A Whistlestop Tour of Lincoln Cathedral.

I was most taken with Lincoln cathedral-  the sheer quantity and quality of the Gothic carvings are simply stunning. What I particularly liked was that the modern grotesques and gargoyles sit alongside the original ones and are very much in keeping- there's one inside that dates from 2008 and depicts various scenarios following the ban on fox hunting. The political statements of some of the older ones might be lost on me but I can still enjoy the visual humour they present.
This example is one of the more modern ones.

The next two are wooden carvings- according to Anthony Weir in his book "Images of Lust" mouth pulling figures denoted a warning to those viewing them about improper sexual conduct whereas the second chap is suffering from toothache!

Unusually the cathedral does not have seats. This gave me a far greater impression of what it would have been like in its heyday when the congregation had to stand- only those who were frail or ill were allowed to sit on the seats along the wall hence the phrase "going to the wall".

 One of the many eye catching windows.

As ever it's the real history of the people who worked there or visited that strikes me the most- the groove worn in the floor where pilgrims over hundreds of years have knelt in front of St Hugh's shrine or the misericords [mercy seats] mainly carved and signed by the same Frenchman whose work is also found in the French cathedrals. Following an outbreak of plague he returned to the Continent never to return to complete his task- some of the seats remain in their original plain hewn state.

Finally you cannot help but notice the fuss made of a certain little chap- folktales abound about  him. This one [taken from Wiki] is the most common one.

According to a 14th-century legend, two imps were sent by the devil to do evil work on Earth. After causing mayhem in Northern England, they  headed to Lincoln Cathedral, where they damaged furniture and tripped up the Bishop. When an angel came out of a book of hymns and told them to stop, one of the imps brave started throwing rocks at the angel, but the other imp cowered under the broken tables and chairs. The angel turned the first imp to stone, giving the second imp a chance to escape. It is said that even on still days it is always windy around the Cathedral, which is the second imp circling the building looking for his friend. So to prove that I followed the well beaten tourist path to his door here he is the very same!

Arilx

Merrie Monday

Friday night was always yoof club and was a major event in the thirteen year old's life who went to a strict all girls' school and didn't get within a hundred paces of a member of the opposite sex except every other Friday. I used to go with my jolly good chum J who remains a jolly good chum all these years hence. It was difficult to know which was the better option- having J's Dad picking us up at 9.45 because he would stay in the car unseen or my Dad coming at 10pm but him insisting on waiting in the foyer and looking through the club doors at us! We never actually spoke to any boys- we'd have probably needed smelling salts to revive us after our swooning but the potential for meeting BOYS along with the silly ideas about romance that our Jackie mags filled our heads with kept us going in the intervening period. These two tracks take me right back to that time!
The Gap Band

And Kool and the Gang

Arilx

A fanatic is one who won't change the subject....

Or to quote Winston Churchill fully
" A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject".

Well that's just about summed me up....yes I am back to one of my favourite topics again...the greenman and naturally I am not in the least bit repentant! If someone is daft enough to allow me to cross their county border then it is inevitable that I will go out and search some of the little chaps out. The lady at Lincoln cathedral even kindly let us take a photo of her map to show where they were located- 17 in all. Even I know that to ask my family to look for all 17 is bordering on obsession so these are the ones we located fairly easily....

Oh yes and then there was this one in St Chads, Harpswell where we were staying. We paid a visit there on the first afternoon as it was just across the way- Mr GBT and I discussed whether we should take the camera but decided perhaps we should as there may be something of note. There were some goodish gargoyles but alas no greenmen....or so I thought. Flicking through the cottage info when we got back, I was stunned to find that there is a fairly robust example on the base of the plinth of the tomb of William Harrington who was a 14th century rector of the church. I should point out this was the only tomb in the church and I had stood right next to it, but with my wonderful powers of observation having wandered off in search of a bun I had managed to completely miss it. Naturally we went back the next day and made amends.....

It does pay to be a nosy old bat sometimes!

Arilx

Taking a walk on the wild side.

There were one or two things I definitely wanted to see on my hols to Lincolnshire this year, the limewoods being one of them. We followed a walk out from Fiskerton but there are a number of different routes available on the website www.limewoods.co.uk. This type of woodland is very rare and the habitat it provides valuable support so some of our more threatened species. I would imagine that in the spring it's a beautiful place to be- in August everything has grown up tall and is going over but that didn't prevent us from seeing an abundance of wildlife.

The walk itself was mainly across open fields with high hedgerows with some of it following an Iron Age trackway. It also takes in the ruins of Barlings Abbey which was dissolved in 1537. As you can see from the photo little remains above ground but you can still follow the earthworks and see where the fish pond was.

I was completely staggered by the number of butterflies we saw flying between the field boundaries- as ever they didn't tarry long enough to be snapped, but I identified a red admiral, speckled wood, brimstone and the peacock which, although not taken on the walk, was taken en route.

The highlight for me, indeed the highlight of the whole holiday though, was seeing one of these. I've only ever glimpsed one in the distance but this one just stopped and put its ears back before lolloping off back into the undergrowth.

Arilx

Curiouser and Curiouser

So I had taken the thrilling decision that now officially summer is here and I was on my hols, it was high time to remove the gum boots and cagoule and dress appropriately for our chosen destination of Skeggy. This I believed to be a perfectly respectable and appropriate choice for the beach.

So as you might imagine I was a little startled to be greeted by this warning against the wearing of such apparently, racy apparel

As ever I am sure it will come as no great surprise to you that I might just be telling tall tales again! In actual fact bikini was the word chosen at random by a computer and used by the MOD to warn of non specific types of terrorist activity between 19th May 1970 until 1st August 2006. Rather sinister you might agree. It is on display at the Newark Aviation Museum.

Now I would be the first to admit that I have zero interest in how planes are put together or how they work but, like with vintage vehicles, I do enjoy looking at them, their stats e.g. how fast they fly etc and finding out about their aviation history. I was absolutely staggered at how we went from one of these in 1910 [replica]

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to the planes that are familiar to us from the WW2 in such a relatively short space of time. I suppose the old adage " necessity is the mother of invention" is more that apt in a war situation.

Equally surprising to me was how taken I was with the Nissen hut [invented by Cpt P Nissen in WW1] full of engines on display. This is the one from Concorde.

And lastly this one- I thought it made a tremendous piece of artwork in its own right beyond it being an incredible feat of engineering

I have to admit though this is the point where the small person and I really let ourselves down because we both agreed that it bore more than a passing resemblance to the snakes on the door in the Harry Potter films i.e.

Now you can see why it is imperative that I leave the fixing of anything engine related to people who know what they are doing!

Arilx

The Wanderer Returns!

Evening chums!

I am back from my week long jolly and am now reacquainting myself with the washing machine. Ho hum! I have been kayaking, eaten and enjoyed mushy peas for the first time and am decidedly more rotund than when I left having fully indulged myself and eaten many delights of the ice cream variety.

We saw this lovely vintage van in Gainsborough. Yes I hear you sigh- I shall be back with more natterings over the weekend once I have caught up a little more on the domestic front and sorted out some snapshots!

Arilx

Lammas Blessings

A very happy Lammas to all those who celebrate. It's given me the most excellent excuse for sharing another snap of Mr John Barleycorn - a most fine fellow!

And from the most excellent Steeleye Span their rendition of the song of the same name.

As of tomorrow I am off on my summer hols- no doubt I shall return armed and dangerously overladen with lots more tales and inane witterings. So tatty bye for a week dear chums!

Arilx