LLynnon Mill Flour Hits China

by Liz Thomas
(Macau, South China)

When I was child, in the 50's and 60's, growing up in Anglesey, I spent many a winter morning in the frosty fields in the Llanddeusant area where my father and his friends had shooting rights on various farms.

Pheasant was a staple in our family menu, useful for the times that mother ran out of housekeeping money, roast on a Sunday and, more often than not, cold, with chutney, in sandwiches after school on a Monday.

Highlights of these chilly mornings were often a stop off at Llynnon windmill where we would scramble amongst the ruins looking for blackberries and sloes that had survived the frost and the hungry birds.

My adult life has found me on the other side of the world, in Macau in southern China, but Anglesey is still in my heart and I visit annually.

So it was that on a blustery and drizzly (but thankfully not frosty) morning this May that we found ourselves in the vicinity of Llanddeusant and I decided to show my husband the now renovated mill and another part of my childhood.

As it happened the visit was a rather special one as it coincided with the 25th anniversary of the renovation, two days previously, and the sails were gaily festooned with coloured bunting.

As we were exploring the mill the resident miller told us that they were shortly going to remove the bunting and set the sails.

To fill in time we went to visit one of Llynnon's more recent projects, the reconstruction of two roundhouses which would have been the typical dwelling places of Anglesey people about 3000 years ago (a must-see for any child).

We also saw the remains of the old bakery which baked bread for the local community and the old brick oven can still be be seen today.

Between here and the roundhouses, school-children have been involved in the planting of a new woodland of native trees which would have grown in the area in the past.

But back to the windmill- by now the buntings were down and the millers were busy fitting two of the sails, all that were necessary on this windy day.

As the sails creaked around the milling began and beautiful, fragrant, whole-meal flour began to pour down the chute.

The mill milled, the miller bagged and we bought the freshest and best flour ever. Flour that was destined to travel!

Six thousand miles later that flour found itself in the village of Coloane, on the island of the same name in the Chinese SAR of Macau, the former Portuguese territory on the South China coast.

This has been our home for the last 26 years. The resulting bread was delicious. So now, all I need is a cold pheasant, oh, and some chutney!

Perhaps it's time to share with you the recipe which we used to make the loaves (in the picture above) from the Llynnon Mill flour.

Here is the recipe we used to make bread from Llynnon Mill flour.

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