Willesborough Windmill Bread Flour

At the weekend my fiancé and I were visiting my family down in Kent. We had a bit of a lazy Saturday and trundled along to a local farm shop, Perry Court, late morning.

Perry Court is set on an apple & pear orchard and we got some great stuff including their own apple juice, a bag of their dried apple crisps (an interesting snack!), some homemade rolls and a bag of Willesborough Windmill Strong Wholemeal Flour, pictured on the left.

I had to buy some, obviously, and it isn't too pricey at £1.99 for a 1.5kg bag. 

I grew up near Willesborough Windmill, and it is a striking part of the landscape in that area and something I very much associate with my childhood. I am very excited that it is now producing flour - if I still lived there this would have been a very local product, but I supposed now I have hauled it all the way to Coventry, it kind of ceases to be 'local'! But nevermind, we were making the trip anyway, so it was a bonus to come back with something so reminiscent of my childhood, yet so useful too!

 

I remember when the windmill used to look like this, which is partly why I find it so amazing that it now has the capacity to produce flour. In fact, this is a great webpage showing how the windmill has changed over the years.

If I were really to do this flour justice, I suppose I ought to have handmade the bread, but you wouldn't catch me having the energy to do that on a school night! So, I let my breadmaker do the work. It has made a really nice loaf - in fact, I would go so far as to say it is one of the best wholemeal loaves I've ever had: flavourful, not too dry and fairly light in texture for a wholemeal loaf. But my tastebuds are more than likely coloured by fond childhood memories - it is quite stunning how taste can be influenced by so many other factors.