Kinderdijk is a village in South Holland, Netherlands, the name of which means Children's Dike. A series of 19 windmills was constructed in approximately 1740 to keep the low-lying diked area (polder) drained. These are still maintained by families licensed to regularly operate them in return for subsidized housing. The origin of the "Cat and the Cradle" is attributed to a storm in 1421 that led to the discovery of a cat floating in a cradle with an infant, sleeping. This was found in the polder adjacent to these present mills. The polder is currently evacuated by large diesel powered archimedes screws. It is a beautiful area and was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
