Lincoln Castle Is GRRRRRREAT!

I’ve had a crappy week so not sleeping on Friday night was only to be expected I suppose. We had a tea that was a blast from the past - chip butties! When Sam’s mummy first moved into King’s Lynn she used to be worn out by Friday evening so instead of making food used to give Sam a chip butty. I’ve decided that every week is too often, so we tend to hit the chip shop maybe once a month, and this week was it. Mind you, if we go to the chip shop after I pick Sam up it takes about 45/50 minutes to get there and back, so I usually go at dinner time instead, tricks of the single-dad trade you know!

We gave bathtime a miss as there was a spider in the bath. We called him Mister Seven-Legs, as he’d obviously had some kind of “incident” previously, and lost a limb, so we decided to set him free on Saturday morning.

The usual bounce out of bed at 6 on the dot, then we “invented” chain racing for Sam’s racing cars (see other blog). Claudius stunk the flat out with what can only be described as a “Sunday dinner pooh” (blokes will know what I mean), so Sam bravely went in on his own to dispense the air freshener. Our captive spider was duly released in the hallway and Sam had a little tear and said “I’m going to miss Mister Seven-Legs”. We checked out the opening times for Lincoln Castle, which sparked Sam into getting his sword and knight’s helmet ready, packed up the mega-picnic, and headed off up the A17.

We had an uneventful trip, except for two young male drivers who were racing each other, and nearly took us off the road. No driving for the under-25s I say! (The very same thing happened on the way back too, through Long Sutton village!). We even managed to find the right car park in Lincoln, first time, and had a “light lunch” before setting out.

Lincoln Castle is great, it’s a “proper” castle with towers, walls you can walk round, a prison, gatehouses, fantastic. I really recommend it to anyone who lives within a couple of hours of Lincoln (only £3.90 to get in too). Sam ran in as soon as we got there, sooooo excited. Our first discovery was Cobb Hall, a corner tower which used to be the venue for public executions. The gallows used to be built on top of the tower so the people of Lincoln could gather on the courtyard grass below and eat the wolf-nipple chips etc while the “guilty” were done away with. Inside the tower you can still see the iron rings set in the walls to which the prisoners were chained. You can also descend down a very narrow, daunting ladder to a lower level, very dark, very atmospheric, it certainly sent a chill down my spine. From the top of the tower we got our first sighting of Lincoln Cathedral which is just a good chuck of the hangman’s rope away from the castle. Sam was amazed that people used to be executed in the old days.

We walked along the walls around to the south-west corner, past the wash-house (Sam’s comment….”YUK”), over the west gate, and enjoyed the amazing view over the city and miles and miles of the countryside beyond. Sam loved running up and down the walls pretending to be an old soldier (mind you, an old soldier doing kung fu?). Apparently I used to do the very same thing (minus the kung fu) when I was Sam’s age and we lived in Lincoln, although I can only remember going there once - more of that later though. So, back round the walls, past Cobb Hall again and over the top of the East Gate where we had entered the castle earlier on. We had loads of fun yelling “Cooooeeeeee” to the people down below and waving like mad, Sam was so funny shouting “Coooeee” at the top of his 4-year-old voice. Bless ‘em, nearly everyone waved back. So, onward to the iconic Observatory Tower, which a prison governor built in 1820 - he claimed it was a watch tower to keep an eye on the prisoners, but the top floor housed nothing more than his own telescope. The governor was a very keen astrologist - can you imagine a similar misuse of public money these days! This small turret is the highest part of the castle and is reached up a very narrow spiral staircase of 67 steps, which is VERY hard going when you’re carrying a 4-year-old. It’s well worth the effort though, the 360 degree views are awe-inspiring.

Back down the spiral staircase (nearly as tough on the way down) and we had a look around the Georgian prison. It’s a spooky old place! Looking into the cells still made me nervy, despite them being empty for donkeys years - in particular the condemned cell which leads out to the courtyard is eerie. The scariest bit of all for me is the chapel. At the time the authorities used the “Separate System” which meant that prisoners were not allowed to speak with each other. They were still allowed to hold their christian faith though, so a unique chapel was built, which comprised of rows and rows of individual booths, with shuttered doors, allowing each prisoner to see the preacher but not each other. This is the only part of Lincoln Castle I can remember from my childhood, and it’s a scary memory. Now I’m old though the fear has gone, a bit anyway!

Back outside we made our way up another extremely steep stairway to Lucy Tower, which is the oldest part of the castle. There’s very little there now except rows of little gravestones, which mark where executed prisoners were buried. It’s actually a very bleak, lonely place with a slightly chilling feel to it, not very pleasant, and I was more than happy to make my way out again! We made a quick visit to the shop to obtain a Lincoln Castle magnet for our collection, then back to the car for more of the uber-picnic.

We dropped in to see Nana & Grandad in Sleaford on our way back. My Dad is looking a LOT better, but my Mum looked very tired. She’s been in bed poorly for a few days, and yesterday was her first day up and about. Apparently Dad’s nurse told him, off the record, that he is “a tough old bugger”, I’ve never heard them use that particular medical term on Casualty! It was lovely to see how they enjoy seeing and speaking to Sam, who can blame them? It shows how different generations see things, my Mum & Dad were amazed I had to pay to go into Lincoln Castle, as it “should be free”, whereas I was chuffed that it was so cheap!

So we sped home, nearly got wiped out by kids racing again, and we had a couple of hours of good fun playing before it was time to head back to mummy’s. Best memory of the day for me? “COOOOOOEEEEEEEEE!”

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Lincoln Castle Is GRRRRRREAT!

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