Spread along the coast of West Wales are the remains of seaside mills. The corn was brought from the nearby farms and the many tiny harbours, in the manner of Cornwall, provided an efficient sea route out for the milled grain.
Today they provide great photo opportunities. I doubt that they will ever be called into action again, but they tell a story of times gone by.
This particular mill was on the bay near the village we stayed in. In the village itself were two other buildings that were no longer in use - a Baptist Chapel and a Methodist Chapel. There were no places of worship, as there were no mills, that were still in use.
So do redundant chapels also reflect changing times and times gone by?
Well, no. Whereas the products of farms nearby have new and better methods of refinement, transportation and therefore business, the redundant chapels tell another story. The village has just as many souls in as ever it had, God is still the God who the villagers once worshipped, Jesus story of salvation is still the same, the 21st century souls in the village are all, like their forebears, going to pass into judgment and eternity.
There is nothing improving or efficient about redundant chapels. They are just a community's death-mark.
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