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Testimonial: 4 Foot Model Windmill

Hi Robert,

Sorry it has taken me so long to say “Thank You ” for sending my sister at Noosa the Windmill She loved it, I have just returned from seeing her and I thought it was terrific too. We will be telling everyone how helpful you were to us.

Kind regards,

Lyn Rundle

4 Foot Model Windmill

 

By |2021-06-13T10:03:38+10:00December 2nd, 2010|Brass Equatorial Star Sundial, Windmills|Comments Off on Testimonial: 4 Foot Model Windmill

The History Of The Australian Windmill

As Australian as lamingtons, dirt roads and kangaroos, this “Glenview Range” of Model Windmills are faithfully hand made replicas of the windmills that have graced the Australian skyline for nearly a century. Before electricity was available to drive pumps, or large machines to build dams, the windmill had become a vital component of rural life, pulling water from bores and wells.
They can be traced back to the year 644 in Persia. It was Persian millwrights taken prisoner by Genghis Khan who instructed the Chinese in their construction for irrigation, a use that lasts to this day. They became increasingly widespread in Europe from the 12th century to the 19th when steam power caused their slow demise, which was accelerated after World War One by the internal combustion engine.

Australia and it’s vast rural areas was still a stronghold of this inexpensive low maintenance method of watering stock and moving water for irrigation. In 1871 George Griffiths set up a mechanical workshop in Toowoomba thus starting, what is now the Southern Cross Group of Engineering Companies. His first wooden framed windmills were built in 1876 and supplied to Jimbour Station at Dalby on the Darling Downs. Between1876 and1884 these simple direct acting windmills were made in several sizes up to 16ft in diameter.

A patent had been applied for in 1875.The “Simplex Economy” and “Little Wonder” mills were produced in various sizes and often to customers’ specifications until 1893. Usually of timber, the wheel operated behind the tower while reefing (to control the speed) was done by means of a counterweighted vane on a lever at right angles to the vane pole.

1893 saw the first geared windmills and the advent of the wheel on the windward side of the tower. In sizes to 18ft in diameter and with progressive improvements, over 300 of these mills were built in a decade. In 1903 the brand name Southern Cross was given to windmills produced by the Toowoomba Foundry and a range of both geared and direct action self oiling mills is in production to this day. Over nearly a century, in excess of 200,000 have been produced, the majority for use in rural Australia where they have become an indelible feature of our landscape.

Several groups of Southern Cross Mills contributed to the unique visual flavour of Expo 88, while another stands outside the Stockman’s Hall of Fame at Longreach to symbolise the role played by these machines in the development of the outback. Others have been exported to Ireland to pump out peat bogs prior to extracting the fuel, and others to Kwinana where nearly 100 resembling a forest of steel wheels are recovering chemicals from an underground aquifer.
Birdsville’s water supply is driven by a huge, Southern Cross Windmill drawing water from the Diamentina River, while in Hawaii another is irrigating a tropical fruit farm. Architects and developers are increasingly using windmills to add visual excitement and a truly Australian flavour to their projects.But the nicest touch of all is the recent shipment of 100 windmills to their original birthplace – Iran – formerly Persia.

Now……… if you purchase your own personal windmill you will have enough information to generate conversation with just about anyone.

By |2021-06-13T10:03:42+10:00November 28th, 2010|Windmills|Comments Off on The History Of The Australian Windmill

Testimonial: Desk Windmill

My wife ordered the small windmill found on your website and it arrived today, I left the family farm many years ago and to receive this small item in the post today brought back the memories and will make a wonderful desk ornament, thanks for the prompt supply and the item is so authentic.

regards

Kym Zander

By |2021-06-13T10:03:43+10:00August 18th, 2010|Brass Equatorial Star Sundial, Windmills|Comments Off on Testimonial: Desk Windmill

Testimonial: Windmill Tasmania

This well set up 7 foot pumping model Windmill is located on a rise above the homestead to catch the breeze. It compliments the garden and surrounds and highlights the rustic nature of this rural setting.

Another Happy customer, this time in Tasmania

Model Windmill

By |2021-06-13T10:03:43+10:00December 22nd, 2008|Brass Equatorial Star Sundial, Windmills|Comments Off on Testimonial: Windmill Tasmania
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