LINCOLNSHIRE

 I have a superb series of tourist maps, produced by the Ordnance Survey Office. There's one for every county in the country......................except for Lincolnshire!
That fact was enough to make me spend a week there, to try and work out why it had been neglected. It rained all week......................
Lincolnshire is one of those counties where you really have to search out the best places. Much of the county has little to recommend it, other than the superb twisties so much loved by bikers. Unfortunately, police presence can be a bit heavy on the best of them

BOSTON

BRIGG

GAINSBOROUGH

HUMBER BRIDGE

LINCOLN

SKEGNESS

TORKSEY LOCK

WILLINGHAM WOODS

BOSTON

Boston is situated near the south-east coast of Lincolnshire, where the River Witham becomes the Haven on its short journey to The Wash. It is an historic and attractive market town which is dominated by the 14th-century St.Botolph's Church whose 271ft high tower, known as 'the Boston Stump', is a landmark for miles around. St Botolph's is famous for its musical tradition, John Taverner famously served as choirmaster at the church and is buried beneath its tower. 

https://youtu.be/pTLx7aL7dIQ?si=HvAlT1dr3MpflfuV

St Botolph's, the largest parish church in England, was built when Boston was a wealthy trading port, later part of the Hanseatic League. Boston was the second most important port in England, the gateway to European markets for wool and other merchandise. 

Boston has been a port since the 13th. century. In 1607 a group of religious dissenters were prevented from leaving England without royal consent and brought to the Guildhall for trial. The dissenters were discharged, and in 1630, set sail for America, where they became known as the Pilgrim Fathers and thus founded the city of Boston, Massachusetts. 

BRIGG

Brigg is an attractive, small market town, where the markets are still active, and an annual horse fair is still held. The name, Brigg, is simply Old English for Bridge.

Frederick Delius wrote a tone poem based on English folk tunes, called : Brigg Fair - An English Rhapsody. For me, it conjures perfectly, the sleepy atmosphere of the town

Brigg Fair

Sadly I was just passing through, so only took one quick shot. This is The Angel - the Brigg Heritage centre:

Once a 17th. century coaching inn, the Angel now stands as the town heritage centre and  community hub.

GAINSBOROUGH

I've had some good times in Gainsborough (mostly at the Peacock on Corringham Road!, now, sadly, demolished). Gainsborough is bisected by the River Trent, which has a tidal bore. OK, so not quite in the league of the Severn Bore, but not bad all the same. The bore is called the aegir - named after the Norse god of rushing water. 

The most distinctive building is the Old Hall, a superb Medieval manor house, which lies right at the heart of the town.

Thomas Burgh II (c.1430–1496) inherited the manor of Gainsborough in 1455 from his mother – his father had died shortly after his birth. Over the next two decades, he began rebuilding works on the estate. Archaeological investigations indicate there were earlier structures on the same site, but there is no evidence as to the date of those buildings.

Tree-ring dating conducted in the 1980s indicates building likely began in the later 1460s, perhaps reflecting Thomas’s knighthood in 1461 and his growing status at court. But it is also possible that it began in the early 1470s following an attack on his estates by men loyal to Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, where forces ‘pulled down his place, and took all his goods and chattels that they might find’.

When Thomas died in 1496, the estate was inherited by his eldest son, Edward (1464–1528). Despite careful preparations put in place by Thomas, Edward failed to forge the same degree of close personal relationship with Henry VII as his father had.
Edward soon found himself in debt to Henry and subject to suspicions of involvement in plots against the king. He was imprisoned in 1497, and in 1510 declared insane – ‘distracted of memorie’. After Edward’s death, his son Thomas III (c.1487–1550) inherited the hall at Gainsborough.

By 1540 Thomas seems to have moved the household to Euston in Suffolk, the seat of his second wife. Though Henry VIII stayed at the hall in 1541 with Catherine Howard, Gainsborough was no longer the centre of Burgh affairs.

Thomas III’s son William (1522–84) also lived away from Gainsborough and focused his attentions on his southern estates. Thomas IV (1558–97), William’s son, also seems to have given little attention to the estate, though the fine newel stair and gallery added to the southern face of the great hall may date to his ownership. Increasingly saddled by debt, and with complaints that his estate was in disarray, Thomas IV was forced to sell a number of holdings.

Gainsborough was sold to William Hickman (1549–1625), a London merchant, who moved in with his first wife, Agnes, and his mother, Rose, in 1596. Agnes died childless three years later, but William was quickly remarried to Elizabeth Willoughby, 32 years his junior and with whom he had four children.
William and Elizabeth invested in the hall, fashioning a more modern and serviceable family residence. 

Ownership of the Hall continued with his son Willoughby (1604–49). During the Civil Wars (1642–51), Willoughby Hickman kept a low profile, managing to be made baronet by Charles I in 1643 while also retaining his estates under the emerging Commonwealth. Willoughby’s heirs, his son William (1628–82) and grandson Willoughby (1659–1720), established roles as Justices of the Peace, Commissioners and MPs, and were important regional players.

Sir Neville Hickman (1701–33), the great-great-grandson of the first William Hickman, inherited in 1720. By around 1730 he had moved the family out to nearby Thonock Hall, leaving the now Old Hall to an uncertain future. Across the next two centuries the hall ceased to act as a unified building, the various structures being adapted to different uses that would change over time.
The east range was leased in 1733 to Willoughby Bertie, the future 3rd Earl of Abingdon. A century later the principal rooms of the range were reported to be in use as the workshop of Samuel Spray, a machine maker.

Between 1759 and 1789, John Wesley preached in the main chamber and the yard outside. Then, in 1790 the Hall became a theatre for the town. It then underwent many other uses, including as a Masonic Lodge.

In 1924 the then owner, Hickman Beckett Bacon approached Sir Charles Peers at the Ministry of Works with an offer to place the Old Hall into the care of the state. That offer was declined, but Hickman’s nephew Sir Edmund Castell Bacon continued to work towards the long-term protection of the building. In 1949 he handed responsibility for the buildings to a new group, the Friends of the Old Hall Association (FOHA). Over the next two decades the FOHA, an entirely voluntary group, raised substantial funds to carry out extensive restoration work to the building, and opened the hall as a visitor attraction and community resource. In 1969 the Old Hall was transferred into the care of the state and is now managed by English Heritage.

THE HUMBER BRIDGE

 The bridge runs from Barton-upon-Humber in Lincolnshire, to Hull in North Humberside. It is the longest single-span suspension bridge in Europe, and saves countless miles, if you're heading up the East Coast.

LINCOLN

The County Town of Lincolnshire (naturally). The Cathedral Quarter sits at the top of a steep hill - in fact one of the roads leading to it is called 'Steep Hill' - and comprises the Cathedral itself, the Castle, and streets of quaint shops and quirky tearooms. I walked up Steep Hill - won't be doing that again in a hurry! 

England's first Norman bishop, Remigius, built Lincoln cathedral, and it was his wish that the great church should be near to heaven. Which is why it stands on such a steep hill, 200ft. above the city. 

The most common approach to Lincoln Cathedral is through the old Exchequergate on Castle Hill 

The walls and keep, known as Lucy's Tower, built by William I in 1068, still stand, incorporated into the later castle.

Not all castles were the domain of knights in armour and warlike doings. Within the walls of Lincoln Castle are a Georgian building that hosted the magistrate's court, and a Georgian/Victorian prison building. Part of the prison building is open to the public.

The most curious part is the prison chapel, which has survived intact, as it lent itself to the storage of goods.

The prison practiced the Separate System, where the inmates were kept apart at all times. The chapel is divided into wooden cubicles, one per prisoner, where they were locked in, unable to see or converse with the other inmates, and only able to see forward to the person preaching.

Until 1859, the castle was also the scene of executions by hanging, and there is also a dungeon, where prisoners were chained to iron rings along the walls

Lincoln Cathedral was once the tallest building in the world - before the central spire fell down in 1548!

spot the notorious Lincoln Imp

So many accidents befell Lincoln Cathedral whilst it was being built, that it was thought the Devil himself had sent one of his Imps to cause chaos and destruction in the cathedral.
Legend has it that during the building of the Angel Choir, the Lincoln Imp, sitting on top of pillar, started throwing stones and rocks at an Angel who had been sent to stop him causing more mayhem. In a moment of anger, she turned him into stone where he sat, and there you will find him to this day.
He sits cross-legged, complete with devil’s horns, on top of the pillar overlooking the Angel Choir – a constant reminder of how good will always triumph over evil!

(below) the Great East window, with its 1855 stained glass.

Two large rose windows can be found at either end of the transepts, known as the Bishop’s Eye and the Dean’s Eye.

SKEGNESS

Your archetypical British Seaside Town. The first Butlins Holiday camp was established here in 1935 and is still in operation. 

Only thing I could find worthy of note, was this Art Deco pub, the Ship in Castleton Boulevard. It was very run down at the time, but has since been restored. 

The Ship was originally constructed in the present location in April 1934 at a cost of £20,000 by the Home Brewery Company. This replaced the original building which was on the opposite side of Roman Bank which began life as a thatched cottage, built in 1871
Over the course of time, the Ship changed owners several times until being fully restored to the current look. The building was granted 'Listed Building' status in March 1988.

If you would like to see it as it is now, then follow the link to Google Earth

TORKSEY LOCK

Torksey Lock stands not far from Gainsborough, on the Fossdyke Navigation, which is reputed to be the oldest man-made navigation still in regular use in the country.

WILLINGHAM WOODS

Willingham Woods is part of a large complex of Pine Woods which are located East of Market Rasen. It belongs to the Forestry Commission and comprises a large car park and picnic area. It also has a kiosk selling hot/cold drinks and burgers. It's well away from civilization and served by good roads, which is probably why it is used as a meeting place by large numbers of bikers.