Happy new year and welcome to Brexitland.
A selection of flags from around Lincolnshire…
Click images to enlarge…
Brexitland
North West
I have finally got around to covering North Lincolnshire, west of the River Trent…
Looking toward Goole Fields this area is probably more sparsely populated than the fens. Apparently, ideal for land based wind farms and horses.
I have photographed similar attempts by land owners all over Lincolnshire to capitalise on the ‘fun farm’ – There’s not a lot else to do round here unless you like shooting things.
I love the location of John Wesley‘s statue in Epworth. No grand plinth in the town square, this location is fitting given his views though, I guess the idea of being idolised at all would be anathema.
In Owston Ferry, there is a feeling of desolation and the sense of a faded community that existed before the television, mobile phones and the internet. I actually like what is has become, melancholic, a place that has forgotten what it is. The phone box has no phone inside it. What was the ‘Albion Hall’? Who was Frances Sandres, she gifted the clock tower in 1866? Modern tractors hauling potatoes roar through the square at the same speed as cars, not a single soul on the street. Who knows, with global warming we may have to start thinking more locally again and perhaps these former community areas will be revitalised with markets and other social activities… in my dreams perhaps!
More dereliction
The Plough at Potterhanworth Booths now itself as nostalgic as the technology it displays.
…and more garages, this is starting to get a bit like trainspotting!
The Blitz
In these divisive times we look back with nostalgia for when things were simpler, when the nation apparently pulled together as one. Are we in danger of mythologising the past and forgetting the reality? Why do we want to relive the blitz? Europeans remember the war with respect and try to honor those who died with peace and unification. We also remember with great respect but with one difference. We also consider ourselves to be the victors and it seems that the nostalgia of victory and our island/siege mentality contribute to a warped sense us and them. Perhaps it is because few in Europe considered themselves to have won the war (they all lost). To prevent any further occurrence of war the Europeans built a new political system, opened up their borders and even shared a common currency. None of this is perfect and things on this scale take time to achieve. Perhaps it is time to for us to heal rather than pick at old mythologised scabs. Solemnly respect those who gave so much for us and remember with humility rather than jingoistic insularity.
Scramble
Typhoons scrambling at RAF Conningsby.
Sneaky polar bear
Garages
So it looks like I have another Jerusalem spin-off simmering away in the background.
The rise in MPG and reliability of modern cars has spelled disaster for a lot of rural garages. Tie this in with the current trend for electric vehicles and these garages will soon be contributing to the demise of rural communities in the same way as the near extinction of post offices, schools, pubs, village shops and chapels.
Dambuster
One of the only remaining prototype bouncing bombs. Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa.
The streets of London
“Should you ever meet a film director scouring the capital for a perfect Victorian street scene in which to set his latest costume drama, do recommend Barkham Street. There is just one snag – it is not in London. Barkham Street was built – by both mistake and design – 128 miles away in remotest Lincolnshire.” Daily Telegraph By Peter Chapman 07 Oct 2000
So what is the connection with Bethlem Hospital, read on…
Unfortunately, at the time of posting the original article by Peter Chapman is no longer available online. A copy from the internet archive can be read here.
Barkham Street – Wainfleet
Bethlem Hospital – London (Google Maps)
Extinction
What will become of rural garages if cars go electric? Will they go the same way as rural churches, pubs and post offices? Could be the next phase of the Jerusalem project…
Jane Wright has an exhibition of internal views of abandoned buildings at Harding House Gallery, Lincoln, 25th May – 14th July https://www.janewrightphotography.com