Windy Miller!!

A morning at Anglesey Abbey, north of Cambridge, where I bought some freshly milled flour from Lode Mill, a working water mill whose origins can be traced back to the Domesday Book of 1086. Anglesey Abbey is a National Trust country house which was formerly a priory, dating back to the 12th century. After a wander around the Winter Garden where daffodils were already in bloom (two months early!!), we visited the house where a handful of rooms were open and decorated for Christmas (extra photo 1).

After lunch, we retraced our steps and headed north to Welney Wetland Centre in the heart of the Fens. As we approached the reserve, we spotted hundreds, if not thousands, of swans feeding in the fields (extra photo 2). From the comfort of the centrally-heated hide, we spent a couple of hours watching the Winter Wild Swan Feed, with close-up views of Whooper and Mute Swans, and Pochards busy diving beneath the surface of the water for the grain (extra photo 3). As dusk fell more and more swans flew back onto the reserve, from the fields, until there were around 4,000 swans on the lagoon…

As well as watermills, Cambridgeshire is dotted with windmills, and with all the gale force winds around, Windy Miller would be very happy!!


(Back home and planning on catching up with you all once I’ve recovered from the 10 hour return bus journey!!)