Tilting at windmills Tilting at windmills Tilting at windmills is an English idiom that means attacking imaginary enemies. The expression is derived from the 1605 novel "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes, and the word "tilt" in this context comes from jousting. The phrase is sometimes used to describe either confrontations where adversaries are incorrectly perceived, or courses of action that are based on misinterpreted or misapplied heroic, romantic, or idealistic justifications. It may also connote an importune, unfounded, and vain effort against adversaries real or imagined for a vain goal. The phrase comes from an episode in the Cervantes novel wherein protagonist
Clavering Windmills Clavering Windmills Clavering Windmills are a pair of Grade II listed Tower mills at Clavering, Essex, England which have both been converted to residential use. They are named North Mill and South Mill. A third mill existed in Clavering until the mid-nineteenth century, known as Clavering Mill. "Clavering Mill" was a Post mill. It was marked on a map dated c.1625 and then in the ownership of Sir Francis Barrington. In 1702 it was conveyed to Sir Charles Barrington. The mill was marked on Warburton, Bland and Smyth’s map of 1724. It was marked on a plan of Clavering dated