Norfolk is famed as a county of windmills and there
is no better way of seeing them than from the air. In this
superbly illustrated book, using aerial photographs taken
by Mike Page, the reader is taken on a flight across the
county looking at all the sites where windmills are still
to be seen.
In total there are more than 200 sites with
some visible remains. Numbers are considerably
boosted by the survival of 70 or so drainage windmills
in the Broads’ area, many of which worked into the
1940s. The mills themselves exhibit variation across
the county, not least in terms of their proportions from
the smallest corn mill with just three floors, up to the
tallest, Sutton Mill, with nine floors.
A number of those
that survive last worked as the earlier manual type of
mill which had their cap and canvas-covered common
sails hauled round into the wind by the millman. There
is also great variety in what has become of the mills
since they ended work. As can be seen in the photographs,
some are beautifully restored; some remain
picturesque derelicts and some are perhaps not immediately
recognisable as windmill remains.
Assembling an A to Z (or in fact an A-Y), of Norfolk
Windmills was something of a challenge for the authors
but this is the first time that such a comprehensive
aerial listing has been attempted, which with Alison
Yardy’s expert commentary,makes this one of the most
important books on the subject ever published.
Gorleston-born Mike
Page began his working
life as a boat builder but in
1973 in partnership with
his wife Gillian began a
garage business at Strumpshaw,
east of Norwich.
He's now semi-retired and his son Martin
runs the garage, which gives him more time
to pursue his flying and photographic
interests. He has a considerable library of
aerial and wildlife prints which he makes
readily available. In addition he supplies
newspapers with newsworthy pictures and
recently has produced aerial photographs
for the Eastern Daily Press in a series of
supplements that have been very well
received. His first major project was a
number of videos and DVDs of the East
Anglian Coast. All Mike Page's books of
aerial photographs of Norfolk and Suffolk
have enjoyed a huge readership in East
Anglia and beyond.
Alison Yardy, is Heritage
and Landscape Officer for
Norfolk County Council
and is acknowledged as
one of the county’s
experts on windmills.
Imprint: Halsgrove. ISBN 978 0 85704 101 2, hardback, 214x230mm, 144 pages. Published August 2011.
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