Lincoln - City Break - How life was, long ago Part 1

30 May 2024

St. Mary Magdalene on Bailgate has been closed on our last few visits.  It was great to see it open and get a look inside.  The history of the church is laid out along the walls.  There is no stain glass window behind the communion table, presumably because there is a building behind.

After that, we visited the Lincoln Museum and the Usher Gallery.  The displays cover a period from the start of archaeology to a few decades ago.  I can usually stay in these places all day, but am mindful of those I am with who do not share my fascination with all things old.   One thing I learned today is shown in this picture.  In Anglo-Saxon times, travel was dangerous and strangers were suspicious. The bell helped to alleviate the fear, and the danger the traveller was in.

The Norton Disney Dodecahedron is one of the oddest and most fascination archaeological finds of recent years. It has featured on 'Digging for Britain'. No-one knows its purpose.

Before visiting the Usher Gallery, we had lunch at the Cheese Society.  A very nice meal in a very unusual shop.  Mail order cheese sounds like a great idea.

The Brayford Pool and Lincoln Cathedral.  A Classic Lincoln Image. Once in the Usher Gallery, I was surprised by how little there was.  Galleries are often packed with paintings and other display, but here there is plenty of room, perhaps too much room.

Down by the station is a memorial to George Boole, who invented our Algebra of Logic, and prepared the way for the modern computer.  I had not realised he was even English, let a lone from Lincoln.