Its windy - lets go and see a windmill!

Off to Steenmeulen windmill at nearby Terdeghem, We arrived just in time for a guided tour of the museum and windmill by the miller's wife. It is the only working brick windmill in the area and it was an experience to see it in action.

Windmill interior

The tour of the museum revealed some fascinating facts about life on the border before the 20th Century (Terdeghem is only a few hundred yards from the Belgian border). The women of the house would cross the border from France with a specially constructed apron like garment with two very large pockets concealed beneath their skirts and would return laden with tobacco, meat, chocolate and basically anything else that would fit. As our guide explained, even in those days things were cheaper in Belgium! They apparently got away with the smuggling as the Customs Officers weren't allowed to touch women.

This area is famous for its beer and we were shown how in days gone by in September the wires supporting the plants were cut and the hop flowers would be picked by hand by workers sitting on chairs in between the rows beneath the wires. The school year did not start until mid September as the children were expected to take part. The hops would then be taken to the mill and placed between the stones to release the flavours before fermentation. Mills in this area served a dual purpose for the Brasseries and to produce flour for the Boulangeries and coarser grain for use as animal fodder. Different stones would be used according to the task in hand.

The museum was full of old farm machinery including those to extract fibres from flax to make into rope.

The wind was strong and having adjusted the angle of the sails to his satisfaction the miller climbed down one of the sails and set them in motion. No canvas on these sails and yet they turned with such force. We were taken inside and on each floor Mrs Miller gave us a detailed commentary on the functions of the mechanisms, how they were constructed etc.

Town centre

On to Cassel, its hill the highest point of the region in the Flemish range. The town dates back to Roman times. It has seen many sieges in its time. During the 1793-94 campaign in Flanders against the French revolutionary army the Duke of York was soundly beaten here and the old British nursery rhyme – The Grand Old Duke of York – recalls the march up and down the hill at Cassel. Our guide book said that the town has a huge cobbled square. It is also approached from Steenvorde by a long cobbled road! We drove, well rattled, through the main square, very pretty – lots of parking but a large notice to the effect that it was a blue parking zone – I'd read somewhere that if you visited the Musee de Flandre they would give you a parking permit. We weren't visiting the museum and so headed on to find a large free parking area only about 200 yards further on and right below the Public gardens . There is a fantastic view over the plain from here and apparently on a really clear day you can see as far as the belfry in Bruges!

Mill

Not surprisingly for its location, the gardens surround an 18C wooden windmill (the hill used to be dotted with numerous mills but this is the only one remaining). Again, being open for tourists, the sails were in motion – this one's canvases were unfurled. You'll also find an impressive statue of General Foch on horseback in the gardens. He had his headquarters at Cassel between October 1914 to June 1915 to follow the progress of the battle of Flanders on the banks of the Yser.

Its windy - lets go and see a windmill!

Cassel, France