Corfu 2018

Corfu, my 3rd Greek island, having been to Crete in 2014 and Zakynthos in 2015.Corfu is the most northerly of the Ionian islands, whereas Zakynthos is the southernmost. Corfu lies alongside the western coasts of Albania and mainland Greece.

I stayed in Benitses on the east coast, south of Corfu town. Apparently Benitses was the party place for Brits in the 1980s but now is a quiet village and with more Russian and Eastern Europeans than Brits. There are several old abandoned buildings that used to be bars and discos from the busy times.

The beach is shingly rather than sand. There are lots of umbrellas and sun chairs, they are free as long as you buy a drink or something from the respective cafe. The sea was really clear. Although it was late Sept I found the water rather chilly for my liking and only ventured in a couple of times.

looking to the Greek mainland at sunset

sunrise over the Greek mainland

Immediately behind the village is a range of hills. I went up into the hills on a couple of occasions, when looking for the aqueduct and water tunnels. There are lots of olive trees on the island -

View of Benitses marina and looking towards Corfu town -

Benitses village -

Old Corfu Town is a World Heritage Site and dates back to the 8th century BC. There are 3 forts and a lot of Venetian influence.

Old fort and new fort -

The world's largest yacht, owned by a Russian and said to be worth £400 million -

Since childhood I have been a fan of Gerald Durrell and still have many of his books, so I was particularly keen to see the memorial garden to him and his brother Lawrence. They lived in Corfu from 1935-39.

National Gallery

1699 well

On the northwest corner of the island is the Canal d'Amour at Sidari -

See more on the Benitses water tunnels and Roman baths.

Wimbledon windmill

In 2017 I visited Shirley windmill and decided I would visit the other 3 remaining windmills in London. It took me just over a year to go to my second windmill, Wimbledon. Wimbledon is a suburb in southwest London and the mill is situated on Wimbledon Common. As a child I used to go ice skating on the frozen King's Mere pond on the common.

Wimbledon Windmill Museum is open on Sat and Sun from March - October. The mill opened in 1817 and had its bicentenary in 2017 and to celebrate this, admission is free.

The mill had a relatively short working life as it closed in 1864 and became accommodation for 6 families. It is a tower mill, like the one at Shirley.

Inside on the ground floor is an exhibit of many different tools and artefacts

and info on the development of windmills. There is an interesting display of working models of different types of windmill, including this Wimbledon mill -

Wimbledon mill

Upstairs are further displays explaining how the mill worked. and how grain was milled to produce flour. There is a small room preserved as it would have been in 1870.

A steep staircase goes up to the next level in the tower and you can look directly up to the top workings of the mill, and see the large cast iron brakewheel. This wheel used to turn the shaft that ran down the centre of the mill to the large spur wheel on the ground floor.

The sails have been fully restored and are occasionally run on windy days.

See more on the Wimbledon Windmill page.

Also my visit to Brixton Windmill in 2019.