Mills in Alto Aragón - central eléctrica
Berdún
Berdún is a village on a hill and easily found on the main road N-240 between Jaca and Pamplona. At the foot of the village take the A-1602 towards Ansó and Hecho.
After less than 1 km, where this road is joined by the HU-2040, turn left into kind of an industrial site with
dispersed hangars. Drive up-hill as far as you like and drop the vehicle on a suitable spot.
Walk the dirt track down into the valley of the Río Veral, cross the bridge (1), straight on at the
first branch to the right. Now look for the first row of trees at the right; they border the restitution channel. Follow the row along the
border of the field and you will soon reach the mill.
Pictures: 01.X.2013
The electricity business was located in the short arm
of the L-shaped construction. This section (1) is almost entirely empty: no debris but no machinery either.
Only a couple of empty socles and some wiring may be recognised.
The generator was driven by a belt running over a
large wheel (2) moved by a turbine shared with the milling activities. The turbine is
located in the mill and the axle of the belt wheel passes through an opening in the
wall between both sections of the mill.
On the walls left in pict. 1 some
scribbles and carvings can be found. The lower part in red features several concentric
circles (4), but otherwise than in the grain mill, no flower like ornaments were composed.
The wall in the back carries some numbers and one
larger carving which likely is a year: 1932 (3).
Higher on the same wall a wooden rack (5) with insulators and some old wiring can be seen.
The last few meters of the channel are wider and
deeper than the rest forming a small water buffer, but not a real pond.
Much of the course of the channel (7) is easily recognized by the trees and shrubs along its sides.
The lack of a real pond means that the river could be counted upon to carry always enough water to keep the mill
running.
The channel ends against the back wall of the
grist mill (6). The door controlling the water flow can be moved from the inside. There is a wheel
in a recess on the upper floor of the grain mill.
A nice and wide cárcavo (8) can be seen in the wall (9) facing the village. There is also
a retired belt wheel made of wood.
