A short trip on the Poacher Line

Whilst visiting my sister in Sleaford in Lincolnshire, what better activity to do on a Sunday afternoon than visit the Poacher Line - the community rail line managed by the Nottingham to Grantham to Skegness Community Rail Partnership.

Our destination was the Railway and Heritage Museum at Heckington.

This small museum is housed in the original 1859 Heckington Railway station buildings, which have been carefully restored to their former glory, by Heckington Village Trust in 1975. 

The General Waiting Room contains a selection of local and railway displays, GNR fireplace, ticket window and sales counter. In the adjoining Ticket Office there are numerous railway artefacts ranging from station names boards, railway uniforms, cast iron warning signs, railway lamps, and railway models, as well as the ticket office equipment with ticket racks, Edmondson ticket stamp, and other railway office furniture. There is also a train set replication of Heckington plus plenty of books; cost £1 to enter. Needless to say I came away with a book! 

See weblink for more information: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.enefer/lincs/heckington.htm

We then popped across the road to see the 8 sail windmill - the only surviving one in the country

You can imagine my surprise when I noticed that next door to the windmill was a microbrewery - see link


http://www.fenlandcamra.org.uk/breweries/breweries8sail.html

Moreover, when I went in to find out more and ask about the bottles that they had for sale (bear in mind I was wearing my England Hockey jacket), the brewer (Tony) said that it was 10% off for hockey players! He plays in goal for Boston and also played some junior hockey at Doncaster in the early 80s.

Needless to say I came away with a few bottles of 8 Sail Ale!

We then went to Boston - home of the famous Boston "Stump"

St Botolph's Church was built between 1309 and 1520 and is the largest parish church in the country. 'The Stump' as it is known locally, presides over the port town of Boston and the flat lands and waterways of the Lincolnshire fens beyond. The Stump is 272ft high and offers views of the town that famously gave its name to Boston, Massachusetts.

The weather had turned from a steady drizzle into persistent rain by this stage, so we decided to head home