Lincoln

A visit to Lincoln

 

When I was about 17 or 18 one of our Scout Leaders bought a plot of land in Lincolnshire where we used to go camping. I don’t recall the exact location but it was a few miles from the city of Lincoln so it’s possible I might have been there back then. I have no memory of doing so though so I’m calling September 2024 my first time. 

 

On Monday 2nd I took the train and to avoid Kings Cross and any disruption following the strike the previous day took the Elizabeth Line from Reading to Farringdon, then Thameslink to Peterborough and finally East Midlands Railway to Lincoln.  I rejected the suggestion of GWR from Reading to Paddington then changing to the #purpletrain to Farringdon because though in theory it would be 40 minutes quicker the GWR train would most likely be late and crowded and to change at Paddington would mean weaving through crowds of drunken sheep worriers and confused elderly couples on their first trips east of the Tamar. I wasn’t in that much of a hurry 🙂

As it turned out taking this route was much more relaxing, no tight connection times and plenty of empty seats on the trains. 

 

 

 

Lincolnshire has a reputation for being very flat but Lincoln itself certainly isn’t. The railway station is down near the River Witham, my hotel was up next to the castle. Between the two is the main shopping area of the city followed by a picturesque long narrow street lined with old buildings and shops called Steep Hill. It’s not mis-named. It didn’t get any easier to climb in the following 3 days. I stayed at Charlotte House, opposite the West Gate of the castle, a neo-Georgian building built in the 1930s as nurse’s accommodation for the adjacent lunatic asylum, The Lawns, now HQ of Stokes coffee and tea who also own the hotel. I got a good deal with a booking.com discount and a free room upgrade to a suite with a similar square footage to my house 😀 It was also convenient for The Victoria PH, The Castle, the historic area of the city, and the nearby Museum of Lincolnshire Life. Ideal place for a short break in fact. Although a search for cheap eats meant I did another trip down and back up that hill that evening. 

 

 

 

The Museum of Lincolnshire Life 

 

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The next day after breakfast I took a short walk north to the former barracks that houses the Museum of Lincolnshire Life. It’s open Friday to Tuesday so I had to visit today. The first of two Victorian brick wings contains recreated domestic rooms as they would have been in the 19th century which then leads into an area dealing with the history of  the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment (the barracks was built for the Royal North Lincoln Militia in 1857) and its previous incarnations since 1685, it’s part of the Royal Anglian Regiment now. They’ve a couple of VCs and an atmospheric bit of WW1 trench with appropriate soundtrack to scare small children. 

 

Next comes a large open hall containing farming machinery, railway and road locomotives (Ruston & Hornsby being a Lincolnshire firm), and the prize exhibit of a genuine WW1 British tank, the first tanks having been designed and built in the county. 

 

 

 

The next barrack block contains recreations of 19th and early 20th century commercial premises, chemist, post office, Printers etc. One some days they have the printing press working but today wasn’t one of them. In the yard outside there are two large Ruston-Bucyrus cable operated excavators (and the kiddies play area).

 

 

 

Above the shop and reception are some more recreated rooms - a Victorian school with essentially the same desks we had at school in the 1960s and 70s - and the temporary exhibition space which at the time of my visit was given over to “The Tank At Home” which they describe thus “This exhibition looks at a lesser-known aspect of the first tanks and their impact on the home front. Rather than concentrating on the battlefield, the focus is on displays of tank related items such as toys, money boxes, ornaments, trench art and photographs of the works who built them.” There was everything from model tanks through ceramic tank-shaped teapots to the cover of the weekly comic Warlord  from 1974 featuring a WW1 tank. Because the kids' publications from my childhood are now museum exhibits! 🤨

 

 

 

I really liked this museum and admission is free too, donations are welcomed obviously.

 

Lincoln Castle

 

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My next stop was the castle. That definitely isn’t free, £17 for an adult and the senior citizens concession rate doesn’t apply until you’re 66. That price is about average I suppose and gives you access to the castle walls walk, the Magna Carta display, and the Victorian Prison. The ward or bailey of the castle is free to enter during the day or indeed to walk through between the west and east gates, making a good short cut as out of hours it’s much further around the outside. Free access to the ward has to be maintained since Lincoln Crown Court is located within, near the Westgate. Having paid my money I first climbed the steel spiral staircase (the lift was out of order) to the top of the curtain wall and did the approximately third of a mile circuit. You certainly get a good view from up there, especially if you climb to the top of the tall narrow Observatory Tower, which is not for anyone who’s uncomfortable with heights, lowish parapets, and long drops!

 

 

 

Next I went in the opposite direction down into the subterranean David P J Ross* Magna Carta Vault A small dark room, a prominent “no photography” sign, 3 glass cases containing Lincoln Cathedral’s copies of the Charter of the Forest from 1217, and Magna Carta from 1215, and at the back a “guest document” case containing, er, a highly decorated German crossbow for some reason. Magna Carta is something most English people rarely think about but seems to be a magnet for US tourists who seem to regard it with much more reverence so of course there was a couple present to view the “holy grail of democracy”. In the adjacent 210 degree cinema there’s a really good film about King John, William Marshall, and the circumstances that led to Magna Carta. I can confirm that she did not die in vain 😉

 

Lastly to the Victorian Prison, well preserved and with lots of information boards and audio visual displays in the cells, plus activities for the younger inmates - who were thankfully largely absent on this particular Tuesday afternoon else it might have been a bit loud in there. I confess that I couldn’t help thinking of Porridge. No sign of McKay or any other screws though. The manikins in the prison chapel were particularly creepy. 

 

 

 

By mid afternoon my feet demanded to be put up so I returned to my hotel room and had a long hot soak before heading across the road to The Victoria for a couple of beers. 

 

Saxilby

 

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I took a little train excursion on Wednesday to the village of Saxilby which lies on the Roman Fossdyke canal. Just because I wanted to see it. I might have been influenced by watching this Minimal List video recently on YouTube. The Fossdyke is very straight as you’d expect. I had a nice walk along it in the flat countryside then returned to the city and explored along the River Witham.

 

 

 

I gave in and got the bus back up that hill, £2 well spent. Later I considered going on the evening ghost walk but it wasn’t really dark enough at 7pm and it looked like I was going to be the only person to show up. Didn’t fancy that idea so I went and explored the various city gates, got chips, went to the Victoria again, and went back and watched episode 1 of Slow Horses season 4.

 

 

 

The way home

 

My return journey was a reversal of the outward one, Lincoln - Peterborough - Farringdon - Reading - home. Avoided Paddington again and had time for a coffee at Reading accompanied by the deafening sound of torrential rain on the station roof, so loud it overwhelmed the continuous PA safety and security announcements. See it. Say it. Sodden.

The rain hadn’t given up by the time I walked home from the station. I was glad I had a waterproof coat!

 

It was a good city break, Lincoln is really interesting and if you like old buildings you’ll find it hard to move without bumping into one. I recommend Charlotte House, especially as with the discount it came in at £278 inc. continental breakfast which was at the low end of what was being asked in the city centre. Using the slightly slower train route made for a relaxed journey and was £79 for two off-peak flexible single tickets with a National Railcard. 

 

 

All the photos!

 

 

 

 

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* Lincolnshire born billionaire, co-founder of Carphone Warehouse. I had to look it up.

 

Doing the Locomotion, a trip to Darlington and Shildon.

I’ve been to the National Railway Museum in York twice, first on a school trip around 1977 and again in 2017. I’d never been to the other National Railway Museum site, Locomotion,in Shildon, County Durham though although I’d often thought about it. It’s not quite as easy to get to from here in the south as York but now seemed like as good a time as any so I booked a couple of nights midweek  in a hotel in Darlington, which was the closest I could find a railway-convenient vacancy. Then bought a couple of train tickets, packed my bag, and crossed my fingers for a good trip. 

 

Despite a delay between Reading and Paddington (when isn’t there? This time it was due to a vehicle striking a bridge) I easily made my connection to the LNER Azuma at Kings Cross and was whisked north. Such a long way north too although the limited number of stops helped make it feel less. Despite it being a busy train the seat next to mine remained empty and since I had showered that morning it must have been because strangely the reservation indicator showed “may be reserved later” although it never was.

 

Walking from the station to my hotel I thought “this is a bit bloody warm for t’North” and realised I’d managed to book my trip for a mini heatwave and in a hotel room without air conditioning 🙄 It was a bit of a sticky night even with the window open and a fan going. (The following day hit 25 C, I checked the weather at home, 31.5 C! Dodged that then.)

 

Of course the only sensible thing to do was go for a beer and marvel that a pint of Guinness only cost £3.55 in the centre of Darlington. In a real pub too, The Old English Gentleman, not sodding Wetherspoon’s. There was some football match going on so I don’t know if that affected the price but seriously compared to my area that’s a cheap pint 🙂

 

Not being any kind of football fan I went off in search of something I am a fan of, a curry. Cafe Spice, tucked away down a narrow passage called Clark’s Yard was midweek quiet and definitely provided the goods. Tasty chicken dansak, saag paneer, and mushroom pilau rice washed down with a couple of Cobras and quite wallet-friendly. Replete I returned to my hotel room and chilled out in front of the telly. Chilled isn’t the right word obviously given the overnight temperature remained stubbornly high.

 

The following morning after breakfast (and it would have been rude not to have had the full English included in the room rate) I walked to the railway station and got a return ticket to Shildon. I could equally have got a bus which would have taken about the same time overall but the train was actually cheaper with my railcard. Taking the train also led to a further adventure later which I probably wouldn’t have done had I been on the bus. 

 

Northern Trains two coach Class 156 grumbled along the former Stockton and Darlington Railway and I alighted at Shildon Station, a short walk from the Locomotion museum site. A much shorter walk in fact than the route that google maps took me on but I didn’t discover that until later. It doesn’t seem to know about the path which links the station to the museum. 

 

 

 

The museum now has two large buildings, or halls as they call them. The Main Hall contains the reception desk, cafe, shop, and the oldest exhibits and is passenger train focussed. Here is Locomotion No.1 the locomotive, Rocket, the Deltic, the prototype HST, and the APT amongst others. Here also is the children’s play area and the primary school parties to be navigated around and avoid when taking photos.

 

 

 

On the other side of the site is the New Hall. This is basically a big train shed and focuses on goods trains. It was somewhat quiete on my visit since the school groups weren’t in it. Large steam locomotive, very shiny Class 31 Diesel locomotive, cranes, shunters, and a variety of goods/freight rolling stock which are often overlooked for the more glamorous passenger services. There are clear information boards for the exhibits (as there are in the main hall) and I learned a good many things about railway goods services that I didn’t know before.

 

 

 

Outside between the two halls there are some sidings with more shunters and the replica Stephenson’s Rocket and here also is his iron Gaunless Bridge from 1823, the very first railway bridge to use an iron truss.

 

 

 

Away from the halls back towards Shildon Station (along the path google maps doesn’t admit to) and in the village are a number of historic buildings and structures which are also part of the wider Locomotion site. Shildon was the location of the Stockton & Darlington’s main engineering works making it the world’s first railway town and earning it the title of “The Cradle of the Railways”. The preserved buildings include a warehouse, a Sunday school, the goods shed, and a row of cottages including Soho House, built for Timothy Hackworth, steam locomotive engineer and the S&D’s first locomotive superintendent.

 

 

 

In the 20th century Shildon developed into the largest railway wagon works in the world employing around 2500 people and capable of building 1200-1500 new wagons a year and overhauling 20000. Despite a campaign to keep it open and find new orders it was closed down in 1984 by British Rail Engineering Ltd. and the Tory government resulting in most of the male workforce of Shildon losing their jobs and Shildon ceasing to be a “railway town”.

 

Is Locomotion worth travelling a long way to visit? Absolutely yes. Also entry is free, although they encourage donations (or just buy yourself something from the shop or cafe) and you don’t get better value than that. I took a lot of photos too.

 

 

 

I spent about 3 hours in Shildon and on the train back to Darlington wondered what else to do for the rest of the day, which was very hot and sunny. Then I realised that the train carried on all the way to Saltburn-by-the-Sea and I’d never been there either...

A Trip to Ramsgate

I’d only been to Ramsgate twice before, one afternoon in 2012 while touring Kent and in 1980 to get the hovercraft to the continent so it was essentially a new place for me. 

 

There was a particular place that I wanted to visit, only open at the weekend and it’s too far to go for a day trip, or would make for an unpleasantly long day, so I made a long weekend of it. I travelled by train and scored a rather nice seafront “suite” in a historic terraced house overlooking the harbour. The trains behaved (on the way there at least) and the accommodation was very comfortable with a fine view. 

 

 

  

This Museum Is (Not) Obsolete

 

 I’d been itching to go and visit This Museum Is (Not) Obsolete for some time having watched a lot of the Youtube videos on old electronic music and other noise-making stuff and of particular interest to me, old electromechanical telephone exchanges. The museum is billed as "AN INTERACTIVE MUSEUM CELEBRATING OBSOLETE AND EXPERIMENTAL TECHNOLOGY” and the emphasis is on the interactive, there’s lots of stuff to play with. Some of it truly weird!

 

 

 

 If you’re a musician type (and I’m definitely not) there are a lot of synthesisers here to play. Or if you’re not musical, to play about with and make a noise 😀 

The place is packed with old electronic games, equipment, and computers. There are display cases of all kinds of obscure stuff some of which has been wired up to do stuff at the push of a button. Then there’s the telephone stuff. A working Strowger UAX rural exchange connected to telephones (and some other things) around the museum so that you can make calls and watch the switches connecting the call. 

 

 

 

 You might find yourself having to explain to younger visitors (i.e. those under 40) how to use a rotary dial telephone though. That will remind you that you are old but you knew that already because you used to work on this stuff and now it’s only found in a museum 😀 There’s also an older UAX12 exchange wired into the mix, a GEC Private Automatic eXchange connected to a dial, and dotted about quite a lot of test equipment that was familiar from my working life. If you’ve any interest in this sort of thing I highly recommend  getting yourself down there, it’s only £6 to get in. Be aware though that time is distorted within the building and you’ll find two hours have gone by while you weren’t paying attention. I seem to have been to busy enjoying it to take many photos. And yes it’s tech geek/nerd heaven.

 

Ramsgate Tunnels

 

Having decided not to travel on Sunday because Rail Replacement Buses are not something I’m keen on I had another day in town so booked a tour of the Ramsgate Tunnels.

These are partly a disused railway tunnel that took the London Chatham & Dover Railway down to the seafront Ramsgate Harbour station. This station and the line through the tunnel closed in 1926 when the lines through Ramsgate were reconfigured and linked via the new station on the landward side of town. In the 1930s part of the tunnel was used for a miniature railway serving the amusement park and zoo on the site of the old harbour station. In the late 1930s the local council and the Mayor could see what was coming and that Ramsgate would be a bit too close for comfort to the action - it had been bombed by the Germans during the previous bout of unpleasantness - so they pushed hard to get a network of air raid shelter tunnels built leading in an arc under the town and connected to the former railway tunnel. It’s these, or part of them anyway which form the location of the tours.

 

 

 

 And very good they are too. Following a brief introductory film and a safety briefing (accept their advice to use a hard hat) you’re issued a torch and a couple of knowledgeable guides take you down into the tunnel shelter system, explaining how it all worked and pointing out various things of interest. This includes quite a bit of graffiti from the time before the tunnels re-opened for tours in 2014 and local urbex "enthusiasts" used to get in. Visitors who left their mark allegedly include Charles Darwin and inevitably Norma Stitz. They’ve decided to preserve the existing graffiti but request that no more is added. And yes at the limit of exploration they turn all the lights and torches off for a minute. It’s dark in there.

 

Back at the railway tunnel there’s a recreation of the “tunnel town” that developed to house residents displaced by the bombing with wood and canvas rooms for families who had lost their homes, and ablutions and medical facilities.

 

 

 

 It’s all very well done. Not overdone or Disneyfied, well able to hold it’s place against the large shelters you can visit such as Clapham South in London or Stockport, Greater Manchester. It has the advantage over Clapham in that being entered from the railway tunnel access is level-ish so no long climb down and back up 180 steps! 🙂

It has to be a “must do” when visiting Ramsgate.

 

 

 

 The rest of Ramsgate is worth a wander around too with a lot of interesting nooks and crannies in the backstreets, a busy harbour although it now lacks any cross-channel ferries, and some nice pubs. Although a warning to the easily offended, maybe it was just the fine weekend weather, maybe it was the proximity to Wetherspoons but the harbour front and town centre do seem to attract a noticeable number of shouty, sweary people.

 

I enjoyed my third visit to Ramsgate, there are more photos here on Flickr.

 

 

 

 Oh and the train journey home? Yeah, that was severely disrupted by someone getting themselves under a train at Maidenhead. Terminally 🙁