Off down the River Witham.

Friday 23rd August 2019 at Kirkstead Bridge
A bit of a gap since our last post; we went home for a week and left MM in Brayford Harbour.
We had left Lincoln by train on Tuesday 14th after spending an hour showing our Israeli friends Dina and Tirzi around MM. They were delightful and very interested in this strange "narrowboat".

So, after nine days at home, we arrived back in Lincoln after another easy journey. The ThamesLink train goes direct from Redhill to Peterborough and then the little one-coach train goes from Peterborough to Lincoln. Couldn't be simpler!

Having visited the Harbour Office to pay our dues and re-book MM in for next weekend, we set off down the River Witham that runs (it is hardly flowing at all) out of the north east corner of Brayford Pool. A large notice on the bridge over the exit asks "Where have you been?" - on the other side it asks "Where are you going?" Answer - "Boston"!

Almost immediately, we passed through the "Glory Hole", under the bridge with the mediaeval café above. The old arches that formed the bridge were fascinating to see from underneath - a bit like being in a church crypt.

The passage through the eastern side of the City is much more industrial although there is a lot of new retail development being undertaken to upgrade the area - including this very striking sculpture spanning the river.

There is a lock as you leave the City with a guillotine top gate that looked quite intimidating when we visited it last week - but luckily it was already up and open when we arrived as there was another boat a bit in front of us. So, we were able to share the lock - and the work!.

Thereafter, it was cruising at its very best. What an absolutely lovely river, abounding with wild life. Cormorants, grebes, herons and all kinds of small birds - plus lots of insects! In the last three weeks we have had a running battle with spiders in MM; evicting at least a dozen a day!
A disused railway line runs beside the river (it is now a cycle path) and a number of the original buildings survive including this signalman's house and signal box - the signal box has been converted into a beautiful conservatory overlooking the river. M wanted to buy it!

Our intention today was to make progress toward Boston but we actually ended up going halfway because all the moorings that we passed were full of huge cabin cruisers out for the Bank Holiday weekend. Eventually, we managed to breast up against another narrowboat at Kirkstead Bridge; the boat looked deserted and was clearly a "project" - we found out later that it has been there for months but the C&RT is aware that it has rather overstayed the 2 day maximum.
It was getting dark by the time we arrived so we went to bed early as we plan an early start tomorrow.

The sunset from the bedroom was magical.
Today: 15 miles, 2 locks and 4.5 hours.
Trip: 282 miles, 134 locks and 154.7 hours.

A Visit to the BBMFby Bus and "Oliver" the Musical.

Monday 12th August 2019 at RAF Coningsby.
R had done some research and found that we could get to RAF Coningsby, the home of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, by bus from Lincoln bus station. Unlike Redhill's tiny bus "stop" (you can hardly call it a bus station), Lincoln's bus station is large and well organised with dozens of bus bays, accurate electronic displays and it is clearly very well used with crowds of people getting on and off buses.
The one hour bus ride was most enjoyable through picture postcard villages and flat agricultural land so typical of this part of England.

The bus dropped us outside the BBMF Visitors' Centre.

Initially, we encountered a problem as visitors are not allowed to take any bags into the hangar with them and there is no facility to leave bags in the Visitors' Centre. The solution was for M to do the 1.5 hour tour first while R looked after M's backpack and then R did the tour while M looked after her bag (over a cuppa in the cafe!).
On each tour, the guides were very knowledgeable and charming. Both were retired RAF pilots and full of stories about each type of aircraft as well as the specific histories of each individual aircraft in the flight.
The flight has two Hurricanes; there are now only fifteen airworthy Hurricanes in the world, so they are much rarer than their more famous contemporary, the Spitfire. This, despite the fact that Hurricanes shot down more aircraft in the Battle of Britain - however, the Germans always insisted that they had been shot down by a Spitfire, never a Hurricane.

The Spitfire is iconic and the BBMF has six of them including this one which is the only airworthy Spitfire that actually took part in the Battle of Britain. Keeping these wonderful aircraft in airworthy condition is a constant labour of love - and hugely expensive.

The flight has a Chipmunk for basic training. Most of the RAF pilots who fly the flight's aircraft are part-timers whose day job is flying front line fighters like the Eurofighter or F-35, so they have to spend 35 hours learning to fly an aircraft with a tail wheel followed by another 35 hours on Harvards (borrowed from the Netherland's Air Force) before they are let loose on the flight's Spitfires and Hurricanes. Those training to fly the Lancaster spend their time on the flight's Dakota; it was doing circuits at the time of our visit, although they kindly parked it up while they had lunch.

Finally, we got to see the Lancaster that we had seen over Lincoln yesterday. It is only close-up that you realise what a very large aircraft it is. So large, that it was difficult to get a good photograph of all of it.

After a quick cuppa in the BBMF Vistors' Centre's tea room, we took the bus back into Lincoln where we treated ourselves to proper afternoon tea in the Bridge Tea Room. The Tea Room is in the only surviving mediaeval building built on a bridge in England, it straddles the River Witham.

The bridge creates a small tunnel that is known as the "Glory Hole" under the building. The tea was excellent and very welcome.

We fell into conversation with two delightful ladies at the next table; it turned out that they came from Israel and were visiting Lincoln for a local antiques fair. They were fascinated by the thought of a narrow canal boat, so we invited them to join us on MM tomorrow.
Wandering round Lincoln later, we came across a "beach" in the lower part of town. A great place for kids - Lincoln-by-the-Sea!

In the evening, we had tickets for a performance of "Oliver", the musical, in the Cathedral. The performance, by a local amateur group, was on for a week and we managed to buy the last two tickets together - and even then we were one in front of the other and not side by side. It was absolutely staggering - the sheer vitality, energy and huge cast left us breathless. Easily up to the standard of the West End.

This little fellow, a visitor from the Netherlands, was thrilled to see his name on the poster!

Back on MM, we watched the moon rise over, and reflected in, the water of Brayford Pool.

A lovely end to a great day.

A WW2 Weekend in Lincoln

Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th August 2019 in Lincoln.
This weekend, there is a WW2 festival in the centre of Lincoln, an annual event that draws crowds from far and wide - so we set off up "Steep Hill" to the Cathedral with high expectations despite the overcast sky and windy conditions. The higher we went, the stronger the wind got! When we reached the summit we found that all the stallholders had been told to cancel, as the wind was too strong. Very sad - and disappointing for everyone.
However, we took the opportunity to have a good look around the Cathedral and even had a guided tour, which was wonderful because we had the guide to ourselves and we could take our time and ask lots of questions. The guide recommended that we should visit the Cathedral Library housed in the building above the cloisters. It was fascinating, full of old books and ancient documents. One particular document was this Latin scribble written in someone's 15th century Latin grammar book - one can imagine a bored pupil writing the words from a popular ballad of the time in his exercise book:

It is the first ever written reference to Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest and translates as: "Robin Hood in Sherwood stood, hooded and hatted, hosed and shod" (no mention of green tights?, asks M!).
Another very apt text was a quotation from a book entitled "The Discovery of a New World" written by John Wilkins, founder of the Royal Society, in 1640. The "New World" referred to science, not America, and included many of his thoughts for the future progress of science including: "That there may be a meanes invented of journeying to the Moone; and how happy shall they be, that are first successful in this attempt." What a great and apposite quote for the fiftieth anniversary of that first successful attempt!
Sunday morning dawned much brighter and without the wind of yesterday. Hooray! We walked back up "Steep Hill" past the crooked lamp post half way up. M loves this rather quirky view.

Today was totally different, with dozens of stalls set up, very many people in period costume and a lovely lively atmosphere. M was very taken with this family group including the nanny in full uniform.

A traditional "local" bobby on his bicycle was in attendance to ensure everyone was well behaved (how we miss local bobbies!).

Throughout the day there was a succession of performances by period singing groups including a trio, duo and solo.

As well as a dance troupe doing a sort of line dancing.

The crowd was enthusiastic and many of them joined in the dancing, including this couple in RAF uniform, who seemed to be having a great time.

A highlight of the day was a flypast by the Battle of Britain Memorial Lancaster. Unfortunately, the wind was still too strong for the Spitfire and Hurricane to take part but the Lancaster did three low passes before flying off to its nearby base at RAF Coningsby. A sound and sight to give you goosebumps, and in M's case, bring tears to the eyes.

We went back into the Cathedral for tea and cake in their tea room and found their visiting choir rehearsing. Their own Cathedral Choristers are on holiday so the daily Choral Evensong is performed by visiting choirs. This choir was from the USA near Detroit and we came to three of their Choral Evensongs. Very good they were too, brilliant singing and very disciplined with their entrances and exits.

We were told that there is a two year waiting list for international choirs wanting to come to Lincoln to sing in the Cathedral for a week during the summer.
A great weekend despite the weather on Saturday.

A Home Visit for M.

Wednesday 7th to Friday 9th August 2019 in Lincoln.
A very quiet three days. M had to go home for two nights and left R in Lincoln with MM. M found a very easy way back by taking the train to Peterborough from where the Thameslink trains originate. They go straight through London to Redhill so it was a one change journey - couldn't have been easier or quicker.
R was left with the problem of a dwindling diesel tank and a rather full poo tank. The marina in Brayford Pool is full of expensive cruisers but it is a bit lacking in facilities. No diesel, no pumpout and, as we already found out, no visitors' moorings in the Pool.
We had noticed a C&RT sanitary station on the way into the city, so R took MM back there, only to find that the pumpout facility was not working! The only option was to take MM two miles further back up the Fossdyke to Burton Waters Marina, which has full facilities.
The marina is more like a town on the water with lodges and houses, most of whom have their own mooring outside. While there were many "town houses", there were also many larger properties - and lots of large cruisers. The marina is huge!

They were very helpful and soon MM was full of diesel and water and empty of poo. Hooray!

After our weedy trials on the Erewash(out), R was amused to see that the marina had its own solution to the weed problem in the form of a purpose built weed cutter and picker-upper. The skipper was a pleasant chap - he could make a fortune on the WeedyWash!

Back at Brayford Pool in the centre of Lincoln, R moored up MM in the marina. We decided that, because we both have to go home on 14th, we might as well put MM into the marina throughout, as there are such limited longer-term visitors' moorings here. MM is a bit dwarfed by the wide beam behind her but you can see the towers of the cathedral on the hill behind.

As R was walking back to MM, he saw our friends Dave and Lynn's narrowboat, "Lynn G", coming across the Pool towards the River Witham exit. They hope to moor on the river and R said that we would try to come down to find them later.

R walked down beside the River Witham to check out the lock on the east side of the city with its rather intimidating guillotine top gate. On the way down, he saw this very striking sculpture suspended over the river.

M returned on Friday evening and we went to Wagamama for dinner, which is built out over the water of the Pool.

It gave us a very pleasant view of the sunset as we enjoyed our dinner.

Three days: 5 miles, 0 locks and 3.1 hours. MM is now plugged into shore power.
Trip: 267 miles, 132 locks and 150.2 hours.

Lincoln Castle and Choral Evensong.

Tuesday 6th August 2019 in Lincoln.
A clear blue sky promised a good day to follow - and it was, we had a splendid day.
Our path into the City centre along the south side of Brayford Pool, took us past the campus of Lincoln University. How fortunate are the youngsters who come to study here!

Everything is new, bright and clean - a far cry from most of the student accomodation of our youth. MM is moored up alongside a long row of new purpose built student accomodation blocks. M had a peek in and declared them to be positively palatial.
We set off up the hill towards the cathedral. The road that leads up to the cathedral from the city centre is called, very appropriately, "Steep Hill". We were told that it is the sixth steepest residential street in the country; it also goes a long way up. You round a corner, thinking you have arrived, to find yet another steep cobbled street continuing upwards. But it's a lovely walk.

Finally, we arrived at the top in the cobbled square between the castle (to the west) and the cathedral (to the east); except for the cars, it cannot have changed a lot over the centuries.

We decided to visit the castle first, thinking that it probably wouldn't take that long as most castles like this consist of a few piles of stone and little else. How wrong we were! We ended up spending most of the day in the castle.
We joined a tour, which was due to start at 11:00am. Paul, our guide, duly waited for the last of the eleven chimes from "Great Tom", the five ton bell in the main tower of the cathedral before he started.

The tour was excellent, lasting about 90 minutes and taking us all around the castle grounds. It is always astonishing how knowledgeable the volunteer guides are.
The castle was originally a "Motte and Bailey" Norman stronghold started only two years after the Battle of Hastings on a commanding site previously used as a fort by the Romans. The "Lucy" tower, that dominates the south wall, is the location of the original Motte.

The Bailey is thought to have been much larger originally and to have included the land upon which the cathedral was built. The current walls were probably created at the end of the 11th century as an "Inner Bailey" and, at the same time, the wooden Motte was replaced by the stone tower.
After the tour, we had a refreshing cuppa in the café - slightly interrupted by the fire alarm, which meant that we all had to evacuate for a quarter of an hour!
Since a recent renovation, you can now "walk the walls" all the way around, a distance of over one third of a mile. A "must do" that provided wonderful views, not least of the cathedral.

On the south east corner is a second mound and a second tower. The main part of this tower dates from around the 13th century but the rather quirky turret on the top is much more recent. It was built in the early 19th century by John Merryweather, the governor of the prison that stands in the castle grounds.

He was a keen astronomer and it is believed that he housed his telescope in the tower. The tower windows also looked out over the women prisoners' exercise yard and it seems that he made full use of the view as he is reputed to have fathered at least two children with female inmates under his care!

If you look very carefully at the photograph above, you will see R waving from the top of the tower.
In the middle of the castle grounds is this very large bust of King George III. It was originally a full length statue 15ft tall, commissioned by the 4th Earl of Buckingham to celebrate George III's golden jubilee in 1809 and placed on "Dunston Pillar", which is itself 92 ft tall. The statue was removed by the RAF during World War II as a hazard to navigation. The bottom part is in storage.

In the castle is a "vault" that contains one of only four original copies of the Magna Carta. The Bishop of Lincoln attended Runnymede in 1215 and received a copy of the original charter so that it could be read out in the cathedral to the people. They know that it is Lincoln's copy because it has "Lincoln" written twice on the back. It has been here ever since.

We left the castle and walked across to the cathedral, which is in the middle of an extensive renovation programme. The west face is still magnificent even with its covering; close up, the detail is staggering.

We decide to devote a whole day to the cathedral another time but we stayed to hear the choral evensong. The cathedral choristers are on holiday but the choral evensongs are being sung by a series of visiting choirs. We were told that there is a two year waiting list for choirs wanting to sing in the cathedral - hardly surprising! The choir this evening was from the USA and they were extremely good and very disciplined.
Today: MM had the day off.

Arriving in Lincoln.

Monday 5th August 2019 in Lincoln.
As we left Saxilby, it began to rain but luckily it was only a few showers. We passed a C&RT working party clearing vegetation from steps leading up to the road. They are in there somwhere! "Where's Wally"?

Hooray! The sun came out soon after. The long straight canal is representative of the Fossdyke down to Lincoln. The Romans, who built the navigation, tended to keep to straight lines.

There are many non-navigable "feeder" drains that flow into the navigation. None of them seemed to be flowing significantly.

The approach to the centre of Lincoln and the Brayford Pool is not the city's best face. There is a mile of (full) permanent moorings followed by about ten 48 hour visitors' moorings (again full). We went into the large basin but found that there are no visitors' mooring there at all, so turned round and went back out the way we came in.

We were able to squeeze in to an empty mooring space right next to the noisy road bridge, so we moored up and went in search of the Brayford Harbour Master's office to confirm our mooring in the marina for next week. As all the visitors' moorings are 48 hours, we decided to book MM in for two weeks paid mooring from Wednesday as there is no hope of staying on the free visitors' moorings for that length of time.

We set off on foot to explore the lower level of the city, having decided to save the Cathedral hill for tomorrow. However, the Cathedral, high on the hill, majestically dominates the skyline and can be seen for miles around. One can understand its spiritual significance to pilgrims, past and present.

The railway line runs right through the middle of the lower city with crossing gates for pedestrians and vehicles. A new bridge over the railway gave us a good view of the line. We heard a train approaching and were surprised to see this little train come round the corner. M thought that it looked from above like R's model railway!

Where the River Witham leaves Brayford Pool, it passes under an unusual bridge, known locally as the "Glory Hole". That is the way that we will go when we leave Lincoln for Boston.

We walked up the narrow steps next to the bridge and found ourselves in the middle of a very crowded pedestrian street that winds its way all the way up the hill to the Cathedral.

The Brayford waterfront was equally busy on this lovely sunny afternoon and full of restaurants, bars and shops - including a Wagamama (for M) and a Costa (for R).
However, M saw a sign saying "Monday fish and chip special", so we stopped there - at the Royal William IV pub on the waterfront. And jolly nice, it was too.

This "fountain" puzzled us as it seemed overly complex just to spray the locals with its wind-blown water in the saucers. It looked as if it ought to do something clever. It turned out that it does! It is actually a clock that turns full circle once an hour like a minute hand and then, on the hour, it chimes. Tomorrow, we will come back to see if it really does.

The marina is chock full of cabin cruisers as you can see. There are two pontoons for narrowboats at the far end, which we will pay to use. One cannot help thinking that the very scarce visitors' moorings probably significantly benefit the marina's turnover.

On returning to MM, we found that one visitor's space had opened up a bit further from the road bridge so we moved her a little further from the traffic noise.

Today: 5 miles, 0 locks and 1.8 hours.
Trip: 262 miles, 132 locks and 147.1 hours.