Figeac is also on one of the Chemin de Compostelle routes but we hadn’t expected any particularly scenic walking close to the town. Our walking app showed a circular walk direct from the campsite entrance so we decided to give that a go. Very quickly we were into lovely scenery, passing some ‘pilgrims’ walking in the opposite direction down into Figeac. The walk gave views out on to the Chateau de Seyrignac and at the highest point of the walk we reached a restored windmill – Moulin de Seyrignac. Whilst the two dogs on the property barked at us as we stopped to take a look, the owner came out and stayed to chat, surprised to find that we were English. He told us that he would be opening the mill the next afternoon at 3-3.30pm and doing a demonstration, if we would like to pass by again.
So we punctual Brits duly turned up, on the motorbike this time, at 3pm the next day. Monsieur was already set up with pieces of milling equipment and pictures of the restoration ready for visitors. We had a very interesting discussion with him while we waited …. and waited. It gave us time to bond with the dogs at least.
At 3.35 p.m., in true French timekeeping style, the remaining 6 expected guests turned up. The windmill is the only one in the Quercy region still in working order and able to mill flour. The precise date of construction isn’t known but it is believed to date back to the 15th century and property leases and plans of the area show that it existed at that time. The original construction is of high quality with very thick walls, a tiled floor, stone steps, eroded coat of arms and some other features which lead to the supposition that it was built by the local ‘Seigneur’ as part of his estate – the Chateau de Seyrignac is a few hundred yards down the road. The original millstones, in one single piece, are also typical of that era. In the 1930s the mill was sitting in the middle of agricultural land and, during the burning off of crop land, the windmill also caught fire resulting in the collapse of the roof and most of the timbers.
The family of our host lived on adjacent land and, watching the mill fall into further disrepair, purchased it in 1980 with the aim of restoring it – which they have done extremely successfully without recourse to any support from the state, local region or any other bodies. Our host’s father, now in his 90s, did all of the work with the help of local artisans, e.g the sawmill and blacksmith, and advice and plans from other associations involved in the restoration of windmills. All of the masonry is original and the wooden beams, etc were all replaced and installed using techniques of the time, so not a nail in sight. The work was completed in 1989 when the roof was put in place and the wings were fitted. It’s a tower type windmill which has the millstones on the second floor, so they also had to be hauled back into place having crashed to the ground floor when the timbers collapsed in the fire.
The mill has cloth sails which are tied to the framework and Monsieur, no youngster himself, climbed up to put one of the sails in place. The sails have to be facing the wind and are very heavy to move, so Monsieur’s father (still living at the property) used the tractor to pull the sails to the correct position. Frustratingly, it was quite a still afternoon, although the previous day had been breezy (La Tramontane), so Monsieur demonstrated by hand the turning of the sails. The location is stunning with 360 degree views for miles, but it’s chilly in the winter apparently. A miller’s life sounded like very hard work, with sails having to be set – by hand- twice a day to catch the morning and evening breezes and then hauling 100kg bags of wheat to the second floor for milling the rest of the time.
We considered ourselves so fortunate to have been passing at just the right time. There is no advertising of the site, just Monsieur talking to passers by who are interested, and inviting them back. It was also great to have an opportunity to engage with a small group of French people – we’re just not sure how useful windmill vocabulary is going to be !
