Moinho de Mare de Corroios

Moinho de Mare de Corroios is a tidal mill in the Tagus estuary.  A gate would allow the rising tide to push water into a pond.  Then at high tide, the gate was closed, and the receding waters were forced, Forced I tell you!, to retreat through the mill, turning mill stones for the grinding of grain.  This mill was in use for 6 centuries, one of many throughout the Tagus estuary, though now turned into a small museum.  You saw some pictures of mud from the Moinho; here are additional, more palatable shots of the Moinho. 

Exhibit illustrating the milling.  The hopper drops the grain down in between the grinding stones.  Because of the timing of the tides, being a miller was a pretty unpleasant business, requiring odd working hours, and numerous skills to keep the machinery working. 

Traffic sign directing you to the Moinho.  

The front of the mill.  The pond that captured the water was to the right.  Maintaining the pond required a lot of land, and protection by the local powers from other competing uses for the same area. 

Bus shelter ad for the Moinho.  It was in operation for 600 years.  Pretty good.  Lets see Intel match that sort of record for one of its chip making plants.  And probably with the same basic equipment here too, no upgrading for copper in the middle of your 500th year.  No Rambus technology here to license. 

The long side showing the openings for the water to escape turning that many grind stones.

The modern roof.  I've seen variations on this basic design on many structures around Portugal. 

South of Tagus River Beach

This must be part of the Tagus river estuary where the Tagus flows into the Atlantic.  It experiences tidal flows.  This is on the South side of the river.  I was walking down an unmarked road dressed in jeans and a shirt, people walking the other way staring at me.  Few signs of civilization.  I turned around and asked my brother-in-law about this and he drove us out to the beach.  It was about 4-5 kilometers, so I'm glad I turned around.  Very pretty.  The mud pictures are from the "Moinho do Mare", a mill driven by tidal flows that operated for centuries and even into the later half of the twentieth century.

Footprints in the sand and dune grass. 

A high tide leaves many little islets in the water. 

Visible in the background, two of the ferry boats that cross the Tagus to and from Lisbon.  A few people and one bird are on the beach, and in the far distance is the Vasco De Gama Pont (bridge). 

Fantastic ripple patterns in the sand left by water draining as the tide leaves. 

Mud uncovered by the tide at the Moinho de Mare de Corroios.  Corroios is the location.  Mare is sea (I'm missing the accent on the e, sorry), and Moinho means mill. 

A close-up of the mud showing bubbles and perhaps an oil slick.  The mud was incredibly ugly in a beautiful way.  I kept imagining having to slog through thus muck.