March 6, 2024

Lincoln Part 2 – Castles, Cathedrals and Railways

I’ve split up the material from our visit to Lincoln, so as to not create huge long posts. On Sunday, after a very nice breakfast, and being very sad to leave the hotel room, we head out to explore the Castle and the Cathedral.

The castle is very impressive and certainly very interesting. I will, first have my traditional comment on entry fees. I’ve mentioned this a few times – predominantly in relation to places of worship. I totally understand that places such as this are phenomenally expensive to maintain, but there needs to be a balance between costs vs what you actually get, and not being totally exclusionary for people who cannot afford it! I also do feel that many of these places are our public heritage and should be open to be enjoyed. The castle, for a full ticket with the walls access and the Victorian gaol cost £16 – I do feel this was a little steep, but I do give credit that the grounds are freely open and acessible at least.

The Dragons, at least, provide some serious excitement (and not a little confusion) for the smaller visitors!

With my interest in penology I found the Victorian Prison very interesting. The Prison was designed for the ‘separate system’, an isolating regime that kept prisoners apart from the corrupting influence of their fellow prisoners, though it’s clear from many of the cells and the stories (such as passing notes in Chapel) that this didn’t really work as well as it perhaps could. It certainly gave a good insight into Victorian Prison life.

From a photographic point of view I liked the cells and the main atrium. The influecnce of the Panopticon is quite clear and the perspectives and lines speak to some of my other work on tunnels and enclosed spaces. I wish I had brought my 10mm lens now, which I excluded for space and weight.

The influennce of the Panopticon is also very evident in the Airing Yard with the governers offices looking out over the small exterior space. I had to use my phone here to get the building in.

No photos from the Magna Carta vault, as they were not allowed and policed by a grumpy looking guard. Annoyingly the Magna Carter was not present – We would like to go back, and this is where the Castle making your ticket an annual pass, as many places do, would have been nice.

The views from the Castle Walls was well worth the effort – and it was quite streuous. The walk is about 600m,. which oes not seem a lot, but there’s a fair bit of climbing too. I also very nearly got stuck in the dungeon which you enter via a very small trapdoor and ladder – not sure how in this health and safety age it is unstaffed. The observatory tower was quite a climb too, via a quite tight staircase, but worth it. These speak to my previous rooftops work.

We didn’t walk round the grounds as we realised that we were running a little out of time for the Cathedral.

On the subject of entry costs, this was £7 (sunday cost) and an annual pass, which I felt is far more acessible. I did get a stern lecture on “Photography is allowed, but be mindful of people in worship and children, and because we have to say this it means there has been a problem” upon entry. I have said before and will say it again, people with £1000 camera set-ups are normally the ones who are respectful, professional and know this. I didn’t see anyone brandishing a camera-phone get this lecture.

The Scale of the Nave when you enter Lincoln Cathedral is mindblowing. I also love the way in large cathedrals there are lots of smaller chapels and spaces. It was actually hard to get particulrly good shots inside, due to people and the layout, but I think these give the idea.

I tied, with limited success to get some of the windows. There was more to see in the Cathedral, such as the Library, but by this time we were getting tired¹

After this we sat and listened to the busker in the square with a pint and then wandered down the hill, back to the more beat-up, run-down, “downhill” city.

It realy shows the scale of the Cathedral, how it dominates the scene from half a mile away… It really also shows the disparity between the two areas of this city – the shops, the streets, the people (dare I say it – the buskers replaced with people obviously on spice) becoming more run down as one goes south down the hill.

Of interest (of course) to me is how the Sheffield to Lincoln line really cuts through the city, with level crossings on the High Street and near the end of Brayford Pool. Looking down the lines with the grime and litter, railway lines always appear as parafunctional spaces, and indeed I do wonder what problems the fact one could just walk through an open gate onto the lines actually causes right in the centre of the city.

Brayford Pool, where The Fossdyke joins the river Witham is the new(ish) waterfront “regeneration” of Lincoln. Given the history and culture of the upper end, I would have loved to see how it used to look; the decidedly shabby looking (albeit grade 2 listed) East Holmes signal box stands in stark juxtaposition to the modern waterfront on the other side and gives a small clue. I like the layout, from a town planning viewpoint, this area is just close enough to the centre to not be “out of town” yet places the leisure chains in a nice clear space.

The Royal William IV stands as another smaller reminder of days-gone-by and we had a last pint here before home. This actually prompted perhaps my favourite picture of the weekend, my photographer’s senses noticing the scene and the light here just in time.

Just to close, and because as we know I like trains just a bit, it was nice to see 91 111 on duty back from the change at Retford, and the Robel Moble Maintennace train Stabled. And the sunset from the train was subline, remeniscent of some of the work we saw in a gallery over the weekend, and an inspiration for some future art.

Part 1 is here, if you missed it.