This restored water mill is in O Pereiro de Aguiar, Ourense.
"The “ o potillón mill ” is the most modern mill of all those that comprise this study of the middle course of the Loña river and of the entire municipality of O Pereiro de Aguiar. Due to its dimensions and structure, in addition to its use, novel and singular, it is, at the same time, a pyramidal example and a paradigm, and this is due to José Blanco Gil, father of the owner Mr. José Blanco Pereira, who used and prepared it. leaving it in the state it is today.
The name by which it is known comes from being next to the concrete bridge built in the first third of the 20th century. The mill is located near the head of the Cachamuíña reservoir.
It is accessed by the Ourense-Ponferrada regional road, from the vicinity of the deviation towards Vilar and Pereiro de Alén on the wall of the dam, point at which another road starts in the opposite direction, to the left, which heads towards the bridge over a steep slope. The towns of Recobío, Pereiro de Alén and O Pereiro, as well as Vilar, from the parish of San Salvador de Prexigueiró, were passed through here to the other side, from Cachamuíña before making the reservoir.
It is a large mill, which has a practically trapezoidal plan, in which the smallest wall is the one on the façade, the two largest being in a transversal arrangement to the riverbed, which is striking because it is unique. This is not an obstacle to its operation, since the water reaches it through a channel parallel to the Loña. It is made of irregular masonry with exterior grouting and later taped with whitewashed cement mortar, with the exception of the river wall. This is the part with the largest building volume, with a large wall to save the great unevenness. The remaining two thirds of the mill structure are built with large hewn stones set in regular courses.
The roof structure is almost rectangular with a four-sided frame and a curved country tile on a wooden eave, which extends to the SE. of the façade in a wide porch, on two posts or wooden right foot of cylindrical section that was used as shelter for the animals that were used in the work of transporting the sacks of grain and flour. On both sides of the door, in the joints, there are still horseshoes in which these animals were tied.
The water reaches the mill through a long channel that runs parallel to the river, to the east, water that collects a few tens of meters above. It is wide but shallow, and is made of mortared masonry.
Mr. Blanco Gil ground in this mill until shortly before his death, at the beginning of 1997. For this reason, he still has a “ moega ” and troughs. This mill also has an electricity production system that he used for his own use in another industry that he had and in his own home, located on the other side of the road.
Aware of the exceptional value of the example for teaching, he showed groups of students the operation of both technical devices on numerous occasions. But with his presence, he also transmitted something priceless: his experience as an old miller and son of a miller, a trade that his great-great-grandfather already had as well."
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