Llancayo Windmill Sunset

This is one I've been wanting to do for a while. It is currently in the news (details below). The cold dry weather was ideal to capture a sunset so I got there about 3.40pm and watched the sun going down. Another fantastic sunset day....

Llancayo Windmill was built by a privateer from the Napoleonic Wars. It's restored to its former glory after lying derelict for around 180 years. The five-storey building was built in 1813 by Edward Berry who turned to farming in the Vale of Usk after years of pillaging French ships.It worked for around 25 years before being ravaged by fire in the 1830s.

The grade II listed building then stood untended until local property developer Peter Morgan started work on restoring it in July 2006.Mr Morgan, 46, described the sixty foot windmill as “the most striking landmark on the road between Usk and Abergavenny” and spent £400,000 on work.He bought the windmill along with 200 acres of land 10 years ago. Mr Morgan spent seven years to gain planning permission for work on the windmill. All work was undertaken by eight employees of Morspan Holdings Ltd, the company owned by Mr Morgan and his wife.
Most of the windmill’s original stonework was in good condition.Work focused on fitting steel and timber joists for new floorboards and partitions, new oak windows and eight tons of concrete was used to set a new cap on the tower.The work was subject to various planning stipulations - such as the tower had to be rendered with a mix containing horse hair as had been the case originally. It turns on windy days, but Mr Morgan plans to power it through a generator.

Mr Morgan has been developing properties around Gwent for the past 10 years.He started working for father David’s steel construction company, Morgan’s of Usk, before branching out on his own. Mr Morgan and his wife have also bought Pencoed Castle in Magor.

Mr Morgan is currently in Crown Court, Cardiff on a charge of murdering his mistress (he is now estranged from his wife) who was an escort whom he paid £10,000 a month for her exclusive services. Today, in the court case his defence team allege she was blackmailing him.

Mr Morgan admitted to arresting Police Officers that he had dumped her body in a barn on his Pencoed Castle property after strangling her.
The windmill is currently a holiday let.