Owen Tydd goes through a fence to inspect a windmill on a drought-affected property on the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales, near Gunnedah, Australia. Windmills were originally used to mill grain or pump groundwater and have become an iconic part of the Australian rural landscape. But with the use of new technologies they are fast becoming obsolete. ‘They are all becoming fairly old, with new windmills available but not a lot being put up,’ Tydd said. ‘I am just about to retire, [so] I’m going to convince people to put in solar pumps to save me from being asked to climb their windmills.’

Photograph: David Gray/Getty Images