Categories: [Ailleurs] [Bretagne] [Olympus E500]
Voici le moulin du Birlot, un moulin à marée sur l'Île de Bréhat en Bretagne.
Le moulin fonctionne donc grâce au marée montante et descendante. La marée remplie l'étang (en avant-plan) et la roue peut alors tourner 6 heures puisque la marée descend encore 3 heures et remonte 3 heures pour atteindre la roue.
This is the Birlot tide mill, a mill on the Brehat island, in Brittany.
As it name indicates, the sea mill - or tide mill - is operated by the tides, but not, as is commonly assumed, by the direct action of the ebb & flow.
Its operation is actually the same as for any water-mill once the sea has gone out far enough to leave the wheel dry - the force of inertia exerted by water would otherwise prevent it from turning. In the case of the Birlot mill, this corresponds to half-tide, which means that the wheel can be operated for 6 hours : the last 3 hours of ebbing & the first 3 hours of rising-tide.