part of the Greater Fens Museum Partnership. The windmill on the outskirts dates from 1787 and contains six floors; it originally had six sails. During the war four German prisoners of war used it as a base during the day while working the land. Thorney railway station was on the old Peterborough to Wisbech line, with an additional station in the parish at Wryde. The station and the line were closed in the early 1960s. Little evidence to suggest a rail link now remains, apart from one set of wooden level crossing gates at the west side of Station Road; these gates are not the original ones, but replicas based on the rotten originals, installed by the developer that built houses on the site of the station yard in the early 2000s. The concrete posts are the originals, however. The A47 bypass opened in Winter 2005. Air accident On 28 August 1976, a United States Air Force Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, 67-0006, on a flight from McGuire Air Force Base to RAF Mildenhall crashed near the village; the aircraft entered bad weather and the pilots lost control of the aircraft. The accident killed all 18 passengers and crew on board. A memorial is maintained on Thorney Dyke, for the lost aircrew. Wind turbines In 2010, planning permission was given for two wind turbines on land at French Farm, near French Drove in Thorney parish. In 2011 REG WindPower announced plans to install a further four wind turbines at the French Farm site. As of 2013, other windfarms are proposed at Gores Farm, Willow Hall, Nuts Grove and Wryde Croft. Community The village's local school is the Duke of Bedford Primary School which is next to Wisbech Road. There is also a specialist school at Park House for children with special educational needs. The village has a magazine called the Thorney Post, which is printed three times a year. The magazine has its own website. Notable people Alec Goodman – Grand National winning jockey 1852 on Miss Mowbray & 1866 on Salamander, lived here, farming at Bar Pasture Farm, English Drove Farm and Willow Hall Farm, although born in Upwell on 30 July 1822. First farmer on Thorney Estate to introduce steam ploughing in 1865. Moved to Nottinghamshire in 1879. Retired to Leamington Spa in 1884. Ron Jacobs – Rugby Union – played for England, Barbarians and Northampton. President of the RFU