Photographer Euan Myles’s brief film about Nigel Moon, who spent 10 years restoring Whissendine Windmill, an 18th century mill in Rutland, provides a wonderful respite from Brexit and other horrors of the modern world. ‘I’ve never met a man more content than Nigel Moon’ writes Myles. ‘He’s dedicated his whole life to the windmill where he lives and works.’
Moon, helped until recently by his 94 year-old mother, grinds his own flour, bags it and delivers it to local shops. Watching the process is ‘incredible’ Myles notes, ‘it’s a working mill with cogs and stairs going to the top, though you probably wouldn’t fancy going up there. When you’re inside and the sails are turning, it’s like being in a wooden, mechanical clock. The whole thing is shuddering and clunking, and the stones are spinning, the sieves are shaking. It’s a living, breathing building, and Nigel is like the heartbeat, scurrying up and down ladders, keeping the whole thing moving.’
Watch Euan Myles’s film on theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/apr/25/euan-myles-best-photograph-windmill-nigel-moon-happiness
Whissendine Windmill, Melton Road, Whissendine, Rutland, tel: 01664 474172. Nigel Moon’s Whissendine flour is available at Mace Village Store, Whissendine
Photograph: Nigel Moon in his windmill kitchen by Euan Myles (euanmyles.co.uk)
