Mills

Perforation: Harrow   Perforation type: 13x13 ¼

Subject:

The souvenir sheet includes 6 stamps from 56 cents with five images of windmills and one of watermill.

In the fields of the sheet shows one of the mentioned mill on the stamps - The Alphonse Daudet's windmill in Fontvieille.

 

Size (of sheet, booklet) mm: 143x105

Subject:

Windmill in Montbrun-Lauragais*

Additional:

*Moulin de Montbrun-Lauragais - Atypical tower mill from the area south of Toulouse. The mill was built in 1680, according to the datestone over one of the doors, and worked until the end of the 19th century with one pair of millstones and all wooden machinery. It was modified in the early 20th century to have two pair of millstones, one set for flour and the other for animal feed, driven by wooden and iron machinery and continued to work until 1960. An electric motor was installed in 1952. The mill was acquired by the municipality in 1991 and was fully restored by 2003 since when it has been open to the public.

Subject:

Windmill in Cassel*

Additional:

*Cassel is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.

It sits on a hill where once there were twenty mills overlooking the plain of Flanders. These mills of the Nord region certainly made an impression on Herman Webster during World War I (see page 24). This post mill, the mill of Ruytoor Arneke, was acquired by the local tourist board in 1947 on the death of the last miller who was crushed in the
gears when he fell asleep in the mill. It has two pairs of millstones although one pair is driven by an electric motor. As one of the first mills to be restored in the region it used parts from a number of different mills that were being demolished.

Subject:

Windmill of Aigremonts Blere*

Additional:

*Bléré is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.

This moulin cavier, or hollow post mill, is just south of the town of Blere which stands on the left bank of the River Cher in Tourrraine. It was built in 1848 but only worked until 1877. The mill was restored between 2004 and 2008 at a cost of over €200,000. The basement structure was rebuilt to its original dimensions and the tower rises about 7.50m with the buck on top measuring 2.40m to its ridge, consequently the mill has a total height of 18m above the ground. The Berton sails are 14m diameter giving 40 m2 of sail area. The mill is owned by the town of Blere and is open to the public.

Additional:

*Windmill of Daudet, Fontvieille.

Located about 9km from Aries in Provence this little tower mill is only 5.60m high. Built in 1814, it ceased work in 1915 and became an historic monument in 1931 at which time it was restored by the Society of Friends of Alphonse Daudet as a museum to this famous French author. Daudet (b.1840) never lived in a mill but is said to have spent time in a mill for inspiration. However which mill he visited out of the four in the area, while he relaxed and wrote his famous "Lettres de mon Moulin", is not known but the municipality has chosen the best preserved one, the Moulin Ribet.

 

The mill also appears on a French stamp dating from 1936. There also you can read about the mill and about the writer.

Subject:

Windmill in Farine, Villeneuve-d'Ascq

Additional:

*Moulin a Farine Villeneuve-d'Ascq
Villeneuve-d'Ascq is just south east of Lille in the Nord department. This post mill was originally built in 1776 in the Pas de Calais and has been moved a number of times. It worked until 1949 after which it became used as a chicken coup and rabbit hutch. The remains of the mill were purchased by the Association Regionale des Amis des Moulins Nord Pas de Calais in 1974 and brought to Villeneuve-d'Ascq for restoration, which was completed in 1986. It now part of a three mill and museum complex dedicated to molinology which is open all year to the public.

Subject:

Birlot watermill*

Additional:

*Moulin du Birlot, He de Brehat.

The only watermill shown on the stamps is a tide mill on the He de Brehat just off the north coast of Brittany which was built in 1633. Major work was carried out on the mill, the seawall and the road in 1744 commemorated by this date being inscribed on the stone door of the mill facade. The mill continued to grind until 1920 when a baker came to live on the island importing white flour from the mainland. Then the mill started to deteriorate with the roof collapsing eventually in the storms of 1987. The town bought the mill in 1990 and the Association of Birlot Mill was created in 1994 to raise funds and manage the restoration. Initially the roof, doors, windows and floors were replaced and eventually the new waterwheel and internal mechanics so that the mill now grinds buckwheat regularly for demonstration.

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This information has been taken from a periodical magazine of the Molinology Associations "International Molinology"

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Look also at blackprints and FDS for this issue