Random thoughts and photos of my journey through life…
I have cast my vote in the National, Borough and Parish elections. As I arrived at the Polling Station I noticed an unexpected buzz of activity and on entering the building I was pleasantly surprised to find a queue of people waiting to pick up their ballot papers. Normally when I go to vote the polling station is empty…
Apparently there had been a queue for two to three hours and we had just caught the tale end of it!!
8 Comments CherryPie on May 7th 2015
There has been a palace on this site for not much short of 1,000 years. From here the medieval bishops ran the huge Diocese of Lincoln, which at that time stretched from the Humber to the Thames and from Cambridgeshire to the edge of the West Midlands. Medieval buildings and romantic ruins are still in evidence and surround one side of our front courtyard and the eastern boundary of our garden. The ruins of the Medieval Bishop Palace are managed by English Heritage.
The building that you see today was built on medieval foundations in three phases. The earliest visible part is a roughly square area built in 1720 forming the South West corner of the palace, at the centre of which is a classical Georgian panelled staircase. Ten years later a low range of panelled rooms was added, running north towards the Cathedral and the building then remained unchanged for a centenary and a half until 1885.
In that year Edward King was appointed Bishop of Lincoln and decided to move the Episcopal seat back into the centre of Lincoln. He chose the site of the Medieval Palace and set about expanding and remodelling the Georgian building into his new residence. The exterior of much of the building, including the entrance and most of the garden elevations, date from that time.
In 1948 the Bishop of Lincoln moved to a smaller house on the north side of the Cathedral and the palace went through a number of different phases over successive decades.
In 2007 a major refurbishment was undertaken, the aim of which was to restore the building in sympathy with its various period interiors, whilst creating a comfortable and elegant environment. Finally, in July 2009, The Old Palace opened its doors once again, offering sophisticated conference, dining and reception facilities with luxurious accommodation.
In 2011 it was decided to extend the services offered and open The Old Palace as a hotel. The adjacent redundant church St. Michael on the Mount was bought to create 16 additional bedrooms for The Old Palace Hotel. The hotel opened in March 2012 with 16 bedrooms in the main house. Only four months later, the new bedrooms in the former church, now called The Old Palace Lodge, were finished, increasing the number of bedrooms at The Old Palace to 32 comfortable classic rooms, master rooms and suites.
2 Comments CherryPie on May 6th 2015
The weather yesterday was lovely and sunny so we set off on a bluebell hunt. We settled on Packwood House and Garden as our destination. Due to a hold up before we set off, we arrived at the property rather late (just in time for lunch) and were told that there were no tickets left for the house. The lady who had greeted us with this news went to get map as the layout of the property had changed since our last visit. When she returned with the map she was also holding two house tickets, which had fortuitously just been returned by someone who had changed their minds. It is all in the timing…
We had lunch, which was rather chaotic due to the large volume of visitors and then we headed off to the woodlands in search of bluebells. We found little clumps of them scattered in among the trees and the walk was nice and peaceful, away from the main crowds that were visiting. After the walk we visited the gardens and finally ended up by taking a tour of the house.
I had an extra day off work today and had hoped to go on the bluebell walk in Attingham Park, but the weather was not in my favour. Strong blustery wind and rain are not conducive to a woodland walk. Instead of a walk, I stayed at home with my books and an episode or two of Michael Portillo’s Great British Rail Journeys.
8 Comments CherryPie on May 5th 2015
When I looked out of my living room window on Saturday morning I was saddened to see a large broken branch lying on top of the fence underneath ‘My Oak Tree‘. Then on Sunday morning I awoke to the sound of a chainsaw… Tree doctors had been called in to remove the damaged limb. This was quite some operation as the branch was also lying in among the other branches of the tree. The branch had to be brought safely to the ground avoiding the nearby bridle path. The removal and tidy up operation took over 5 hours.
Around mid day the procedure was interrupted by a sudden violent downpour of rain. At this time I was sitting in my living room, and as the rain stopped I was taken by surprise when I noticed a low flying plane through my window. From the angle where I was sitting it looked like it was about to land in my back garden… I then remembered that one of the local pubs was hosting their annual ‘Help for Heroes‘ charity event and that the plane was doing a fly past.
16 Comments CherryPie on May 4th 2015
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
John 5:24
10 Comments CherryPie on May 3rd 2015
Filed under Faith Foundations, Heritage, Holidays, Lincoln 2015
The early 13th century, ten-sided Chapter House has hosted Parliament three times, and the College of Canons still meets here. Built as a meeting room to transact the business of the canons, the Dean’s throne is thought to date from the 1330s. The stained glass windows of the late nineteenth century give snapshots of the history of the Cathedral from William the Conqueror to John Wesley.*
*From Lincoln Cathedral, The Story So Far – A 1000 Year Journey That Still Continues
7 Comments CherryPie on May 2nd 2015
4 Comments CherryPie on May 1st 2015
