Sunday's Spotlight - Farewell

BY GUEST BLOGGER PETE.

Slowly but surely Lincoln is recovering from the unusually harsh spell of weather that it has been experiencing,  The prophets of DOOM - namely the weather forecasters - tell us that the snow is due to return this coming week and we're also informed that if this happens then this December looks like being the worse one for 120 years.  Not the sort of record you really want to be part of!

 

The City Council are in the process of paying back to the stallholders of the cancelled Christmas Market the deposits they paid for their stall pitches.  However the real problem is that the stall holders and shop keepers in the city have bought in stock specifically for the Market - much of it with a Christmas theme as well - and their chances of selling that stock in the foreseeable future are now very small.  In all the city suffered the loss of 100,000 visitors.  Pam and I know two ladies who run a cake and icing shop in the city.  A few years ago they bought  in 1,000 Christmas cakes to sell from their stall and, basically, decorated each one of them.  If they had had a stall this year and it had been cancelled then that could have meant a considerable financial loss and might even have resulted in the end of their small business.

Last Saturday some 30+ "would-be" stall holders hired a hall in the city and for six or seven hours were able to sell some of their stock, even though it was nothing compared to what they would have sold over the four days of the real Christmas Market.  A few stallholders are trying the same thing as I write this blog on Saturday afternoon.

For the past few years Lincoln has had an ice rink in the city centre for the Christmas and New Year period.  I have seen it this year about three times and the most skaters I have seen using it at any one of those times has been only 3!  It's more slippery outside the rink that it is on the rink!

 

The photos this week are non wintery!  They show two of my favourite photographic techniques - kaleidoscopes and Topaz.

 

I have been writing this blog for each Sunday for just over two years now and I feel that the time has come for me to retire my highly temperamental computer and myself from the blog scene of www.insidetheartisan.com .  I have enjoyed this weekly spot recording, mainly, the comings and goings of Lincoln and Lincolnshire.

 

I thank all those who have read this blog and also those readers who have made comments from time to time.  So, I take this opportunity of wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a bright new 2011.  Finally, my thanks go to Ruth for putting up with her dad's ramblings.

Sunday's Spotlight - A useful tip and Chaos in Lincoln

BY GUEST BLOGGER PETE.

This week I'd like to start off the blog post with a tip. We have a winter jasmine plant outside our house. We've had it for well over 20 years and it covers most of the front of the building. It is just beginning to flower now - small yellow flowers - and lasts for some time giving a nice splash of colour during late autumn. Even in summer, when there are no flowers, its bright green adds to the summery sight.

However, the spiders simply adore this jasmine. They cover it with fine net curtains of web throughout the year. These spiders, who also like the warmth inside the house, from time to time, have managed to get inside and  indulge themselves.

Now here is where conkers come into their own. No health and safety rules apply for this usage of conkers!!!!  Just put a few along a window sill.  "Hey presto !" Your spider problem will be solved. Beware, though, you must change them each year -- conkers not spiders!!!(Editors note: check here for the truth about spiders and conkers!).

Lincoln was in chaos last weekend and the same applies this weekend, although, hopefully, not next weekend. The city has a number of railway level crossings splattered all around it; not least in the very centre itself. Here we have a level crossing going right over the main high street.

This causes quite a bit of chaos but nothing compared to what it was like last weekend and will be like this weekend.

Repairs are being undertaken on the main London to Edinburgh railway line between Peterborough and Doncaster. All the trains that use this busy  line are being diverted at Peterborough to go through Spalding, Sleaford and Lincoln before rejoining the main route at Doncaster. This adds about 1 1/2 hours to the normal journey time.  Chaos results in the city centre as the crossing gates close so many more times and traffic causes chaos as it snaking through the city's inadequate streets.

City centre shopkeepers complained last weekend that there was a 40% drop in the number of Saturday shoppers and that is likely to increase this weekend. We are fortunate because we are able to avoid the crossing but not everyone can enjoy this luxury. Other plans in the pipeline are to divert all goods traffic off the main route and run it from Peterborough to Doncaster viaLincoln, thus speeding up the mainline passenger transport. At one time Lincoln had a bridge taking pedestrians over the railway line. Some years ago citizens woke up to find this perfectly good bridge had been taken down. Now half the citizens are cut off from the city centre.  If you are a train spotter there is one bit of good news.  Normally you can gain access to Lincoln Central station only if you are a passenger.  Non passengers are kept off the premises.  For this weekend only, though, train spotters will be allowed on the station without charge providing they sign a note saying they are only there for spotting purposes!!!!!!!!!!!

Pam and I have had a couple of days with our elder daughter in London this week. More about that, though, next week. However the photos this week are from a trip I made to Covent Garden. More news of his trip next week.

Sunday's spotlight - Would Derby be as disastrous as Doncaster?

BY GUEST BLOGGER PETE

Regular readers of this blog may remember the pretty disastrous trip Pam and I made to Doncaster a few weeks ago, when about 50% of everything was either closed for the day or permanently closed as a result of the recession.

Photo by orangeacid

It was, therefore, with some trepidation that we set out for a trip to Derby; it having been something approaching two years since we were last there.

One of the factors that decided us to take the plunge and go to Derby and risks seeing 50% of everything closed was that the particular day we chose to go was the last day of our O.A.P train concession pass. It cost us £20 each to buy this pass but it meant that we could get 25% off the train fares.

Photo by ~Duncan~

On the bus taking us from Derby railway station to the city centre Pam  began talking to a fellow passenger and he said that he thought Derby was a mess right now. This was not exactly cheerful news and also not very well timed because we just spent one and a half hours on the train getting there.  This fellow bus passenger went on to say that they, by which we took him to mean the city council, had gone mad with a rebuilding  and road alteration changes to such an extent that the city wasn't worth visiting now. We didn't think of asking him why he was on the bus going to the city centre. Pity!. A lady from Belper, with whom we shared a lunch table, was of the same opinion even though she didn't express herself in the same graphic fashion.

Photo by  orangeacid

In actual fact we thought the new buildings and the changes made since our last visit there greatly enhanced the city centre.  For a start the city now had a bus station and this meant that passengers didn't have to queue out in the open weather waiting for a bus because now they can queue  under cover.  A great deal else had been improved as well.
 

Photo by *Debs*

Derby Boasts of two indoor markets.  It is true that in the larger one some 50% of the stores were closed but whether that was because Tuesday wasn't a particularly profitable day for the stallholders or that they were feeling the financial pinch is something we didn't know. The second indoor market with 100% open so perhaps the stores in the first market were the result of the recession. I can't remember seeing any shops in the city closed so, on the whole, we had a good day out.

Photo by eamoncurry123

Pam had an especially good day. She found a craft shop and as her main hobby is making greeting cards she was in her element. I haven't seen much of her since we got home!

We even caught the right train home! That's more than could be said about the aforementioned trip to Doncaster!!!!

Sunday's spotlight - Burghley House

By guest blogger Pete

Far down in the southernmost part of Lincolnshire can be found the large Elizabethan stately home of Burghley House. I didn't ever think I will be writing about Burghley House even as a passing comment in this blog but nevertheless here I am mentioning it as the main feature of this Sunday's writings.

Photo by Acradenia

I'll begin with a confession. Burghley House is a place that I have never visited. Having said that, or rather written it, it might well be a place worth visiting when Pam's sister, Ann, and her husband, Alan, visit us next year. Burghley House can be found about a mile from the major A1 road and close to the market town of Stamford.  It is a "Nirvana" of three days for horse lovers: For them it is a place that must be visited at least once a year.

I write "for horse lovers " because Burghley House and estate is a location for  the famous horse trials well-known throughout not only the U.K. but also the rest of Europe. The local Radio Lincolnshire provided some interesting bits of information about the event which recently took place.

Photo by ~Duncan~

 There are only four four-star horse trial event centres in the country and Burghley is one of them.

 Over the three days it attracts something in the region of 140,000 visitors.



A tented shopping mall of considerable size is a major part of the event. Many visitors use it for their Christmas shopping. It really is that large. I suppose they could argue that doing your shopping there isn't really avoiding the Christmas rush because many of things you'll find at Burghley will not be easily found elsewhere.

This year a local rider qualified to take part in the horse trials. Her stable borders the Burghley boundaries and she can see the House quite clearly from her home. She is one of the few who didn't have to struggle to find accommodation. However she did have to stable her horses within the Burghley estate even though their home stables are so close.  This is a requirement put in place to protect against drug abuse.

There is one jump on the course where the rider takes off in Lincolnshire and lands in Cambridgeshire.

Although the house was built for Queen Elizabeth the first it was never used by her because its completion came after her death.

Have you ever been there?

Sunday's Spotlight - Lincoln by the Sea

BY GUEST BLOGGER PETE.

Perhaps a movement ought to be started which would promote an addition to the name of Lincoln and change it to "Lincoln by the sea". Not many folk realise that Lincoln has a wonderful beach, golden sands, seagulls, deckchairs, sandcastles etc. In fact there is most of what you would expect to see in  a place by the sea.

There is much to be said for living in a seaside resort, especially when the beach is so close to the many other attractions that the city offers. It's been good this summer to see so many people using their beach. There have been children busily engaged in building sand castles, parents resting or dozing in deckchairs, ice cream, etc, readily available. So why not come to sunny Lincoln by the sea? The title "by the sea" is a little exaggerated; however, "Lincoln Beach" is not.

Perhaps I ought to confess that most of the photos accompanying this blog are offering views of Cleethorpes rather than Lincoln.  But maybe you can spot the odd one out that is Lincoln? 

This year the city fathers brought a beach to our historic city. They took over a nice open area in the city centre and transported about 60 tons of sand, which was laid out on it and is ideal for playing in and building sand castles with. Deckchairs were provided for parents to sit and read from or doze in; in fact so popular were the deckchairs that more had to be obtained on loan from Skegness.

In all, the beach was a great success and it is hoped to be repeated next year. However, in the dead of one night, the sand and the various sand etceteras were all removed and the Square returned to normality. Normality, that is, until the coming December when, hopefully, a skating rink will take its place.

See you all on Lincoln Beach next year!

Sunday's spotlight - staying home for the Bank Holiday

BY GUEST BLOGGER PETE

Here in the UK we have just had the last bank holiday until Boxing Day. When you are working, bank holidays are an extra bonus that are very welcome but when you're retired you are apt to become rather indifferent to them. I must confess that Pam and I are both wrinklies and as a result bank holidays don't do a great deal for either of us.

About 75% of bank holidays (winter ones excepted) we visit the local car boot sale. This is an open air market where people sell the rubbish they don't want, to people who think it might be useful but then, probably, pass it on to a charity shop.  This year we even gave the car boot sale a miss.

Instead I climbed out onto the roof of the extension to pick up the moss that had fallen from the main house roof and to clean the top of the conservatory. It surprises me how much you can see from that roof. Reminded me of a song by George Formby -- "When I'm cleaning windows". There; that's given you a clue to my age but don't say you've never heard of George Formby.....here he is, just in case!!



It's best not to go on Lincolnshire roads on a bank holiday. At Cadwell Park, just outside of Lincolnshire town of Louth, there is a motorcycle nirvana called Superbike Cadwell Park. It is on the motor bike circuit for the national championship and this year it attracted a crowd of 40,000 -- yes 40,000 and I checked that three times.Can you imagine what the roads would have been like at turnout time? Probably not 40,000 motorbikes but at least 25,000 would-be champions all speeding along Lincolnshire's narrow roads making their ways home.

The other place we wrinklies are apt to avoid on bank holidays is the Lincolnshire seaside resort of Skegness. Our elder daughter, Mary, was with us a few years ago for an August bank holiday. By the way, if Mary ever invites you to a picnic then take your raincoat with you! To be true to her, though, the picnic she arranged for one of Pam's birthdays was the only hot and sunny day we had in the whole of that August. That visit to Skegness was an extremely fortunate one. We went in the afternoon and managed to find a roadside parking space quite quickly. The bonus here was that we actually found parking space on a bank holiday and it didn't cost us anything. Then whilst walking on the beach Mary found a £5 note. It must have been quite a few years ago because that £5 note bought tea for all of us !!!!!!

Skegness beach by EDD07

By EDD07

Hope you had a good bank holiday. Skegness on Boxing Day is very bracing. If you live nearby why not try it?

Skegness Clock Tower by mush2274

Sunday's spotlight - Flowers Everywhere

By guest blogger Pete.

Well, we went to the South Holland district of Lincolnshire's Churches Flower Festivals.  We managed to fit in four  churches and each one was an absolute riot of colour.  I made a second visit on Wednesday and managed to see another four.  I did tell you that there is an abundance of flower festivals in the churches there at this time of the year.

Pam came with me on Monday and the four churches we visited were Long Sutton, Moulton, Sutterton and Surfleet.  Each was very good and each were so different from the others.

The display in Long Sutton was worth visiting but I reckoned that this was the weakest of the eight in that, although it had flower arrangers from outside the town as opposed to locals for the other churches, it was a long way short of its usual standard.  I have asked others what they thought of this display and the majority seem to agree with me. Their theme was "Opposites", which I thought was rather a "cop out" for the arrangers.  There definitely wasn't the style and thought of previous displays.  When you think of it you can just put together red and white flowers and easily decide a theme of some sort of opposite from that.  Added to that most of the displays lacked variety of colour.  However I would award nine out of ten for the home made cakes.

Moulton was a new festival for us, we've never been there before.  As you entered the church you were met by a trapeze sign ordering "Tell me a story!".  The theme for Moulton was obvious.  Each display illustrated the title of a book and here variety and thought predominated. Home made cakes were good here and earned nine out of ten.

Sutterton cleverly combined a display of scarecrows with their flowers and the display had the theme of "A year in the life of a scarecrow".  Both the scarecrows and also the displays were great - again showing originality, great displays and a good use of props.  No home made cakes here because time was passing and we wanted to fit in anther church before we set off on the journey home.

We had started off at Long Sutton at 10 a.m. and it was 2.30 p.m. when we left Sutterton.  Just time to fit in a visit to the festival at Surfleet.  I thought Surfleet just edged out Moulton for the best showing.  Variety of colour was definitely on display here both from the hats - the theme here was"Hats" - and also from the flowers.  The home made cakes here weren't as good as the others so they earned an eight out of ten.

After all that cake tasting - someone must do it! -  we thought we'd give a hot meal a miss when we got home.  We also gave a cold meal similar treatmentl.

The photos this week are from my Wednesday festival  visit.  It features the small church of the small  village of West Pinchbeck.  Hope you like them.

If you're in the area and would like a trip out today or Monday then go for these festivals.  Last day for them all is Monday.

Sunday's Spotlight - Spring has Sprung!

By guest blogger Pete.

No one seemed to detect my "deliberate" mistake in last week's blog, when I credited Jimmy  Connors with making Gene Kelly look as though he had two left feet.  In actual fact it was Donald O'Connor who had the aforementioned effect on  Gene.  What do you mean "deliberate", I heard you saying - (I've got very good hearing!!!).  Okay, you win.  Put it all down to "crinkly" weaknesses.  At least I nearly got the surname right!

We did see Debbie on Sunday. How's that for name dropping?   "Whose Debbie?" my extraordinary hearing hears you ask.  Well, Debbie Reynolds, of course.  A very entertaining afternoon it was as well.

She is an extremely professional performer. In fact I would say that her one weakness was that she was too professional.  Of course she didn't dance - at 76 years of age  (our local paper said that she was 77, but that's par for the course) -but you can't expect her to give a repeat performance of "Singing in the Rain".  She was a bit unsteady on her pins and the one fear I had was that she'd fall; fortunately that didn't happen.

The poster advertising her performance read "ALIVE and well".  As someone who shall remain nameless but has the initials RB said, " Just as well that she is alive or it wouldn't have been much of a performance!"  in actual fact she joked continuously about her age and closeness of death  so the poster blurb wasn't as wrong as it may have sounded (or read).

She cracked some great gags and turned out to be a very talented impersonator.  She now has a bit of gruffness in  her speaking voice - this enabled her to do a first class impersonation of Jimmy Stewart.  That gruffness, however, disappeared when she sang.

Although she received a standing ovation at the end of her performance it was a pity that she didn;t think an encore worth while.  A few years ago we saw an equally aged Tony Bennett at the Sonoma Jazz Festival.  Of the two I would say that Tony Bennett's performance outshone that of Debbie Reynolds.

Over the early May bank holiday the churches flower festivals in the South Holland district of southern Lincolnshire begin.  As you read this that festival started yesterday and will go on until Monday week.  Pam and I plan to visit Long Sutton tomorrow.  That town has a large church and they draw flower arrangers from all over the midlands.  It's a long drive but worth it.  The photos for this blog are taken from last years South Holland flower festival.

Keep on singing.  If you want to see Debbie Reynolds then she's due to preform at the Leeds Grand Theatre tonight at 7.30 p.m. (UK time).

Sunday's spotlight - Lincoln and Lincolnshire in the news

By guest blogger Pete.

Lincoln and Lincolnshire men had been in the forefront of the news this week.

Photo by United Nations Development Programme

Pride of place must go to Mike Thomas and the members of the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Team. Taking on the mantle of the U.K. Fire and Rescue Team Mike, as leader, and seven others from the Lincolnshire Team headed out for Haiti at short notice shortly following the devastating earthquake there.

Photo by Simminch

As I write this rescue work in the island has ceased and the U.K. team are flying back to their homes. Their work day began at 5 a.m. and went on until darkness forced them to call a temporary halt. I guess one or two of them might be having a lay in this coming Saturday and Sunday mornings before they return to their regular duties on Monday. They have been credited with over 100 rescues during their time on the island. Their first rescue was that of a 2 year old child.

Photo by United Nations Development Program

I can't remember now whether or not it was Mike who spoke to us but some time ago I heard an account of the U.K. Fire and Rescue team's work (under the mantle of the U.K. Fir and Rescue) in northern India following an earthquake there. They spent over a week in the district and told us not only what the rescuers had to contend with but also the hardships facing the survivors.

Photo by United Nations Development Programme

I'm sure another Lincolnshire man, Chris Sands, won't object to getting 2nd place in this week's blog. Chris lives in a village just outside of Lincoln and for nearly three years he has been suffering from continuous hiccups. This has stopped him from such things as sleeping and eating properly, driving, follow his profession as a professional musician and much more. The hiccuping began in September 2006 and, with the short relief of 2weeks early on, has continued until last month. All this hiccuping for no apparent reason.

Chris has tried every remedy - both medical and old wives' - that he could find but all to no avail. He was interviewed on a number of occasions by Radio Lincolnshire and it was easy to see the stress and pressure he has had to live under.



In desperation he appealed for help on the Internet. That appeal was picked up by a Japanese T.V. station, who flew him to Tokyo to see a hiccup specialist there. This doctor discovered a tumour on his brain stem. Following his return home that tumour was removed in a Sheffield Hospital.

Darwin admirers might be interested to know that some experts think hiccups are a throw back to our ancient pre human ancestors, who had GILLS. Even after all this Chris doesn't make the Guiness Book of Records for the longest non stop hiccuping. This is held by an American farmer who hiccuped non stop for 68 years - yes, 68 years.

Next time you hiccup just think that your far distant ancestors might well have been fish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!