Grange Farm, North Hykeham, Lincolnshire

Our trip across the fens yesterday was without event, albeit at a slow pace, often held up by agricultural machinery, until we reached the slightly more elevated lands rising soon before Sleaford. We had travelled this way before, but in reverse two years ago in our hired motorhome, but as I have said so often before, a journey travelled in reverse is entirely a new journey. We had no memory of crossing the Crosskeys Bridge over the River Nene at Sutton Bridge, that which flows through Peterborough. The bridge is a swing bridge built in 1897 and is grade II listed, not the sort of bridge you can ignore; maybe we were having an animated discussion about something apart from the sights or the road ahead.

I do recall mentioning in my blog about crossing the waterways that drain these flat lands, either naturally or artificially; the River Welland, the South Forty Foot Drain and the River Nene, and explaining the scheme that changed the geographical  face of this land, but I do not remember the bridge.

We lunched at the junction of the A17 and A46, not the greatest of spots, but providing a space off the road while we dined. Arriving at our little camping site on this lifestyle block, we found our host absolutely delightful and his travel tips most welcome. We settled into the orchard with three other club members and found the afternoon slipping away in a most pleasant manner.

This morning we headed into the city of Lincoln and found ourselves a park on the eighth floor of a multi-story car park, surprised it was so full even so early on a Saturday morning. We had seen on our map that we had almost half a mile to walk to the cathedral area, but had not quite realised how steep the streets were to access this. We walked up past the museum and art gallery earmarked for another day, and up between delightful  boutiques situated on cobbled streets, finally arriving at Castle Hill where stallholders were just starting to set up for the market. A couple married within the last half hour was making their way about this charmingly quaint market square and into the Cathedral courtyard, their guests following along and the official wedding photographer rushing about to take memorable photos.

We had phoned the Cathedral office yesterday afternoon to book tickets for this and the Castle, and a roof tour of the former. These were waiting to be picked up and we then spent an hour wandering about the cathedral in our own time appreciating this wonderful structure. Our appreciation was magnified when we joined six others and headed behind heavy doors, normally forbidden to the general public, and taken up and into the roof. Out on narrow balconies we enjoyed superb views over the city and then on narrow scaffold-like planked pathways, we checked out the upper form of the ceiling vaults and the oak beams supporting pine linings beneath the three and a half acres of lead roofing. Our tour was so much more and worth the time and extra premium on our ticket price, but is definitely only for those who don’t mind heights, confined spaces and can squeeze through even narrower walls; not for the fat or faint hearted.

The Cathedral was originally built soon after the Normans arrived; Bishop Remigius started the work in 1072 and the cathedral was consecrated in 1092, just a few days after Remigius died. Then in 1124 the cathedral was ravaged by fire, and then just sixty one years later, a rather rare British earthquake, estimated to be of over magnitude 5, did further damage. Records suggest  the structure just “split from top to bottom” however this account might well be exaggerated.  The fact remained it must have been poorly constructed in the first place and now needed to be rebuilt.

In 1186 Hugh de Burgundy of Avalon, previously a priest of the austere silent Carthusian order, was coerced by Henry II to oversee the rebuild, a task successfully undertaken before his death in 1200, so successfully he was canonised twenty years later. Work went on and the cathedral developed and morphed over the centuries; between the years 1311 and 1549, it was the tallest building in the world and first building to hold that title after the Great Pyramid of Giza, however the spire collapsed in 1549 and that record was no more. But the cathedral does hold the record as being the third largest in Britain after St Paul’s and York Minster. 

We checked out the Cathedral’s Library which holds a large collection of medieval manuscripts, including “incunabula”, books printed before 1501. The Library was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and was completed in 1676. The main benefactor of this collection and its home was Michael Honywood, dean of Lincoln cathedral between 1660 and 1681. But the part of this story that most tickled my fancy was the story of his wife, Mary, who with her husband had sixteen children who between them provided her with 114 grandchildren, who in turn gave her 228 great-grandchildren and they in turn, a further nine great-grandchildren, all before Mary died at the age of ninety three. This would be amazing even today with lower mortality rates, but this was back in the 1600s!

Back on the ground, we found a bench in the cloisters to enjoy our lunch, and then headed across to the Castle, just in time to join a free hour long tour, this time with several dozen others. This gave us an excellent overview, so when we picked up our audio guides and took ourselves up onto the ramparts to walk the perimeter of the Castle, we had a better appreciation of the whole experience. 

The Castle was erected just two years after the Norman invasion and has a varied history of structural change, siege, battles and usage. In fact Lincoln has featured in much of England’s chequered and fascinating history and like London, York and so many other towns and cities, is an important destination for the tourist or the curious who wish to understand the evolution of this green and pleasant land.

By now the sun was shining for the first time in several days and I wished I had worn my sunhat, but did not dare complain. I was warm at least! It was after 4pm when we came back down into the castle bailey; we decided that we would return here tomorrow to explore the Victorian Prison and the exhibitions about the Magna Carta. Our tickets allow one return within six months, and tomorrow will be that return day.

In the meantime I have enjoyed the company of many little rabbits, flocks of jackdaws and pigeons and of course, my husband. Alas the population of moles will be soon reduced; yesterday we encountered a young man nearby pushing some sort of extermination chemical into their burrows. I guess there are only so many moles a landholder can tolerate.