Bygone Days: The old windmill at Portaferry continues to be a witness to history

  • 9 days ago
Some weeks ago I popped down to the Ards Peninsula to attend the St Columba’s College tractor run down in Portaferry.
During my visit I choose to make my way to Windmill Road in the town to shoot a video of the tractors coming up the hill. On top of the hill is of course the old windmill stump, which is also known as Tullyboard Windmill.
When the windmill was in its heyday, it formed a vast network of 50 windmills across the Ards peninsula, known locally as the Little Holland of Northern Ireland. The windmills were largely used for flax scutching and grinding grain for flour.
The Tullyboard windmill was originally built in 1771 by the Savage family and was in use for over a century before it was destroyed in a fire on Christmas 1878.
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