A look at Sleaford

I picked up a leaflet ages ago from our Arts Centre here in town. I'm always on the look out for leaflets for ideas of places to visit, and Sleaford isn't too far away, just past Lincoln, so easy to get to. I put on my walking boots thinking it would be a good idea to park my car at Ruskington about five miles away, and walk along the River Slea into town. I found the Co op store with plenty of free parking and thought ideal. The car park closes when the store closes, at 9pm, so my car wouldn't get locked in, as I would be back easily within the deadline.

I checked my watch, and checked the map for footpaths, and then it dawned on me, that by the time I had walked to Sleaford and back, it wouldn't give me much time to look around. Had I set off earlier, I would have had plenty of time to do what I wanted to do. My main reason for being there was to visit The National Centre for Craft and Design, I noticed that this closes at 5pm. What if I became so engrossed and spent a lot of time in there, I would have to rush around the rest of the town. So the decision was made to drive to Sleaford, and come back another day to look around Ruskington and the surrounding area. 

I parked on an industrial estate half a mile before I got there, and walked in. On the roadside pointing left was a sign for Cogglesford Mill. Worth a look as I was passing. Unfortunately it wasn't a working day so the water wheel was still, but it was still interesting to look around. This is a grade 2 listed building the present red brick structure dates back to the late 18th century, with alterations made in the 19th century.  

The next place I found was Navigation House, an original canal company office built in 1838, which has been restored and is now a visitor centre.  

The old clerks office has been restored.

Good to see the cat doing it's job. Not looking too bad for it's age, just a bit flea bitten, ha ha.

With the lovely blue skies as a backdrop, the the parish church of St Denys looks pretty impressive. This is the view from the market place.

And the side view from a side street.

A row of modern flats overlooking the River Slea.

The United Reform Church next to the river in Southgate, has had it's frontage redeveloped in 2007 to provide a community meeting place.

But what a carbuncle it looks. Pity they didn't use matching stone in a similar style to the church.

This is the Handley Monument, erected to commemorate Henry Handley who was born in Sleaford, and was a member of Parliament.

In the town centre stands  Money's Mill, a 1796 windmill with no sails. For several years it was the Tourist Information Centre, now it is a tea room.

I was enjoying my bimble around Sleaford. It has a bypass so there wasn't a lot of traffic passing through, that's until the schools turned out, then all hell broke loose. The main street very quickly got snarled up and cars were either at a standstill or crawling through at a snails pace. The hundreds of youngsters jostling for space meant that stepping out into the road to avoid the crush was inevitable. It was pandemonium. It seemed like everyone who wanted to travel north to south or vice versa, had to go down the main shopping street. I dived in a charity shop for some cover and asked the assistant about it. She said the schools stagger their finishing times, so as soon as one lot have gone through, a lot more follow them. 

At 5pm I decided to head for home. I haven't mentioned the Centre for Craft and Design in this report, I did go in and see the exhibitions, but there are far too many photo's to add it to this post, so I shall do another post at a later date. 

I'm away for a short break tomorrow, booked in at the Youth Hostel at Woody's Top, a few miles south of Louth in Lincolnshire. I shall be getting some walking done, and having a bimble round Alford, and Horncastle, hopefully. I'll tell you all about it when I get back. In the meantime, look after the place, and don't burn it down, ha ha.  

Ooops, nearly forgot, I got bored with blonde, ha ha.