau a bien volé
Petit poisson a bien nagé
Visitors to the early 19th century Stembridge Tower Mill in Somerset, south-west England.
Stembridge Tower Mill in High Ham, near Langport, Somerset, is now to be open to the public on the first and third Sunday of each month. 1pm to 4pm. Tickets, which include the admission to the interior of the mill, are priced at £4 for adults, £2 for children. National Trust members get free admittance. These open afternoons are led by the archaeologist, historian and current tenant custodian Simon Haines. He and his assistants will be on hand to answer any questions related to the history of the mill.
The mill grounds are closed to the public at all other times.
More about Stembridge Tower Mill.
The postman just delivered this rather fine postcard. It features an unidentified windmill and a dog taking some Dutch children for a ride in a cart! Mailed in 1953.
A 1950s postcard featuring a Dutch windmill and dog cart!
Another picture of a dog cart and windmill from our mills archive.
See also our page of old picture postcards of windmills in Holland.
Here we have a newly acquired old picture postcard. This photographic postcard is of a mill in Gheluwe, in the Flanders region of Belgium. See also our section on Windmills in Old Pictures.
An old picture postcard of a windmill in Gheluwe, Flanders, Belgium. This was posted in 1912 to Posen, Germany.
A scan of a old French postcard from our extensive picture archive.
A 1905 picture postcard of a ruined windmill in St. Leon, Allier, France.
More images ftom our picture archive of mills in France.
Here’s a super pen and ink drawing of Stembridge Tower Mill, which since the late 1960s has been under the excellent care of the National Trust. The image may be printed off and coloured in. An activity suitable for children of all ages! More colouring pictures featuring windmills.
Wind mill colouring page. Stembridge Tower Mill in High Ham, near Langport, Somerset, south-west England.
More on the High Ham Mill.
Latest arrival: an old postcard of the mill in Mark Cross, Sussex.
See also our section on England’s windmills on old picture postcards.
An old postcard featuring two of our favourite things – a windmill and a steam train. This postcard shows a mill in Lund, Sweden, and was posted in 1903.
More old photos and picture postcards with Swedish windmills on them.
Click to see a larger version of these Ukrainian stamps.
A recent acquisition – a block of unused mint postage stamps from Ukraine.
These feature wonderful folk pictures of windmills and country life.