Jim and Betty Sawyer stand in front of a windmill that was built by Jim's father in 1922.

As far as relics of Australia's regions go, the humble windmill is up there as one of the most iconic.

Windmills were originally used to mill grain or pump groundwater — and without them, early agriculture in the arid outback would've been near impossible.

Slowly but surely they are now disappearing from paddocks, as new technologies take priority.

But broadacre farmer Jim Sawyer, 82, has been spending his twilight years bringing old and forgotten windmills back to life.

So far, he has amassed a collection of over 80 mills, and is showing no signs of stopping.

Mr Sawyer farms at Dalwallinu, about 250 kilometres north-east of Perth.

Share Jim Sawyer has spent the last decade collecting and restoring more than 80 windmills.

Remembering rural Australia

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Mr Sawyer said he wanted to remind people of the important role the windmill played in the development of rural Australia.

"Without the windmill, there would be no outback Australia," he said.

"The windmill is disappearing — gradually — and I suppose in a few years there won't be too many windmills left.

"Everybody is going to solar, because it's pretty difficult now to get people to service windmills, and a lot of people have never liked climbing towers."

Share Jim Sawyer has been restoring windmills since 2008.

Even though he is no spring lamb, Mr Sawyer admitted, with a wry smile, he still liked climbing windmill towers when "no one's looking".

His hunt for windmills has taken him across the country and overseas, but Mr Sawyer said in most cases he usually spotted them rusting away in paddocks.

"Most people are fairly happy to part with it if it's an old wreck," he said. "But I generally give them a bottle of wine or a carton."

Once in his possession, Mr Sawyer sets about restoring them by dismantling, sandblasting and painting each individual part.

Two sheds on his property are filled to the brim with brightly-coloured antique mills.

"[My favourite is] one I've just restored from Cockleshell Gully, Jurien Bay … because it's been made and designed by a farmer himself," he said.

Mr Sawyer said it was in a rough condition when he found it.

"It'd been laying on the ground pretty much since 1955," he said.

"The cattle had been walking over it.

"The spokes and blades were rusted out, but it came up good."

Share Jim keeps his windmills in sheds on his property, and opens his collection to the public free of charge.

A family affair

While each one is special, Mr Sawyer said he could never forget his first windmill restoration.

"My father put [that windmill] on a property in 1922 over at Miling," he said.

"The property, he had to sell it during the depression.

"I found it a few years ago and put it up in memory of Dad."

For Mr Sawyer, the story behind each mill is important.

Jim and his wife, Betty Sawyer, also open their collection to the public, free of charge.

"It's just really to show people what windmills are all about," Mr Sawyer said. "We don't really need the money.

"We have lots of visitors, and people are welcome.

"A lot of people grew up on farms and remember windmills."

Ms Sawyer said she never knew about her husband's hobby until they went on holiday in England.

"We were going along the M6 which had a lot of traffic on it, and Jim said, 'there's a windmill'," she said.

"He pulled up … and he ran right across the M6, over a hedge, and had a look at this windmill."

"We now have that windmill.

Ms Sawyer said that her husband's hobby also had added social benefits for her.

"It's been good fun," she said.

"We've met a lot of very nice people.

"Most men who do windmills have very nice wives."

Share Jim says his waving windmills, are a tourist drawcard for the town — Dalwallinu's version of the Big Banana.

Dalwallinu's waving windmills

In addition to their makeshift museum, the Sawyer's also spent two years lobbying their local council to let them put up some windmills in the town.

In 2012 they got their wish, and Mr Sawyer erected two "waving" windmills at either side of the town.

"It just gives Dalwallinu an identity, like other towns have the Big Banana, these give Dalwallinu something," Mr Sawyer said.

"I service them every three months."

Dalwallinu Shire deputy president and fellow farmer Keith Carter said Mr Sawyer's collection was a point of interest for the town.

"I've not been in one of those tour groups, but I've talked to them and they're just gobsmacked by what he's got there and all the different styles of windmills he's collected around Australia," Mr Carter said.

"I reckon every little bit adds to the character of the town.

"It won't be long and there will be hardly any windmills left, so it gives us a contact to the past."

Mr Carter would like to see the Sawyer's collection showcased a bit more.

"I suppose that's the trouble in most towns, we don't make much of our treasures," he said.

"We don't realise what we're sitting on."