The Netherlands is famous for its windmills. Today there are still more than 1.000 mills. Nowhere in the world you will find as many windmills as near (the Dutch village) Kinderdijk. Around 1740 no less than 19 sturdy mills were built here. They have been well preserved to the present day.

The mills drain the excess water from the Alblasserwaard polders - which are situated below sea-level - after which the water is sluiced into the river Lek (the Rijn).

The powerful mill sails serve to transmit the force of the wind on to large paddle-wheels which scoop up the water. Nowadays power-driven pumping engines do the job, including one of the largest water screw pumping-stations in Western Europe.

The foundation "Wereld Erfgoed Kinderdijk" maintains and preserves the windmills in Kinderdijk.

The preservation is not limited to the windmills themselves, but also covers the area in which the windmills are situated. The foundation makes use of funds from the government and the members of the foundation each contribute to the cost of maintenance. Additional sponsoring should take care of reducing the backlog of repairs.

In 1997 the mills of Kinderdijk were put on the World Heritage List of UNESCO.

Technical info:
ND110 - 10 stops.
C-Pol - 2stops
f/22
ISO100
10 mm
241s (4min01s) exposure

Software:
Lightroom 3.0
PS CS5 - Silver Efex Pro

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© 2010 Kees Smans

19. Gently slide the lower unit assembly up, and make sure the shifting rod goes back in. I used a small screw driver and some needle-nose plyers to get it back in alignment. Gently tap the unit up, and install the two long 10mm bolts with just a drop of medium strength lock-tite on the threads. Tighten the 10mm bolt snug and replace the black rubber plug.