Windmills at Alkmaar, Holland, October 2002
Anyone who fears that global warming, melting ice caps and rising sea levels will destroy civilisation as we know it, can take heart. Holland ties with Denmark in having the lowest level of land of any countries of the world; 7 metres below sea level. If it wasn't for the presence of the dykes 27% of what is now Holland would already be underwater. In fact dykes and holding back the sea has been a major preoccupation with the Dutch for 2000 years, despite setbacks, they have even managed to create a new Province called Flevoland from land reclaimed from the sea in 1986.
Land reclamation is a slow process, dykes are built and canals and pumps used to move the water into rivers which then drain to the sea. In the 1200's windmills were harnessed to do the pumping. The enormity of the task can be judged by the amount of windmills which were built whose distinctive silhouette on the flat line of the Dutch horizon became inseparable from the image of the country which we have today. There are still more than 1150 working windmills in Holland and that number is rising because the past ten years have seen many extensive rebuilds take place.