#windmillrevival

A quiet call to remember what once stood watching.

On the ridge between Appledore and Northam, in a field kissed by salt air and wind, a windmill once stood.

Not a ruin. Not a monument. But a working part of life — turning grain into flour, wind into purpose.

They called it the Northam Windmill or sometimes the Bidna Mill, after the nearby rise. It stood tall above the estuary, where the river narrows and the sea begins to think of home.

Its sails stopped long ago. In 1922, the last of its stones were taken down — some say for safety, others say for usefulness. Some of those stones now hold back the tide near Watertown Farm, quietly continuing their work in a different form.

But here’s a thought. What if we brought it back?

Not just the building, but the idea. The presence. The pride. The reminder.

A place to walk to, to learn from, to stand beside and look out over the rooftops of Appledore, the curve of the river, the burrows and beyond.

We’re not starting a campaign just yet — not officially. But we’re asking the question. And questions, when asked kindly and clearly, have a way of gathering answers.

If you know stories, memories, old photographs, or even feelings — we’d love to hear them.

Because sometimes, the wind turns back toward us. And sometimes, it carries the shape of things we’d forgotten we missed.