Feature edition
Windmills

This week we bring you the results of our most time consuming project so far, a super guide to the windmills of England.

Over recent weeks we have put all our information from our large ring binder into a system and mixed with it information from a range number of sources, and then looked at the information and photographs we have so far identified, for each identified windmill, sorted by the nearest place with each county split out to a separate page. We have given each a rating, highlighting those that either have sails or are ones that I would like to photograph. The intention is to provide location guides at least on all the highlighted ones and update those we have not already visited as we do, to share with you first hand experience and we are making a good start now by making 53 available this week.

In addition to the lists by county we have a separate listing of all windmills we are aware of with sails, there are a surprising 190 in the list and we are still looking at a few.

Articles include a look at how to go about photographing windmills and the problems that are likely to be experienced with suggestions on how to overcome them. We also look at the many options to consider.

Do you know the different types of windmills, how many sails windmills have, which way round they go, how the sails work and how large some are, well we have all this explained and more.  We have an article introducing windmills explaining a little of their history, and discussing the different types, not going into great detail, but giving enough general background to allow you to understand what you are looking at. This is designed to be the central introduction, that we can add articles to over time to allow more information to be provided. We start this process this week, with another article looking at how one of the three types of windmills work, the smock mill,  what's inside them, with a drawing, photos and even the names of parts explained. This is short, but in enough detail that when you look around any windmill of any type you would understand what the parts are and if someone started talking to you about the parts you would understand what they were talking about. Another page is the start of a larger listing of all terms relating to windmills, probably already more than you would need but we will add more terms to this as we come across them. We also have a page with windmill information links, although the links from individual windmills location guides and the county pages will be far more use to you.

One of the shortest articles we have ever produced, is a page that shows the tallest windmills in the UK,  it has just three shown. Finally we have an article on how the county lists was created.

All of this forms a part of the new section added this week on windmills and windmill photography. You will see that from the page headers you can move around this section, as well as back to the the main section. From time to time we will be revisiting windmills a county or two at a time, with suggestions for routes around to see a good selection and updating those in that county. At some point we will get around to adding Wales, Scotland and outer British islands, but there are not a lot of windmills in these areas so its not such a major task. Of course this is not intended to be our work alone and we would particularly like to hear from people who can check out, on the ground, windmills in an area, perhaps your local area, or perhaps you have a project that you would like to take on to share information with other photographers.

• How to photograph windmills

• About windmills

• How a smock mill works

• Tallest windmills

• New complete windmill section, with its own contents
   and more

Listings of windmills and location guides

• A selection of windmills  

• All windmills with sails  

• Windmills by county  

• How these lists was created 

Reference material

• Windmill terms  

• Windmill information links 

There are 53 location guides added this week of windmills.

Alford Windmill, Alford, Lincs

Ashton Windmill, Chapel Allerton, Somerset

Berkswell Windmill, Balsall Common, Warks

Bidston Windmill, Bidston, Merseyside

Bocking Windmill, Braintree, Essex

Bourn Windmill, Bourn, Cambridgeshire

Brograve Mill, Wraxham, Norfolk

Bursledon Windmill, nr Southampton, Hants

Chalton Windmill, Chalton, Hampshire

Chesterton Windmill, Warwickshire

Cobstone Windmill, Ibstone, Bucks

Cranbrook Union Mill, Cranbrook, Kent

Denver Windmill, Downham Market, Norfolk

Dobson's Windmill, Burgh le Marsh, Lincs

Ellis Windmill, Lincoln, Lincs

Finchingfield Post Windmill, Finchingfield, Essex

Hanson's Windmill, Burgh Le Marsh, Lincs

Heage Windmill, Heage, Derbyshire

Heckington Windmill, Heckington, Lincs

Hewitts Windmill, Heapham, Lincs

Horsey Wind Pump, Horsey, Norfolk

Jack and Jill Windmills, Clayton, Sussex

Kings Windmill, Shipley, Sussex

Lacey Green Windmill, Nr Princes Risborough, Bucks

Lambrigg Mill, Sea Palling, Norfolk

Lockgate Mill, Freethorpe, Norfolk

Lytham windmill, Lytham St Annes, Lancs

Marsh Mill, Thornton, Lancs

Maud Foster Windmill, Boston, Lincs

Meopham Windmill, Meopham, Kent

Moulton Windmill, Moulton, Lincs

Mount Pleasant Windmill, Kirton in Lindsey, Lincs

Muttons Mill, Halvergate, Norfolk

Pakenham Windmill, Pakenham, Suffolk

Pitstone Windmill nr Pitstone, Bucks

Rottingdean Smock Mill, Nr Brighton, Sussex

Saxtead Green Post Mill,  Suffolk  

Sibsey Trader Windmill, Sibsey, Lincs  

Stembridge Tower Mill, High Ham, Somerset

Stocks Mill Windmill, Wittersham, Kent

Stow Mill, Paston, Norfolk

Thaxted Windmill, Thaxted, Essex

Thelnetham Windmill, Thelnetham, Suffolk

Tower Mill, Napton on the Hill,  Warks

Tysoe Windmill, Warwickshire

Ullesthorpe Windmill, Ullesthorpe, Leics

Upminster Windmill, Upminster, London  

Waltham Windmill, Waltham, Lincs

Wicken Smock Mill, Wicken, Cambridgeshire

Willesborough Windmill, nr Ashford, Kent

Wilton Windmill, Nr Grafton,  Wiltshire

Wimbledon Windmill, Wimbledon, London  

Wrawby Postmill, Wrawby, Lincs