"What is this that stands before me?"

Hi folks!

It's been a while since my last post, but I have a valid reason for it - I was in England on vacation (Not bragging. Oh, who am I kidding? I am. :P ). While I was on vacation there, I visited the building from the photo, which some of you folks may recognize from here:

For those who still don't get it, this building is on the cover of the first Black Sabbath album (called very creatively - "Black Sabbath"). And while the building is iconic nowadays for being on the Black Sabbath album cover, it has a lot of interesting facts around it, too. And today, I'm going to talk about those facts.

First of all, although Black Sabbath is a band from Birmingham (which is a city in the middle part of England - called The Midlands), the building is actually situated in Reading, a city western (or slightly north-western) to London.

Furthermore, this building is actually a watermill. And over five centuries old one, too! It's called Mapledurham Watermill, and it was built in the 15th century. And it's still functional and it's being used on a daily basis.

Finally, within the mill there is an Archimedes' screw water turbine that generates electricity. The turbine produces around 83.3 kilowatts (which is sufficient to power about 140 homes), and this turbine is the most powerful turbine on the River Thames, and the largest of its type in the country.

I'll give you a fun fact about the cover, too! Allegedly, the lady on the cover is holding a black cat in her hands. And since I mentioned the lady, the only thing known about her is that her name is Louise. It's not known where she is, what does she do or not even whether she's alive. Talk about the mysteriousness!

What do you think about the facts? Do you like it? Do you know a few more? Feel free to share it with me.

That's all from me for today. I'll be back!

Cheers!

Pero

P.S. One thing that I forgot to say, but I feel is worth mentioning: to visit the Watermill and take a few photos you'll have to pay 25 pounds. So don't go there with empty pockets!

P.P.S. The title of this post is actually the first verse of the first song that Black Sabbath has ever written. The song's title is also very creative - "Black Sabbath". So, yeah, the band called Black Sabbath named their first album Black Sabbath and the first song they've written and put as number one on the album they also titled Black Sabbath. Sabbathception much?