Likeable Lincoln

 Wednesday 17th July 2024.                Likeable Lincoln 

What a very interesting day was in store for the Lads today, little did they know what the outcome would be! as they all travelled to the ancient city of Lincoln, various train time schedules had been put in place that would involve travelling to Doncaster and then from platform 5 at the departing time of 9:47 it would be John, Colin, Derek, Brian, Glenn, Mark and Dave that boarded a East Midland Railway train heading for Lincoln, once there they would meet up with Jeff Duggan who had travelled from his home town of Sleaford. The train was on time and Jeff greeted us as we got off the train, time about 10:40 am.

After a few moments greeting him and discussing our intended plans for the day , John went in search of a bus timetable in Order to confirm our afternoon plan. Once he returned we then all climbed aboard a city bus that would whisk us up the very steep road heading for the Magnificent Cathedral here in the city. We soon found ourselves outside this splendid structure and stood in ore at its sheer size and wonderful stonework etc. A few brief moments were spent inside the building reading some of the many artefacts before we ventured on through a city gateway and on towards the summit of the so-called Steep Hill Street, from here it would be a steady descent over the cobblestones until we reached the more level ground of the city centre. We were in search of a recommended lunchtime meal cafe,  going by the name of Rising Cafe , it would be a mobile phone app that eventually got us there, what a great place to have come across to say the least, we whiled away almost an hour and a quarter enjoying our meals and the various conversations that brought back reminiscing times of days gone by, great banter and work related stories. 

Soon it was time to leave this establishment and venture a little further, not before saying a big thank you to the staff here at Rising Cafe. A good 10 minutes walk now found our group of eight inside the relatively new bus station building in search of the appropriate coach that would transport us to our next destination, that of the International Bomber Command Centre, a ten minutes ride away, a little confusion ensued for a moment or two before we eventually boarded a number 2 bus heading part of the way there. Little did we expect to get dropped off only halfway up the hillside leading to this memorable building, it was a bit of a struggle for some of the Lads to complete the journey to the entrance door, but we eventually made it.

Once inside the building we were now able to view the vast amount of information boards telling stories of what this entire complex was put in place for, a history of the events that took place during WW 2 , short films showing the various conflicts throughout this period were able to be watched as well, what a fascinating experience for all of us, topped off by a short guided tour around the memorial gardens and an insight into why this project was built here on the hilltop overlooking the city of Lincoln.

With our schedule returning train journeys looming, it was back to a nearby bus stop and take the relatively short rideback in the direction of the city and it’s Train Station etc, not before consuming a delightful ice cream courtesy of Brian and John whilst sat enjoying the beautiful sunshine that we had been blessed with today.

 

We said our farewell to Jeff and wished him a safe journey home as we made our way to platform No 5 and climb aboard our 16:17 train hopefully heading for Retford and then make a connection to Doncaster.What happened on this particular journey can only be explained as hilarious, fraught with confusion but enjoyable to all concerned, even our travelling companions aboard this train were subjected to our ramblings, all brought about by a text message to Derek informing him that his onward journey from Retford to Doncaster and from Doncaster to Wakefield was experiencing some delays, this would affect all of us, various conversations now ensued even involving the very helpful ticket inspector, a pretty young girl who went beyond her call of duty to resolve our journey plan, did we stay on this train and accept it would be a rather lengthy journey in the direction of Leeds, calling at numerous stations along the way , or risk leaving it at Retford and assume our train to Doncaster would suddenly appear on time. The decision was made, off the train we got, only quickly to get back on again after a brief update from our pleasant ticket inspector informing us there were further delays to our intended train to Doncaster. So it was sit back and enjoy this rather time consuming journey, as we began to tick off the various stations along our way. John was still concerned about the final arrival time at Leeds by this particular train so much so he continued to find an alternative solution much to his dismay he couldn’t come up with a solution.

It would a change of plans for Derek, Dave and Glenn as they left the train at Kirkgate  station instead of Wakefield Westgate, not too much of a problem for them , Colin, John, Brian and Mark now travelling on to Leeds , hopefully arriving at around 6:45 pm.but alas , an unexpected delay near Normanton caused the final arrival time to change somewhat, It was well after 8 pm when John got home.

Upon reflection today’s adventure was full of excitement and intrigue, plus what can be gleaned from fellow travellers on the rail network, some will enjoy our banter whilst others may think we are a noisy bunch of old men. Knowing all this I think we will still ride the Rails etc.

Cheers Everyone for a rather interesting day!!