MOTnews 49 (28/11/2003)

Experimenting to learn at the MOT!

Move a tree using only muscle power.

As you know, the Museum for Old Techniques specialises in techniques based on water, wind or muscle power. Not only do we carry out theoretical research, we sometimes also roll up our sleeves and physically try out what we have been studying.

Before motorised cranes and huge trucks were available to move heavy loads, these activities were carried out with equipment that although simple, was often highly effective. You could, for example, roll a large tree trunk over smaller trunks. We tried this method as a learning exercise during a pleasant autumn afternoon at the MOT. A 14 metre-long tree trunk weighing 500 kilograms was transported from the front to the back of the Museum building on rollers. The whole MOT team participated in this event and indeed we all discovered how easily a heavy object could be moved on rollers. In light of this, it is no big surprise that our ancestors probably first used this technique to move large and heavy boulders and that this method is still in use today, with heavy machinery for example.

There is a great photo report at www.mot.be (photos, tree trunk) where you can see us hard at work.

GRANDMOTHER'S RECIPES

Did you know that you could make apples taste like a delicious pineapple without using chemical flavouring?

This is a really simple trick. Layer the apples in a small wooden box. Then, place dried elderberry flowers all around the inside of the box. The apples must not have any blemishes and the flowers must be completely dry. Let the box and its contents sit for two or three months and your apples will have a genuine pineapple taste.

SAY WHAT?

In this MOT-news item we try to explain proverbs and sayings that have their roots in our technical history. Similar proverbs are found in different languages, but each language has it's own typical sayings. Therefore we do not translate this item in English.

KIDS news: something to tell your children this evening

Just a few nights' sleep and Saint Nicholas will call in at the MOT.

You are welcome on Thursday, 4 December starting at 5 p.m. at the Liermolen section, Vorststraat 8, 1850 Grimbergen.

Santa will have gifts for all the kids and you can see the bread exhibition or enjoy a delicious currant bun. The currant buns will be baked the same evening in the Museum's own wood-fired oven, which will make for a great show! A currant bun and a cup of hot chocolate or coffee cost EUR 2.00 if you register in advance. Please call 02 270 81 11 for more information.