Lincolnshire
Saturday 15th May, 2010
Sunday 16th May, 2010
Monday 17th May, 2010
Tuesday 18th May 2010
Wednesday 19th May, 2010
Thursday 20th May, 2010
Friday, 21st May, 2010
Saturday 15th May, 2010
e got the boat back to Arlen at Ashton Basin in good time, in fact before they were open. We packed the car and headed south east on a variety of motorways with Geoff doing a great job of navigating, until about midday. We got lunch and a rest for an hour at a motorway services place - Burger King etc.
Interesting Village Name, Lincolnshire ( by Geoff )
hen we headed back out towards the east and, after passing several villages (some with interesting names like
Spital in the Street!
)
we arrived in Louth, Lincolnshire, about an hour early. We located the house, in Kidgate Mews, with surprisingly little difficulty and then went off to explore Louth Market Centre.
Louth Streetscene, Lincolnshire ( by Geoff )
t is the usual very old, winding and narrow streeted centre, bristling with specialist butchers, bakers and greengrocers and lots of restaurants and pubs. We should not have a problem finding food, just making a choice.
e went back to the house and went in. It is small, charming and well-equipped. The owners had left a welcome pack of local delicacies including herby sausages, home made bread, butter and eggs (free range of course), and a jar of local marmalade.
he only drawback is the steep flight of steps up to the bedrooms and bathroom. Mac reckons they are dangerous and my knees aren't happy. However, I did know about the stairs and chose it anyhow. On my own head!
Sunday 16th May, 2010
oday I did a load of washing and then we walked out to explore Louth. We are walking distance (even for me) of so many little shops and restaurants. We got a few things at the Spar shop and wandered about a bit. My foot is really sore today so we came back and had lunch.
Geoff Meets a Lemur at Woodside
fter lunch we went to the Woodside Falconry and Conservation Centre about 15 miles away. We were not in time for the midday session, flying the hawks, owls etc, but we did get there in time for the lemur walkabout which was amazing! The lemurs came out and jumped and climbed in their play enclosure, then they trooped into the children's play area and interacted with all the people on the play equipment. Geoff met one up close and personal and many others had lemurs climbing up them. Apparently they don't like people picking them up but they interact on their own terms.
Lemur Walkabout at Woodside
Butterfly House at Woodside
e then saw the show in the Vulture Barn which involved owls, crows, ravens, and other birds as well as rats, ferrets and the audience. It was entertaining and then we had afternoon coffee before seeing the inhabitants of the Tropical Paradise which included snakes, crocs, iguanas, parrots, bats and butterflies.
Remains of Louth Navigation
hen we left we drove around to find the end (or start) of the Louth Navigation Canal, a disused waterway which used to take quite large coastal boats.
Home to make a tuna bake, and relax.
Monday 17th May, 2010
id a few chores around the place this morning, a load of washing, some shopping in Louth's many wonderful specialist stores. Geoff shopped for a carry case for his laptop and had his rapidly growing hair buzz-clipped again.
Gainsborough Old Hall, Front Elevation
hen we went off to the town of Gainsborough to visit the Gainsborough Old Hall, an English Heritage site (saving 15 pounds with our cards). This place is quite sensational. It is a medieval manor house built for the Burgh family in 1430.
Gainsborough Old Hall, Left Elevation
t is very extensive and has a lot to see. The most distinctive feature I found was that every side of the house outside looked like a different building. There was black and white timber framing, red brick with towers, and combinations of both.
Gainsborough Great Hall
nside there was a Great Hall which entertained Kings Richard III and Henry VIII, who came here with his fourth wife, Katherine Howard just before she was caught in adultery (or whatever) and despatched. There were Tudor panelled bedrooms, a solar and gallery, fabulous kitchens, certainly the best I have seen for this era, complete with buttery, pantry, game room and bread ovens, two huge fireplaces and a louvred vent in the ceiling to remove the smoke.
Gainsborough Old Hall, Haunted Gallery
here was a haunted corridor, and all sorts of nooks and crannies.
The lady standing beside the fireplace in the Gallery said she did not think it was haunted though.
There was a tower Mac and Geoff climbed, a picture gallery and an exhibition about the Pilgrim Fathers, who received help and encouragement from the family at the Hall and sailed from the local port of Boston to Plymouth and thence to America.
The Hickman family who bought the Hall in 1596 and lived here until 1720, were Puritans and gave the "Separatist" preachers leave to conduct their services at the Hall until they were hounded out and had to go to the colonies.
ame back to Louth where I planned a roast chicken dinner. Geoff is a little under the weather after a night out at a local pub (where he went for the free WiFi) and met a group of friendly locals with whom he consumed three pints of cider, a Bundy and Coke, half a pizza and some crisps. This after one and a half glasses of rose wine with us at dinner!
Oh well, let's hope no lasting harm is done.
Tuesday 18th May 2010
"Just Jane" Lancaster Bomber at the Aviation Centre
e spent a good part of today at Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre. This is an ex-WWII air base with most of its buildings intact. In the main hangar they have
"Just Jane"
, a genuine WWII Lancaster bomber, and another large American plane. They are huge, especially the Lancaster, but the hangar is bigger, with so much memorabilia that it is really impossible to absorb it all.
There were sections devoted to the Canadian, NZ, Australian, US and Polish Airforces which flew mixed crews from here, and so much in the way of bits of aircraft and equipment that the mind boggles.
Australian Section, Aviation Heritage Centre
e went into the Watchtower, where the displays showed wireless, meteorology and control tower activity. It is all just as it was left after the war.
While we were there a helicopter landed and took off again and so did a small private plane. We had lunch in the NAAFI and saw the rest of the exhibits. I particularly enjoyed the one about the Home Front, which displayed ration books, recipes on how to make a little go further and instructions on making do and mending clothes etc. Also lots about Home Guard training, just like "Dad's Army".
Wartime Vehicle at the Heritage Centre
hen we went into the section on escaping and evading the enemy it was another sitcom. There was a tribute to a M. Hector Briot, a Belgian bar owner, who helped grounded airmen to get home. There was even a photo of a young woman in a trench coat and beret!
"Listen very carefully, I will say zis only once!"
Really it was a remarkable museum and well worth the visit.
Bolingbroke Castle Ruins
n the way home we went off at a tangent after seeing a brown English Heritage logoed sign to Bolingbroke Castle. This one does not even feature in our handbook so I knew there would not be much left. And there wasn't. But the information boards gave a lot of clues and the aerial photos of what is left gives a much clearer picture.
Bolingbroke Castle Ruins
t was a stronghold of the Earl of Lincoln and Chester, built in the 1200s. But was slighted by Commonwealth troops during the Civil War. This, plus much of the stone being plundered for building means there are not many high walls left. Interesting though. The way to it was a very back road indeed, leading to Old Bolingbroke and Mavis Endersby. Sounds more like a woman than a village. Can you imagine the gossip?
"What was Old Bolingbroke doing with Mavis Endersby?"
Bolingbroke Castle Duckpond
eside the ruins was a house with a mill wheel turning in the small stream running beside the house.
This is amazing country - incredibly old.
Wednesday 19th May, 2010
Facade of Burghley House
oday we went to Burghley House, a great "prodigy" house dating from Elizabethan times, near the historic Georgian town of Stamford.
The journey was complicated by road closures and diversions, which meant we didn't get there until about 1330. (But we did get to see some little towns and villages off the beaten A roads, some of which were lovely.)
Waterlily Pond outside the Orangery, Burghley
e started off with lunch in their Orangery Restaurant, just sandwiches, although Mac had a slice of pork pie and a pickled onion. Geoff tried a brewed dandelion and burdock drink (Yuk)
Outside Burghley House
hen we went in to see the house, or at least those rooms which were open to view. The building outside is remarkable, beautiful in a "if you've got it - flaunt it" style but the inside is an incredible art galley of classic Italian masters and English portraitists like Kneller, Lawrence etc. Every wall was covered in pictures, some of course, better than others. The ceilings were painted in classical mythology themes by Verrio and the utterly amazing "Heaven" reception room was only matched by the "Hell" staircase depicting the grim reaper despatching souls through the jaws of Hell. Completely OTT but good to see.
nfortunately we ran out of time and could not get to see their "Garden of Surprises" as it closed at 1630. So we headed for home. We thought that if we stuck to the main road A16 all the way we should be OK but the traffic of rush hour was a bit worrying and made it difficult to see the road signs.
till we made it eventually and decided to eat tonight at Halel, a local Indian restaurant. It was in a very old building in the market centre, whitewashed thick walls and old beams, hung with psychedelic Indian materials. A bit of a contrast. The food was good and the waiters were fun. And reasonable, too, given that a sandwich lunch cost us 23 pounds today, this cost just under 50 pounds which was for three main meals with rice, one starter, one naan, two OJ, two mineral waters and a bottle of Mateus rose. Good stuff.
e went to the post office this morning and bought two posting boxes for the first of the paperwork for home. So we will pack it up and send it on its way, hopefully to be waiting for our return.
Thursday 20th May, 2010
oday I thought we should have a bit of a rest day, yesterday having been a very long drive, so we packed two posting boxes with nearly ten kilos of maps, guides and pamphlets and took them to the post office. We thought it would cost about 132 pounds but when we got to the office the guy said that because what we were sending was printed paper it could go as letter post (up to 5 kg) and it only cost 48 pounds all up. Quite a saving.
fter doing some shopping we bought some filled rolls for lunch at one of Louth's wonderful specialty shops, this one a deli at the bottom of our local short cut to the shops, Pawnbrokers Alley. Louth is full of these pedestrian passages, usually lined with shops and coffee bars and with names like the above. There is Rosemary Lane and Kit-Kat, and streets named Gospelgate, Chequergate, Upgate and our own Kidgate and the wonderful and appropriate Breakneck Hill.
The Green and Gold Fields of Lincolnshire
o we drove out to see if we could find a picnic place, preferably near the Louth Canal. Unfortunately this is now only accessible on foot as it is mostly farmland. So Geoff found a reference on the OS map and navigated us to Covenham Reservoir, a water board facility where we could park, then climb the steep bank and sit to look at the water and eat our lunch. It is a watersports club for the local area. There is a view of typical Lincolnshire, wide expanses of green and gold fields, the rape (or canola) glowing in the sun, and the wide, wide Lincolnshire skies. No wonder this county was, and is, a centre for aerial activity.
e drove a roundabout route home through tiny villages with substantial Norman churches, so many churches, and all so old! Many of the villages have saints' names, like Covenham St. Marys, which, of course, are the names of the churches.
It has been a lovely warm, sunny day today. It really seems as though summer is on the way.
Long may it continue.
Friday, 21st May, 2010
nother lovely warm and sunny day! We are being so spoiled.
Lincoln Cathedral and Castle Walls
lthough it was our last day we decided we should see some of the city of Lincoln, the County town. The street plan looked medieval and very confusing with one way streets in every direction so I anticipated panic in the streets! But, as it happened, thanks to Geoff's navigation we sailed into the Cathedral Quarter (which is where we wanted to go) found a space in a long term car park not far from the Cathedral, the Castle and the Medieval Bishop's Palace which, being English Heritage, meant we did not have to pay to get in.
Inside Lincoln Cathedral
irst the Cathedral. One of the oldest in the country, beautiful outside, austere and cool inside, with only the glowing stained glass windows spreading coloured lights on the stonework. Lincoln takes being a minster cathedral seriously.
Lincoln Cathedral Nave
e had two public services, another service with music, very good, a band with electric instruments plus the organ and a male voice choir in the chapter house. We saw the Treasury, some really old church plate and episcopal rings. All the volunteer staff were friendly and helpful, with lots of interesting stories.
Lincoln Medieval Bishop's Palace
e had lunch in the Refectory then went out to look at the Medieval Bishop's Palace.
This is a ruin, the current Bishop's Palace is next door, dating from Victorian times.
Lincoln Medieval Bishop's Palace
he remains of the old Bishop's Palace, dating from the 1100s, are very interesting, built on the side of a hill, so a lot of steps and slopes. The garden was redesigned a couple of years ago and it is an amazing modern formal arrangement signifying columns and vaulting. There is also a small vineyard of wine grapes from the German town twinned with Lincoln. I don't know whether they actually make wine with them.
Cathedral Quarter, Lincoln
fter a cream tea in a little teashop we headed for the castle. On the way we were accosted by a young lady from BBC Lincoln asking my opinion as a Vox Pop for a show on Monday next. Apparently the Marie Stopes Society who advise women on birth control including contraception and abortion is planning to advertise their services on TV. I told her that while I don't believe in abortion as contraception there are times when it could be the only option and I did not see why they should not advertise. (I have a feeling that it is not a popular move, hence the opinion poll). She thanked me, complimented me on my raspberry coloured top and went on her way.
Lincoln Castle Gatehouse
he castle at Lincoln is an interesting place. A Norman motte and walls, Georgian prison, (where they developed the Separation system used at Port Arthur) and the Victorian County Court, still in use and actually in session today. The most interesting part of the exhibits was a genuine copy of the Magna Carta, set all around with excerpts telling how the precepts are still in force today. Very interesting.
o that was our last day in Lincolnshire. We have enjoyed a very eclectic series of days out. We all fell for Louth and its olde worlde charm and the cottage was so conveniently located within walking distance of everywhere. It was cosy, the bed was comfy, and while the stairs were very steep and the lounge furniture not terribly comfortable we enjoyed the house too. We are glad it came with its own parking spot because we would never have found one without it.
And now it is goodbye to the flat fields and the smell of canola and off to the mountains of Snowdonia.
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