I had never seen a Dutch Cap being put into place and was surprised at the speed and efficiency with which the task was done but it took three men to do it.

Things I have learned this month mainly from the Auntie Beeb.

1. " The Universe is full of Galactic cosmic rays which are high-energy particles spewed out from Supernovae  (exploding stars).  But more importantly according to 'Horizon' Man on Mars: Mission to the Red Planet their effects are pernicious  because by affecting the growth of brain cells they can induce memory loss."

And clearly that is why I can never remember where my glasses are!


2. According to The Culture Show: Lego the building block of Architecture there are 86 pieces of Lego for every person on the planet and despite this I can still never find a 'flat two~a' when I need one.
Further more by 2019 there will be more Lego people in the world than real ones! Surely there is a Terminator meets Doctor Who episode right there... "The Rise of the Lego People".

Still if they tried to take over the world we could just step on them. Ooo, no, actually that really hurts  doesn't it!

A friend of mine was recently bemoaning the task of hoovering because she kept on building up terrible static charges and every now and again she was suffering the inevitable 'crack' as the power unleashed itself onto her.

I could thoroughly sympathise with her on this as in the past I have suffered really badly on many occasions from static shocks.
 These shocks truly hurt and in some instances a dull pain lasted several hours.
In my case it was predominately at work in the Supermarkets. By far the worse scenario was whilst restocking the paperware section.
Paperware?
Just a nice way to say bog rolls!


They come packaged in large polythene parcels and to open the outer packs you can use a special knife which is designed not to tear the vulnerable packets within.  Alternatively, if you are skilled enough, you can rip it open on the seam that it was sealed at.
Either way the objective is to get the product onto the shelf as quickly as possible.... Time is money.
This means that you are ripping these plastic sacks with quite a momentum and as a result generating some static.
Now a combination of things start to enhance the problem. Firstly the sheer quantity of cases opened to fill a whole section. Then the disposal of all the empty plastic outers which are normally scrunched up and squeezed into the first one opened. Your arm rubbing the side of the plastic continuously ~ Think rubbing a balloon on your head but on a more industrial scale.
Finally there is no escape for the charge it just sits there and you become a human accumulator, a time bomb if you will.

Then just to add some spice to the mix both the shelves that you are restocking and also the table that you work from are made from metal and are very much earthed.

CRACK!

It is truly no exaggeration to say that it is a highly audible noise when she blows and my God does it sting. There have been many, many times when it has made me yelp in pain much to the astonishment of passing customers. Normally leaping from the finger tips to the metal surface. The most concerning though are those that leap to the table because it is, well, er... thigh height and extremely disconcerting as a shock cracks through your trousers just inches away from the crown jewels!

I have never understood why, despite the pain, whenever we witness anyone getting a static shock we can't help but laugh at the poor misfortunate. Even writing this very sentence I was unable to prevent a cruel smile from spreading across my face, quite involuntary. Why is that?
It is the same with the funny bone or even a 'ricked' neck. What part of Darwin's theory explains that?


So to conclude this ramble about static I just thought I would tell you of two of my coping strategies in the hope that they may help either yourselves or my friend Shirley.

Strategy 1.

Whilst working and on completion of each task try to beat the shock at it's own game. It seems to love jumping any gap of about an inch so instead of lightly touching the metal surface slam your hand, palm down, with a bang. Any static will be displaced without the shock, however in my case it normally made the customers jump in a different kind of shock.

Strategy 2.

Far more fun this one but truly works. When you feel the charge has built up sufficiently (this is easily detected by just glancing at the hairs on your arms, are they standing to attention) then you call a colleague over. Ask them what is on the end of their finger and when they lift the hand to look you place you finger up to theirs and ZAP! It jumps to them often with a real crack and the great thing is that for some reason which I don't understand they alone feel the pain... BRILLIANT.
Oh a great variation on this is to touch someones nose.

Shirley, may I suggest that you try it on the cat's nose.



Back to The Old Bakery now and news that at last the Windmill has received a new top to replace the previous one which was falling apart.

The owners had the old one dismantled in

August and it has just looked like a fat chimney ever since.
The Dutch Tower Mill was built 170 years ago in 1844 by my 7th cousin, 3 times removed, a John Pegg. It was one of the first Tower Mills built in England, cutting edge technology at the time.

It original stood at 40' tall, 5 stories high, it became derelict around 1926 and during the war the Dutch Cap was removed along with the 5th floor. This was because it was thought to be a danger to the Lancasters and Wellington Bombers flying out of Foulsham airport just 2 miles down our road.

It is currently lived in and part of a house at it's base.

Around Christmas time we saw that a whole new cap had been built at the bottom of the mill and we guessed that they were going to have to use a crane to lift it into place.
However it was a month before they finally brought the crane in and myself and my uncle John who was lodging with us went into the garden to watch this unusual event.
I had never seen a Dutch Cap being put into place and was surprised at the speed and efficiency with which the task was done but it took three men to do it.
It was lifted into place so quickly that I nearly missed the photos.

Finally it was planted firmly in place painted a beautiful gloss white which we hoped would look stunning against a blue sky.

It is a real piece of our family history as well as this house's and we even have the bit of paper that John Pegg waved at the auctioneer when he bought the land that he later built the windmill on.

So once again our view from the back of the house has been restored and all is right with the world.

 

In the evening sun it is even more spectacular.....

Post Script....

It is always fascinating when researching bits and pieces on the internet and often illuminating.

For instance you can find original job ads for workers in the mill....

Situations Vacant
To Millers & Bakers
WANTED, a steady active Young Man to work a WINDMILL. Also a Young Man to the BAKING BUSINESS & go out with the Cart.
Apply to Mr. J. Pegg, Hindolveston Mills.
Norfolk News - 15th August 1868

You can also find old photos...

And then in looking into the Airfield just down the road I find that it had Lancasters, Wellingtons, Mosquitos, Halifax and American B25s stationed there. Also 5 of the hangers were used to hide the Horsa Gliders used in the D Day operations.

Then right at the end of the Wikipedia page it states....

"Currently, the runway is occupied by two large chicken houses and a photographic and film studio producing adult movies operates from the old fire station on the east side of the airfield."

I wonder if I should nip over there and give them a B&B card because there could be some business there!

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