Back to the future as mill plugs in to wind power

Until now the Hamlyn’s oat cereal mill in Boyndie, near Banff, north east Scotland, has been powered by electricity taken from the National Grid.

But the historic mill, established in 1888, is now powered by a £3.5 million wind turbine, erected 200 yards from the mill.

Alan Meikle, the mill’s managing director, said: “Wind was what powered mills away back in the early days. The Boyndie mill itself would have been steam powered to start with.

“We have lots of wind in a place that’s great for growing oats and we decided to go back to the way mills were.”

John Lea, managing director of the parent company, Mornflake, said: “When my great-great-grandfather introduced steam power into his milling operations, he must have thought the days of the windmill were well and truly numbered. But we’ve come full circle.”