Levada dos Moinhos

Madrei

Ribeira Grande N 32°45.448 W 17°07.079 ca. 1294 m a.s.l.

Course

This is a very old levada. It stayed in operation until the restructuring in 1953, with the building of the power station in Calheta and of the two Levada Nova channels (Levada Nova West and Levada Nova East) (see also Historical development of the levadas around Rabacal). In 1953 the levada was taken out of service.

Section 1: From the Madre in the Ribeira Grande the levada ran a little below today's Levada do Paul 1, roughly as far as the levada steps. After that it followed about the same line as the present Levada do Paul 1 until shortly before the Levada do Alecrim. From here the course is a little steeper, down into the Ribeira. Here extra water was taken from the river, and the Ribeira was crossed on a metal bridge.

Section 2: From the Ribeira the course lies a little higher than the Levada da Senhora. It crossed the Rabacal track and still ran clearly above the Levada da Senhora, over a rock wall, while the Levada da Senhora ran through the rocks and rather below them. After the rock wall the course is almost parallel to the Levada da Senhora; the two levadas are at most 3 metres apart. The newly built path from the Levada do Furado Velho to the Ponto Novo crossed it a few metres below the Ponto. On from there, always beside the twin levada, as far as the Ponto Velho above the Furado Velho.

Section 3: After the ridge the levada still ran parallel to the Levada da Senhora, holding its height as it went west, crossed the Lombo do Lumiele, and then in the next re-entrant turned south towards Lombo da Estrela, where the levada ended at about 280 m a.s.l.

The old levada works of the Levada dos Moinhos below the Levada Nova are still in use today.

End

Estreito da Calheta 280 m a.s.l.

Function and use

Irrigation of the fields on the Lombo da Estrela in Estreito da Calheta.

Access

• Newly built path between the Levada do Furado Velho and the Ponto

• Ponte Velho on the ER105

• Descent path over the Lombo do Lumiele

• Southern course of the Levada do Furado Velho, east of the hunter's house

• Lombo da Estrela

Condition

Mostly fallen in. In 2021 the section of the Levada da Senhora between the Ponto and the Ribeira Grande, and the section from the Vereda do Pau Seco to the Madre, were cleared. From here you can also see, in places, very well preserved stretches and retaining walls of the old levada. Over longer distances, though, it is hard to walk.

Remarks

I walked the section of the Levada da Senhora between the Ponto and the Rabacal track (Walk 2021). It was clear that it would take a great deal of work to make this old levada walkable all the way through again.