LOUTH

Let's start in the town centre of Louth, now one of the largest towns without a railway station. Here's the Market Place in 1953 (Photo in my collection, photographer unknown).

Lincolnshire Road Car was the main bus operator before Stagecoach took over.

 

With Louth being on the road to the coast, visiting coaches were frequent. Ribble and East Yorkshire are represented here.

A Royal Mail postbus served some of the more rural communities.

In Louth's small bus station an ex Felix of Hatfield AEC Regent V with Marfleet of Binbrook.

An unusual vehicle in the local Amvale fleet in January 2006.

Steam on a low-loader in Louth.

Oh no! The morris dancers are in town!

Let's improve things with a visit to Fuglestow Brewery.

Then it's off to Louth Beer Festival.

Our next stop is a Bateman's house, the Woolpack.

We conclude our tour of Louth at the town's oldest pub, Ye Olde White Swanne.

In the next post we'll follow the canal and then the old railway in a vaguely northerly direction.

ACROSS COUNTRY

Leaving Lincoln behind, we head northwest for a short while, to the remote(ish) Pyewipe Inn, alongside the Fossdyke Navigation.

Now, it's across country to the village of Nettleham, where Appleby's of Conisholme once had a small yard/outstation.

Nettleham is a plesant commuter village and in the middle is the Plough, a Bateman's house.

Two more pubs in Nettleham, both still in business. The Black Horse is a free house, while the White Hart is another in the Bateman's stable.

Our next stop is Wragby, on the long closed Bardney (near Lincoln) to Louth railway line. Wragby station was owned by the Great Northern Railway.

Wragby's main pub was once the Turnor Arms, seen here on an old postcard and below that, in 2000, when owned by Tom Wood's Brewery. Today, it's more of an Indian restaurant.

Now we're in the Lincolnshire Wolds and what remains of the railway station at Donington on Bain.

Soon we reach the town of Louth, where the railway station was buit by the GNR.

Louth station passed to the LNER and a J39 is seen in company with a 4-4-0 on passenger services.

Louth's passenger trains ceased in 1970, though some freight traffic lingered on. By 1985, the station was derelict.

The station building was later restored and turned into flats.

In the next post we'll take a close look at Louth, but in the meantime, don't forget to follow our journey here.

STEEP HILL.....THE REALLY STEEP HILL!

 High Street in Lincoln becomes Steep Hill as it rises up towards the cathedral. A few yards up the incline brings us to the Cardinal's Hat, a decent free house.

Further up is a modern bar, the Strait & Narrow, which had a decent selection of beer when visited in 2013.

After a VERY steep climb things begin to level out as we reach the Wig & Mitre.

At the top, close to the cathedral, is the Lion & Snake, once owned by Hole's of Newark, but now in the hands of Marston's.

The view of the cathedral from around the corner.

Here's the cathedral from a different viewpoint.

Stained glass inside Lincoln Cathedral.

From the tower of the cathedral, there's a fine view over the castle (Creative Commons License).

This part of the city has some really good pubs. Here's a new addition, Beerheadz.

You will no longer get Hall's Ely Ales in the Bull & Chain, as it's now closed.

Luckily, nearby is the excellent Morning Star.

Close to the castle is the Victoria, with a good beer range.

The Plough Boy is a decent little boozer.

Over the road, the Strugglers. Hopefully it will surive the pandemic.

Well, that's Lincoln complete, the next post will see us moving on.

LOW LYING LINCOLN

Now, starting at Central Station, we look at the shopping area of Lincoln, at the bottom of the hill, alongside the River Witham.

This is Lincoln Central station from High Street level crossing, with the signal box controlling it. The plinthed class 08 has since gone.

A short distance away was East Holmes signal box, supervising another level crossing. 40081 was photographed there in 1984.

On the other side of Lincoln Central was Pelham Street Junction, which once had charge of the flat crossing from St. Marks to the Cleethorpes line.

Beyond that was Sincil Bank signal box, a casualty of the 1970s.

Lincoln Central was served by three "great" companies, the GCR, GNR and GER.

All three became part of the LNER.

Into BR times and a DMU calls.

Now we're in the days of private operators.

From everywhere in this part of the city, there are views up to the cathedral.

There are some fine old buildings in this part of Lincoln.

The River Witham flows through the centre and passes under the High Street via the "Glory Hole".

The Witham joins the Fossdyke Navigation (built by the Romans) at Brayford Pool.

We take shelter from the rain, but it soon ends.

Lincoln Corporation's buses once graced the city streets.

Road Car was the main operator for 'out of town' services.

The old DMU shed was later to become the Road Car depot.

Road Car was taken over by Stagecoach. This one is in the new bus station.

Brylaine also serves the new bus station.

Parkers, plus Hudsons of Horncastle had their termini down a side street.

Other operators included Enterprise & Silver Dawn, Kimes of Folkingham and PC Coaches.

Time for some beer now. The Green Dragon became much improved and Cathedral Ales began to be brewed there. Sadly, both seem to have closed.

Across a busy main road from the old bus station was a pub called Sippers. It closed in 2015.

Luckily, just up the road, the Jolly Brewer is still trading.

A bit beyond the Jolly Brewer is a Bateman's house, the Dog & Bone.

Now all that remains to be done is to go through this gateway....

......and start the big climb, but it will have to wait for the next post.