Green’s Windmill, Nottingham

On a surprisingly mild day in October last year I headed out to Green’s Windmill, somewhere I hadn’t been in at least 20 years. It is a restored and working 19th century tower windmill, though unfortunately when I visited it wasn’t actually working as the sails are damaged and in need of restoration.

I came here a lot as a child, to visit the Science Museum which is attached to the Mill – smaller than I remembered! – and to play in the nearby playground.

The Mill was built in 1807 by a baker, Mr Green. When his son, George, was 14 he began to work in the mill but George was also a self-taught genius, a mathematician and physicist. He made discoveries about electricity, light and wave motion and still has a theorem named after him. He was important enough to the scientific community to have a memorial plaque dedicated to him in Westminster Abbey.

George Green took over the windmill when his father died in 1829, but then let the business out to study, whilst in his 40s, at Cambridge. He died, back in Nottingham, in 1841.

The mill was abandoned and the sails removed around 1862. In 1947 a fire destroyed most of the mill except for the brickwork and it was abandoned again. Finally it was bought by the George Green Memorial Fund in 1979 and by 1986 was fully operational.

It’s really nice to be able to climb up to the top of the mill and see the inner workings, especially as it is so close to Nottingham City Centre. The Museum is more geared to children than adults, but the mill itself would suit all ages. Entry is free and you can buy a range of different flours in the shop (which I did).

You can find more photos here.