De Rat, IJlst — Attraction in Súdwest-Fryslân

Exciting to visit a windmill currently in use as a sawmill. The turning sails called us off the main road to the town of IJlst and we walked in ignorantly past the sign in Dutch which told us the guided tours didn't start till next month. The owner was very accommodating and said to look round anyway and with some trepidation we kept out of the way. At least five massive saw blades were powering up and down making planks out of tree trunks. We went up to the balcony where there is access to the sails which the team of workers were constantly trimming to the wind direction with massive chain and timber controls. The power in the sails was awesome. It was a very good visit despite being off season. I'm sure even better had they been...

Amazing windmill. We got to have a closer look when the saw windmill was working. Volunteer was showing us around with a great explanation. Love it. Highly recommended and we will...

Prachtige grote molen, waarin op 3 plaatsen tegelijk bomen verzaagd kunnen worden. Er wordt ook werkelijk gezaagd, mits er voldoende wind is, en vriendelijk uitleg gegeven over het werk en de producten. Onder de molen ligt het gezaagde hout te drogen, in het haventje liggen de stammen in het water. Werkelijk prachtig om te zien. Binnen kun je op 3 niveaus de molen bekijken en je kunt boven ook even naar buiten lopen. Prachtig dit...