Chapel Hill (nr Boston)

Breakfast not included in the hotel booking, so bought OJ & pastries from ASDA across the road. Got the plunger and coffee from the car and we were all set.

 

 

 

Then there was the majestic Humber bridge, one that Rick wanted to see and drive across. The bridge is a 2,220-metre (7,280 ft) single-span suspension bridge, which opened to traffic on 24 June 1981. When it was opened, it was the longest of its type in the world until it was surpassed in 1998. Now it is the eighth-longest.

 

 

 

 

First stop was Gunby Estate, Hall and Gardens, a very comfortable house built in1700 for Sir William Massingberd. The family lived there until 1967. The RAF wanted to build a runway during the 2nd world war, and they were going to demolish the house to make room. The then Massingberd resident appealed to the king, and amongst all of the comments about not being a patriot and helping the country, the king agreed that the house shouldn’t be demolished. Why the RAF didn’t choose farmland nearby rather than want to demolish the house to build, who knows.

We then visited the late 17th century Monkthorpe Baptist Chapel. It was built in a time of dissent and persecution and was designed to look like a farmyard barn in order to avoid being discovered. Very simple inside.

The last visit for the day was to Tattershall Castle, built by the Treasurer of England, Lord Ralph Cromwell in the 1440s and saved for the nation by Lord Curzon of Kedleston in 1911. The castle had no floors or fireplaces by this stage. The fireplaces had been bought by an American and were found at London’s Tilbury docks ready to be exported and returned to Tattershall. The restored castle opened to the public in 1914, four days after the announcement of the First World War. When Lord Curzon died in 1925, the castle was passed to the National Trust.

We left in the heaviest rain we’ve had. Wipers on full and ready to stop until the rain eased a bit. We hadn’t booked ahead for accommodation, so we tried a couple of likely hotels with no luck. Back online and found a B&B/restaurant not far away. Just finishing a glass of wine (only used one glass each) and will go downstairs for a meal soon.