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.

 

Rochester.

28th February - 2nd March 2022

I had some leave to use up so between the “end” of the plague and the beginning of World War Three I took a little train trip to Kent.

 

 

Rochester sits on a bend the River Medway about 30 miles from London. Historically it’s a city but due to an administrative cock-up officially it isn’t any more. In its favour as a tourist destination it does have a castle, a cathedral, a high street with a lot of interesting buildings, strong connections to Charles Dickens, and frequent trains from London Victoria (as well as sitting astride the main A2 road from London to the channel port at Dover). I took the train via Guildford, Clapham Junction, and London Victoria and at £25 return with a Network Railcard it was almost certainly cheaper than if I’d driven. And the trains all ran to time for once!

 

 

 

The station is close to the city centre (to hell with the bureaucrats) and has a Travelodge just behind it which is fine for a couple of nights and being quite new hasn’t had a chance for the fixtures and fittings to fall apart yet. From the third floor I could watch the trains arriving and departing the station below. I took advantage of the lack of rain and went for a walk around the city centre to get my bearings and in search of victuals. The Crown at the bridge end of the high street was quiet - it was Monday and early evening - and provided a decent burger and chips and pint of Spitfire. 

 

 

 

The High Street was mostly quiet, quite a few places didn’t open on Mondays.

 

 

 

I walked across the river bridge to Strood which appears to be the shopping area for Rochester, having a retail park and supermarkets and was rewarded with a view of the illuminated castle and cathedral across the Medway. And so to bed.

 

The next morning was predictably wet, I’ve decided that when I book leave it adversely affects the weather, I’m used to it now and fortified with a flat white from Costa I headed first for the castle.

 

 

 

It isn’t hard to find, sitting high on a hill in the city centre. Rochester Castle was started in the late 11th century and the tall stone keep built in the early 12th century by Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester and later Henry I granted it to the Archbishop of Canterbury in perpetuity because obviously the leader of a peaceful religion needs a ruddy great castle. The scene of many battles and sieges of the the centuries the castle and its grounds were opened to the public in the 1870s as a park, the grounds are free to enter when open in daylight hours.The castle is protected as a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Monument, the ruins are managed by English Heritage and open to the public for an entry fee of £7.20 at the time I visited. 

 

 

 

Which isn’t too bad considering there’s quite a bit of the keep still standing and accessible - in the sense that if you can climb lots of irregular staircases you can access it rather than the modern sense of accessible to people with disabilities. It’s worth the climb of 200-odd steps because even in fairly crappy weather there’s good views over the Medway and surrounding area. Which is why it’s where it is of course.

 

 

 

Topically you can even see a Russian Soviet Navy submarine although this one’s no longer a threat to anyone.

 

 

 

These days the castle keep is besieged only by feral pigeons in spite of the defences erected to counter them.

 

 

 

From the top of the keep I could see my next place to visit, Rochester Cathedral being gently rinsed by the falling drizzle.

 

 

 

Even as a godless heathen I can appreciate church and cathedral buildings. Particularly when they’re free to enter and warmish and dry. The cathedral has had a turbulent history since its founding in 604 and the original Saxon church has been replaced by a Norman and later building. It’s not a huge cathedral but impressive nonetheless.

 

 

 

At the time of visiting there were more electricians working there than ecclesiastical types apparently installing new lighting, in the 21st century even the light of the world is by LEDs! I did notice a distinct military theme to the various memorials around the walls inside the church. Many of those memorialised seemed to have spent their time on earth helping to expand the empire. A striking number meeting a premature end in obscure parts of it possibly at the hands of the locals who didn’t appreciate the efforts of the great and good of Rochester to bring them civilisation.

 

 

 

It hadn’t finished raining when I emerged and showed no sign of doing so. Heading through the city centre it was clear that many businesses made the most of the Dickens connection with the city and in the grounds of Eastgate House is his writing chalet looking a little out of place next to the Elizabethan house. There are a few other interesting old buildings too as befits Rochester’s long history and location on the route from Dover to London. Fairly free of chain shops too. I followed the High Street east and out of Rochester to Chatham, about a mile and a half away, to Fort Amherst, built centuries after Rochester Castle but for similar reasons. Built in the 18th century to defend the landward side of Chatham’s Royal Navy Dockyard from any invading army - OK, the French - it replaced the old town of Chatham which was then rebuilt in a bog at the bottom of the hill.

 

 

 

It’s a fair climb to the fort from the town and being still winter the main attraction, tours of the extensive tunnel system below, wasn’t open but it was free to wander around before walking back through Chatham town centre to the railway station.

 

 

 

Chatham and its Historic Naval Dockyard will have to wait for a future visit. I caught a train to Strood for the shops and retreated to the hotel for the remainder of the evening to dry out. The next day reversing the train journey rather than the journey planner’s suggestion of returning via Victoria, Paddington, and Reading which would have been disrupted by delays on the tube, falling between two strike days.

 

I feel a re-visit to Medway is on the cards as there’s much more to see than I had time for and it’s not too far away from home for a short break.

Meanwhile the usual Flickr Album is here.