Charlotte Van Ouwerkerk -
An icy wind blows the windmill’s soaring sails, turning them quickly and cranking the large stone wheels inside in a time-honoured method of grinding grain.
“I live from the wind,” says Dutch miller Maarten Dolman, one of only about 40 people in the Netherlands to still earn a living from making flour in a way that has changed little down the centuries.
“It’s been my engine for the past 30 years,” he smiles, as jute sacks quickly fill with powdery white granules.
After making his early morning deliveries to local bakeries, Dolman starts on his daily production of up to 1,000 kg of flour aided solely by the power of the wind.
But the 56-year-old has renewed pride in his work at his windmill the ‘Windotter’ in the town of Ijsselstein.
Last month, “the craft of the miller operating windmills and watermills” was officially included on UNESCO’s list of “the intangible cultural heritage of humanity”.
“Our craft is now protected. It is very important as well for the next generation coming after us to conserve and learn this job,” says Dolman.
The father of two, who seems permanently covered in a light dusting of white, says he was “born in flour”.
His own father, who bought his first mill in 1960, taught him the trade as a boy, and now one of Dolman’s two sons is learning the skills from him to carry on the business.
Passing on his craft is a valuable mission in a country where, at their peak in the 19th century, there were once 9,000 windmills.
Now professionals and volunteers help maintain and operate about 1,200 remaining windmills to grind flour or regulate water levels — an important defence, with 70 per cent of the Netherlands lying below sea level.
Dolman, Chairman of the Guild of Traditional Flour Mill Millers, helped lead the fight to win UNESCO recognition.
Recognition means the UN’s educational, scientific and cultural organisation has committed to financing certain activities to safeguard the millers’ craft, including training, internships and educational activities.
Since 1972 when it was founded with the help of Dolman’s father, the Guild of Volunteer Millers has offered courses in theory and practice.
The courses include learning how to read the wind, or how many sails are needed, and are given by 105 instructors and 11 master millers.
Dutch millers “must pass this on to young people so that the craft survives,” insists Dolman. — AFP
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