Seven Centuries of the English Windmills

This video, narrated by Janet Suzman, tells the story of the English windmill over seven centuries. They have fallen into disrepair quickly as the harnessing of the wind has become redundant. But wind power is gathering new interest, and some are on the mend.;Here, David Bent, windmill owner and restorer, describes the innovations that helped to develop these once common mills, and the people who earned their living by the turning of the sails. The earliest known windmill in England was built at Wigston Parva, Leicestershire, over seven centuries ago, and since that time the English windmill has undergone a number of radical transformations. From the wooden post mill and the timber smock mill, to the stone tower mill, this programme shows windmills scattered over the hills of the Midlands, East Anglia adn southern England.;The narrator, Janet Suzman, evokes the working lives of millers past and present, tracing the dignified and often dangerous story of wind power over the seven centuries of the Englsih windmill.