So now that we can stay overnight and go indoors, where did we chose to go for three days away? Yes everyone's favourite destination - Lincolnshire.
That's the edge of the very flat Fens in very flat Lincolnshire. But we did get to pop across the border into Leicestershire as well.
Nevertheless it was an interesting trip. I took over 400 photographs and so what I have posted here is just a small percentage. You can view them all on my You Tube channel at. If you want to see all my photographs and programmes just search for Norfolk and Suffolk Photographs. The channel isn't just restricted to Norfolk and Suffolk despite the title.
So on Day One (Tuesday) we drove to Boston which we found an interesting if slightly rundown town. The massive church - one of the largest parish churches in the country - is known as the Boston Stump. Nobody really knows why it has that title but the suggestion I liked most was that surrounding parishes, feeling very jealous, referred to it as the Stump as a derogatory term.
It was certainly an impressive building - a kind of mini Cathedral. There was plenty of history around and obviously a very large migrant population, presumably most of whom work on the land.
Our second stop of the day was at Woodhall Spa with its close connection to the RAF and the Second World War. Almost two years ago we visited Cape Cod in Massachusetts to stay with friends. They live close to a small town named Barnstable and Woodhall Spa reminded us of this. It looks as if Woodhall Spa was modelled on Barnstable we said before realising that if anything was modelled on anything it would certainly have been the other way round.
Particularly liked the Kinema (correct spelling) which was showing Peter Rabbit 2 which seemed very appropriate for a building in the woods. From there we drove onto our hotel The Olde Barn at Marston. Now this isn't Marston Moor which is in North Yorkshire but a small village about a mile from the A1.
On Wednesday, we went to one of the nicest National Trust properties and parks we have been to - Belton House. Open parkland to wander in, formal gardens to wander round (even if it did start to rain) and much more. We left a visit to the house for our next visit. They had a very good second hand book shop. I bought a comprehensive history of London which I told the volunteer running the place I had chosen because it was the biggest book available. I think she half believed me (but only half).
Melton Mowbray is synonymous with pork pies, so we thought it might be worth a visit. Sadly it wasn't. Let's just say it wasn't the best place we have been to and leave it at that. Fairly close though was the village of Wymondham which we visited for obvious reasons. This one has a windmill and is minute (as in small and not as in 60 seconds) compared with its Norfolk counterpart. Now how is it pronounced? We all know the wonderful Norfolk market town is pronounced Windam or Windum but what about this Leicester village? Well we were assured it is also pronounced in a similar fashion.
On Day Three (yesterday) we drove to Stamford on our way home. It was wonderful until the rain came and we had to beat a hasty exit. This town has history at every corner from the friend of Oliver Cromwell who pleaded with him not to raise the town to the ground to the number of "hospitals" in the town. In this case the word hospital means a charitable home or institution for local people. But by far my favourite was a plaque to Daniel Lambert whose only claim to fame appears to be that he was exceedingly fat.
Now I'm not being fatist here. This man was gigantic. The plaque tells us that when he died in 1809 he weighed 52 stone 11 pounds. That is almost five times my size. Now I know I'm severely vertically challenged and reasonable small but five times my size.
Can you imagine of they had football in his day. He would get stuck in the turnstiles and would take up about three seats all on his own!
It was the second time we have been to Stamford. A number of years ago I was a more romantic soul and bought a couple of tickets for a Romantic Valentine's Mystery Tour. Please hold the word romantic in your mind as I relate this.
We set off from Wymondham on the Saturday morning, having no idea where we were going and just hoping it wouldn't be Eastbourne where our eldest son lived as that would have been a bit of a waste of a trip. We seemed to drag round the East Anglian countryside picking up passengers. Then off we headed and arrived in Stamford. It was a cold day and so the thought of a roaring log fire at a local hotel seemed a very good prospect. But no - the coach driver said we had an hour to grab some lunch. So we grabbed some food and a very quick shuffle around town and back onto the coach.
We drove to Lincoln. Another nice place and quite romantic (that word again) in its own way. Again thoughts of a hotel and a roaring log fire. But no - "here we have a two hour stop" said our coach driver. So we climbed up the the cathedral - proving that not all of Lincolnshire is flat - and did some shopping and then back onto the coach.
"Thanks for getting back promptly everyone as we still have a way to go," said our driver. We drove towards Hull, across the Humber Bridge and had a stop at Ferrybridge Services which amused my wife as she comes from about a mile away and could never claim this area to be romantic in any way. We drove on and on and on. It got dark as it is prone to do in February and was pitch black when we stopped at a hotel in the middle of nowhere but well on the way to Manchester and probably on the Yorkshire/Lancashire border. No time to change or even shower as we were late for the romantic dinner. After this we were too knackered for any kind of romantic night. The next day it was a case of getting up at an unromantic time, having an unromantic breakfast and then back onto the coach.
Manchester would have been ok, Saddleworth would have been ok but no we doubled back and set off into Yorkshire. It looked as if we might be going to York. We know that city well and could have contacted some friends and met up for coffee but no we were going somewhere else and then very quickly there we were - in Leeds on a Sunday morning with nothing open!!!!
Now of all the towns and cities in the British Isles, Leeds would be in my bottom three for being romantic or conversely the top three for being unromantic - particularly on a Sunday morning with well over four hours before we got back onto the coach. I seem to remember we wasted a lot of time in a cafe and wandering around aimlessly.
But bear with me as the best bit is still to come. At that time our youngest son was at Uni and was home for the holidays. And where was he at Uni - yes you've guessed it, Leeds. And where was I going the following day. Yes once again you are ahead of me. I was driving him back to Leeds. So we got home about 8 pm and 12 hours later I was driving back to the place we had suffered (I can't say enjoyed) our romantic Sunday on Valentine's Day. Needless to say we haven't been on any more romantic mystery tours.
Anyway enough of my ramblings. Hope you enjoy the photos of our three day trip and do please pop along to You Tube to view them all.