Le Tour du Rodney. Tea and Scones at the Teahouse in the Woods.

 Nicely outside a full English, packed and steeds removed from the stabling and loaded, we headed off to Southrey on the Water Rail Way for a short ride to Woodhall and back.  It was the ladies' first ride along the old railway line on this trip and we all enjoyed bowling along towards Woodhall Junction pleasantly wind assisted.  Again bird song and butterflies were plentiful.  By the time we arrived at the Teahouse I was still replete with breakfast and made do with tea and cheese scone, both excellent.  Although we were riding against the wind, the return journey was largely sheltered and so not too onerous.  Driving home we were able to reflect on a splendid three days break.

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Sculpture and Southrey Station.

Sculpture and Southrey Station, the Witham in the background

The Water Rail Way

Green Lane, Woodhall Spa

The River Witham

The Team

Trailside Sculpture, referencing Tennyson's Brook

Le Tour Du Rodney. Warm up to Woodhall.

As we pulled into the car park at The Rodney in Horncastle (our home for the next couple of nights) the sun was out and the weather looking promising.  After at least a week of cold easterly winds and rain, conditions had improved and it was at last pleasant and warm.  Friends Brian and Heather arrived shortly afterwards and we soon had the bikes off the racks and we were good to go.

We were soon riding across the Wong and then alongside the River Waring looking idyllic in the summery weather.  I was reminded of Norman Clark an old family friend who in his 1950s book Country Gleanings describes taking his lunch breaks here in the 1930s and watching kingfishers.  A little further along we joined the River Bain by the municipal swimming pool.  Now a modern facility, I remember it in my Horncastle Grammar School days in the 1960s when swimming lessons were held here.  In those days it was outdoor, unheated, diverted, brown river water and those lessons began regardless at Easter.  The memory of having to jump into the freezing water are still vivid. Continuing we joined the old Kirkstead - Horncastle branch line, now the Spa Trail, a delightful off road walking and cycling route.  Butterflies were plentiful in the warm sunny weather: brimstones, common blue, spwckled wood, small tortoiseshell and speckled wood.  We followed the trail until we could turn off onto the quiet back road route down Kirkby Lane into Woodhall Spa, my childhood home.  We chose the Teahouse in the Woods for lunch hoping we wouldn't experience the same weather conditions Brian and I did a few years ago when the heavens opened for our final stretch into Horncastle.  After lunch we parted company, the ladies heading for the shopping hotspot of Woodhall while Brian and I pottered along a longer route back to the Spa Trail and Horncastle, calling in at the Bridge cafe for a welcome cup of tea and to feed cake crumbs to the large chub cruising under the bridge.

We are now ensconsced into the Rodney looking forward to a beer and dinner before a nightcap and bed.

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The River Bain as we leave Horncastle

Dog Rose

Dog Rose

On the Spa Trail

Returning to Horncastle along the River Bain.

Returning to Horncastle along the River Bain.

Reliving Childhood Memories

We had arranged to meet up of a socially distanced lunch with friends at Woodhall Spa's Teahouse in the Woods.  As well as a very enjoyable lunch and catch-up it gave me an opportunity to revisit some childhood haunts and make some images for a project on 'Childhood and Memory' that I am working on in which I am combining images of today with family archive shots and historical photographs.

We began with a walk through the town where I particularly wanted some shots of the site of the old Woodhall Spa Station and level crossing, especially with the post office, the original building, in the background.

From the 'crossroads' now a roundabout we wandered through the woods where we used to play.   After photographing the Spa Baths, now derelict and waiting restoration, and the Kinema in the Woods, we drove down Green Lane to Mill Lane to photograph the house where my parents lived when I was born.  There is an old family photo of me as a toddler sitting in the field opposite with the old mill tower in the background.  Although a row of bungalows has been build in front of the field, it is still possibe to get into and we enjoyed recreating the photo.  We were also able to walk down to the river.

Next came Kirkby Lane and the old reservoir where I used to go and play with a friend whose father managed the waterworks.  This is now Kirkby Moor LWT nature reserve and the old scots pine tree on the moor that we used to climb has now died and fallen over, but I am pleased to say that it is still there.  As an added bonus the heather was just coming into flower.

Finally it was time for a brew of tea by the car and then home for fish cake chips and mushy peas.

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                                                               Common Darter

'The House, Mill Lane'

                                                        Tea House in the Woods

                                        Looking along the old railway to the station

                                                            St Peter's Church

                                                               St Peter's Church

                                                The site of Woodhall Spa Station

                                                The site of Woodhall Spa Station

                                Site of the level crossing with the post office to the left

                                                                Station Road

                        Janet's was once Hundleby's Grocers where mum used to shop

                                                        St Andrew's Church Yard

                                                    St Andrew's Church Yard

                                                Station Road from 'The Crossroads'

                                                                    'The Woods'

                                                                 'The Woods'

                                                                     'The Woods'

                                                                 'The Woods'

                                                                 'The Woods'

                                                                 'The Woods'

                                                                 'The Woods'

                                                            The Spa Baths

                                                               The Spa Baths

                                                        The Kinema in the Woods

                                                        The Kinema in the Woods

                                                                The Newt Pond

                                                                River Witham

                                                        'The House, Mill Lane'

                                            Path along the edge of Ostler's Plantation

                                                               The Climbing Tree

                                                            The Climbing Tree

                                                            The Climbing Tree

                                                            The Climbing Tree

Cycling with Brian and the Heathers

A Day out on the Bikes with Brian and the Heathers

Despite a rather dubious weather forecast, Heather and I loaded the bikes onto the car and headed off to meet up with Brian and heather at Thornton crossing on the Spa Trail just outside Horncastle.  The Spa Trail is now a cycling and walking trail but started out life as a branch line from Woodhall Junction to Horncastle and was opened in 1855. 

Initially we had a couple of drizzly showers but the weather soon settled into a fine and warm afternoon.  We rode along the trail until we could leave it to divert via Welsyke Lane and Kirkby Lane, haunts from my boyhood.  Negotiating Woodhall by the backways, we soon arrived at the old station of Woodhall junction on the old Lincolnshire Loop Line from Lincoln to Boston, now the Water Rail Way.  Like the Spa Trail this is now a cycling and walking trail, but as a child and teenager I regularly travelled to Lincoln on this line, initially on steam hailed services.  In fact in my brief few years of train spotting I saw both the Mallard and the Flying Scotsman pass through and remember well the weekly fishermen's trains from Sheffield.

From the old station we rode to Stixwould station and onto to Southrey before returning to Stixwould where we left the trail for the road.  We followed byways to return to the Spa trail, passing the Wellington monument, erected in 1844 to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo.  A wood was also planted with acorns at the time and this now sets off the memorial.   We soon arrived back at the cars when it was time to light the stove and brew a pot of tea.  An excellent day.

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