A look back at recent windmill images from PA Images 🌍

PA Images is the current branding of what used to be called the Press Association. As such it continues the job of providing editorial images of current events to the media, as well as being the holder of a vast archive of historical news photos.

I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what recent windmill news stories they have photo coverage of. Although they maintain their own website, they actually pass off sales to Alamy, so since their search interface is slightly easier to use, and provides for better incoming links, I'll search the Alamy site for PA images as a proxy. (Actually there is a fairly major difference - the Alamy site only contains images that actually exist, whereas the PS site includes a number of other pictures, typically of subjects outside of the UK, which try and link you through to the Alamy site, but fail because these images do not exist there. Interestingly the linkage to Alamy is via searching for the image caption, rather than via any form of permalink).

Events covered in 2025 are:

• Specialist engineers install new sails on the 17th-century Chesterton Windmill in Warwickshire. Picture date: Wednesday March 19, 2025.
• The sun rises behind Chesterton windmill in Warwickshire. Picture date: Sunday February 2, 2025.
• A person walks by Chesterton Windmill during heavy fog in Chesterton in Warwickshire. Picture date: Thursday January 16, 2025.
• Birds fly close to Chesterton Windmill before sunrise in Warwickshire. Picture date: Thursday January 2, 2025.

I'm spotting a definite theme there - the photographer Jacob King is based near Chesterton windmill, and supplies regular photos of it to the agency.

Working backwards through previous years, a few other mills just about get a look in:

• A drone view of Llancayo Windmill in Monmouthshire in the autumnal sunshine. Picture date: Wednesday November 13, 2024.
• Chesterton Windmill in Warwickshire during a cold an dry morning in Warwickshire. Picture date: Saturday March 2, 2024.
• Wilton windmill, Wiltshire, where members of the Wilton Windmill Society are helping to complete the annual Spring clean of the traditional tower mill with fantail, built in 1871 and operational for 100 years. Picture date: Sunday April 10, 2022.
• Willesborough Windmill, a white smock mill built in 1869 is bathed in the morning sunshine as the moon sets behind in Ashford, Kent. Picture date: Thursday January 20, 2022.
• Clouds gather over the 17th century Pistone Windmill near Alyesbury. Picture date: Monday May 10, 2021.
• The moon rises behind Chesterton Windmill in Warwickshire, before the April super full moon on the 27th, which is traditionally known as the Pink Moon. Picture date: Monday April 26, 2021.
• Groups of people watch sunset by Chesterton Windmill in Warwickshire. Picture date: Wednesday March 17, 2021.
• Dense fog surrounds Chesterton Windmill, Warwickshire. 9 November 2020
• Jack, 10, plays with his kite as he enjoys the hot weather by Chesterton Windmill, Warwickshire. 11 August 2020
• Visitors walk by Chesterton Windmill in Chesterton, Warwickshire. 23 July 2020
• Kadie Lane, 11, takes photographs of colourful wildflowers next to Whitburn Windmill near Sunderland. 19 July 2020
• The full moon, also known as the Supermoon or Flower Moon, rises over Chesterton Windmill, Warwickshire. 7 May 2020
• The sun rises over Chesterton Windmill in Warwickshire. 5 April 2020
• Fulwell Windmill in Sunderland is lit up in blue in a gesture of thanks to the hardworking NHS staff who are trying to battle coronavirus. 26 March 2020
• Sunrise by the Chesterton Windmill in Warwickshire. 29 January 2020
• The sun rises over the village of Brill near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. The Grade II* listed windmill dates back to the 17th century. 20 January 2020
• The sun rises behind the Allen Clarke Memorial Windmill in Blackpool, as the chilly weekend continued with the mercury dipping below zero and fog coating large parts of the country. 19 January 2020
• The sun rises over Chesterton Windmill, in Warwickshire. 30 December 2019
• The sun sets behind the Great Haseley windmill in Oxfordshire. 15 October 2019
• People walk their dogs through a layer of morning mist by Chesterton Windmill, Warwickshire, following the hottest August Bank Holiday Monday on record, with temperatures reaching 33.2C. 27 August 2019
• A crane hoists new sails into place as they are fitted to Saxtead Green Post Mill near Framlingham, Suffolk, an 18th century corn-grinding windmill, as part of a ??250,000 conservation project. 22 August 2019
• The sun rises over Chesterton Windmill in Chesterton, Warwickshire. 20 August 2019
• A bailer works in a field in front of Great Haseley windmill in Oxfordshire. 13 August 2019
• Bright colourful rhododendrons in front of Whitburn Windmill on a bright summer day in Sunderland. 4 August 2019
• A view of Willesborough Windmill, a restored and working white smock mill built in 1869 in Ashford, Kent, during the morning sunlight. 12 July 2019
• The sun sets by Chesterton Windmill in Warwickshire. 27 June 2019
• Poppies and wild flowers surround Whitburn Windmill near Sunderland. 23 June 2019
• A lady arrives to cast her votes at a polling station at West Blatchington Windmill near Hove, as voters head to the polls for the European Parliament election. 23 May 2019
• Dark clouds form over the Little Marton Windmill in Blackpool. 6 March 2019
• A near full Hunter's moon rises behind Wilton Windmill in Wiltshire. 24 October 2018
• Flowers at Whitburn windmill, Sunderland, as the hot weather continues. 22 July 2018
• A new sail is fitted to Wicken Village windmill in Cambridgeshire. 9 May 2018
• Robert Weighton, one of Britain's two oldest men, painting a model windmill in the workshop at his home in Alton, Hampshire. Mr Weighton celebrates his 110th birthday on Thursday. 21/02/18
• A family take a moment to look at the Chesterton Windmill, a 17th-century cylindrical stone tower windmill which is Grade 1 listed, outside the village of Chesterton, Warwickshire. 24 September 2017
• Riders climb Brill Hill with Brill Windmill in the background during stage seven of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain from Hemel Hempstead to Cheltenham. 9 September 2017
• Warm weather at Whitburn Windmill in Sunderland. 30 July 2017
• A crane lifts the restored roof cap back onto the National Trust's Horsey Windpump in Horsey, Great Yarmouth. 16 May 2017
• A view of Union Windmill, England's largest Smock Mill in the afternoon sunshine in Cranbrook, Kent. 9 March 2017

I've nothing against seeing pictures of the very photogenic Chesterton, but I can't help wondering whether this blanket coverage is getting a bit repetitive! I'll also note that many of these are not really news items at all - the sun and the moon appear every day in some form, and in summer we have hot days and flowers grow. I suspect that the target for these photos is not so much the news reports, but rather feature articles which are looking for a picture to go with an otherwise unrelated topic. Of course, there may be selection bias happening here - the real news illustrations may age off the system very quickly, leaving only these sunrise/sunset/moon photos around offering some longevity on the system.

I shall be returning to PA Images in the future, to see if other real news does feature in their coverage.