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Draft storyAt the castle

The washing machine with another job

An old washing-machine part gets a new job, but the wind gives the energy.

A draft: the words and pictures are waiting for an educator’s review.

Who’s in it

Meet everyone in Gullbrae

The story

In the castle courtyard, Hugo shows Stan and Eddie a small old washing-machine part inside a sealed glass case, beside a picture of a whole washing machine.

Hugo showed Stan and Eddie a part from an old washing machine, safe in a glass case. It had been checked, and it had a new job to do.

Stan: “Let’s see what’s still useful.”

Eddie holds a picture of a washing machine and looks at the glass case, while Hugo points towards the wind turbine in the distance.

Eddie looked puzzled. “Is there free power hiding in the old machine?” Hugo pointed to the wind turbine far away.

Hugo points at a framed cutaway picture of a wind turbine next to the glass case, while Cecily listens.

Hugo showed Cecily a picture of his wind turbine. The checked old part would sit inside its closed generator box, helping turn spinning into electricity.

Hugo, with Zara beside him, and Stan stand by a board of four pictures: a windy sky, turbine blades, a generator and a lit desk lamp.

Stan and Hugo showed Zara four pictures. The wind turned the blades, the blades turned the generator, and the generator lit the lamp.

Zara: “Can you show me how that works?”

For grown-ups: Moving air supplies the energy and turns the rotor blades. The rotor drives a suitable generator, which produces electricity. The reused part is a material, not a source of free energy.

Cecily and Hugo compare two framed pictures, one of a windy day with a bright lamp and one of a calm day with a dim lamp.

Cecily and Hugo compared two pictures. On a windy day the lamp was bright. On a calm day it was dim.

For grown-ups: These pictures compare conditions; they are not measurements. Output depends on the wind, the turbine and the site, calmer air can mean less electricity, and it will not power the whole castle all the time.

Zara, next to Hugo, sets a picture of the reused part and a picture of a wind-blown tree and turbine on two separate stands, while Eddie listens.

Zara put the two pictures on separate stands. The old part was the reused thing, and the moving wind was where the energy came from. Eddie nodded.

For grown-ups: Reused part: a suitable, checked generator component. Energy source: moving wind. Electricity: the output. The story’s part is a made-up, professionally checked example; not every washing-machine motor is suitable, and this is not a wiring or building guide.

Draft, 20 October 2026. The words and pictures are not yet reviewed by an educator. The story follows the outline in our story guide.

The real-life bit

Moving air turns a wind turbine’s blades, and the blades drive a generator that makes electricity (US Department of Energy). How much it makes changes with the wind and the site. The reused part in the story is a made-up, professionally checked example; not every old motor is suitable, and this is not a guide to building one. Gullbrae is made up. Your council’s own rules are the ones to follow.

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