Sunday 25 July 2010
Saturday 12 July - the last post
Well, this is it: my ostensible reason for bringing the tractor all the way to Saillagol. The restored windmill and the restored tractor came together to move the earth - well, the tower of the mill, anyway.
Everyone was thus in good shape for the ceremony itself, starting with the attachment of the canvas to the sails (sadly, no adult volunteers from my family to climb up and fix them in place). Although there was barely enough wind to turn the sails, even after the tractor had turned the tower into the wind (see video above), village teen power hanging onto the sails was enough to provide some semblance of motion. All this was followed by a short speech by me (read, I'm afraid, since at times of stress even my rudimentary French tends to desert me), to which M Christian Frauciel, the Mayor, responded with charm and wisdom. Many people climbed the tower to see the internal workings of the mill, though, with barely a zephyr of wind, we were unable to grind any corn on this occasion. We were very pleased that no-one fell down the unprotected stairs, nor out of the upper windows. One thing we have learned is that "health and safety" rules in France are subject to a great deal of pragmatic interpretation.
Barbara and I were delighted that all our family (4 children plus spouses/partners, plus 7 grandchildren) were able to join us in Saillagol for this amazing day, and we felt extremely proud to have been able to restore to working condition the windmill, which in many ways embodies the spirit of this lovely little village. I felt pretty good about the tractor too, though I know I have to replace the petrol tank and do something about the oil leak from the rear axle - and yes, I did get the back wheels swapped around beforehand, in order to forestall any more comments about them rotating the wrong way....
I think we may have to open the mill again for next year's fête - suggestions for an alternative to Pimms will be gratefully received.
Because I don't seem to be able to add anything else to this particular post, a series of photographs selected from the many kindly provided by Michel Poreaux, Victoria McArthur, Sam Hyde, and Tom Hyde will follow, I hope, in a supplementary post.
It was the weekend of the Saillagol village fête, and we were asked if it would be possible to open the windmill to the public as part of the celebration. Since we were also intending to have a ceremony to re-inaugurate the mill following last year's restoration, we suggested combining the two. We expected about 100 people, but I reckon more like 150 came. The previous evening there was a film show in the village square where M Bord of the Quercy Rural Video association showed two films - the first showed the mill in 1983, when it was still working, during the visit of a party of school children. The second was a very complimentary summary of the tractor trip and last year's mill restoration. Unfortunately, I think it is too large to attach to this blog, at least at my up-load speeds. We decided to offer Pimms to everyone in order to add a flavour of the English summer party to the affair, at the slight risk this could be misunderstood. In fact, after a few tentative questions (is it "Coca"? is is alcoholic?), Pimms went down a storm, and we got through over 30 litres of the stuff.
Everyone was thus in good shape for the ceremony itself, starting with the attachment of the canvas to the sails (sadly, no adult volunteers from my family to climb up and fix them in place). Although there was barely enough wind to turn the sails, even after the tractor had turned the tower into the wind (see video above), village teen power hanging onto the sails was enough to provide some semblance of motion. All this was followed by a short speech by me (read, I'm afraid, since at times of stress even my rudimentary French tends to desert me), to which M Christian Frauciel, the Mayor, responded with charm and wisdom. Many people climbed the tower to see the internal workings of the mill, though, with barely a zephyr of wind, we were unable to grind any corn on this occasion. We were very pleased that no-one fell down the unprotected stairs, nor out of the upper windows. One thing we have learned is that "health and safety" rules in France are subject to a great deal of pragmatic interpretation.
Barbara and I were delighted that all our family (4 children plus spouses/partners, plus 7 grandchildren) were able to join us in Saillagol for this amazing day, and we felt extremely proud to have been able to restore to working condition the windmill, which in many ways embodies the spirit of this lovely little village. I felt pretty good about the tractor too, though I know I have to replace the petrol tank and do something about the oil leak from the rear axle - and yes, I did get the back wheels swapped around beforehand, in order to forestall any more comments about them rotating the wrong way....
I think we may have to open the mill again for next year's fête - suggestions for an alternative to Pimms will be gratefully received.
Because I don't seem to be able to add anything else to this particular post, a series of photographs selected from the many kindly provided by Michel Poreaux, Victoria McArthur, Sam Hyde, and Tom Hyde will follow, I hope, in a supplementary post.
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