Water Mills

 

We used to holiday some years at a wonderful farmhouse in Dolwyddelan set above the River Lledr on the lower slopes of Moel Siabod. Part of the farmhouse included an old water mill but unlike the rest of the buildings it was a ruin.


One of the reasons that comparatively few water mills survive is that the tremendous vibration of the turning wheels would gradually damage the walls meaning that a lot of them fell down quite soon after they stopped being used. This is the water mill at Rosset in Cheshire, photographed in the 1960s or 1970s.


One of the holidays GB and I had with Phil Moss, Mum and Dad in the mid 1960s was in Mid-Wales but I don’t remember much about it. The area was pretty enough but at the time I was so in love with the Lake District that a week spent anywhere else was a waste. This was the water mill on the Afon Teifi near Cenarth.



On the river nearby was a chap in a coracle. I’m not sure whether pulling on one’s ear helps it to go round in circles or not?


Lower Slaughter Mill