The Historian stood on the castle ramparts musing reflectively over the ruins. There is enough of Bolingbroke Castle left, with the help of the information boards to paint a mental picture of what it would have been like at the time HenryIV was born here.
Brian and I had set off that morning from The Admiral Rodney on a perfect early September morning; warmth in the sun yet a hint of Autumn in the air. Our route climbed steadily to Mareham-on-the-Hill before undulating across the top of the Wolds to Hameringham giving splendid views as we went. From Hammeringham it was a steady climb up to Winceby, the site of the Civil War battle in 1643, before the long swooping descent with fabulous views over the fen to Boston and down into Old Bolingbroke.
Sadly the Black Horse has long since closed but we enjoyed exploring the castle and the church. The castle passed through marriage into the ownership of John of Gaunt whose son, Henry, was born in the castle in 1367 becoming king in 1399. His baptismal font can still be found in the church.
Continuing to East Kirkby we called in at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre hoping for a coffee but unfortunately it was £11 entrance and we decided that was an expensive coffee. The side benefit though was that the lancaster aircraft was outstide and we had excellent views.
Coffeeless we carried on along a quiet lane along side the first of the drainage canals that drain the fens. We soon arrived at The Red Lion at Revesby where we availed ourselves of an excellent roast beef sandwich and even more excellent pint of Bateman's Gold. Good as it was though, this may have been a mistake as my legs were not so keen to push the pedals round after lunch.
Mareham-le-Fen, was our next destination where we turned along the quiet lane to Wood Enderby and on to the main Boston-Horncastle road. Crossing here we discovered another quiet lane that took us through the Scrivelsby Estate after which we took anoth back lane to reach the Spa Trail at Thornton Halt. From here it was a gentle mile along the train to take us back into Horncastle.
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