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| The Lincolnshire fens near Billingborough |
We're just back from a swift visit between Christmas and New Year, to my brother's in Lincolnshire. We lived about 8 miles away from where he now lives from (very) late 1969 until 1979, so my formative years between 10 and 20 were spent growing up there. I wrote briefly about it here a long time ago.
We lived on the fens, where it is very flat. It's rural and pretty much all arable farming land. It can be very bleak, and the skies are huge courtesy of the flatness, and consequently it can get very windy too.
When my parents moved to Chepstow in 1979 I was in many ways glad to leave Lincolnshire behind, but the longer I've been away, the more I find myself missing it
It's been several years since we've made it over there, so it was great to get back for a big family get together. and a walk round the area taking in Sempringham Abbey when the rain stopped!
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| Sempringham Abbey Who knew that there was a Welsh connection in Lincolnshire? Certainly It's not something I knew about when I lived near here! |
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| Sempringham Abbey info |
The fens lie very low - some below sea level, and most not far above it. The land is drained by "dykes" that criss cross the land, edging many of the fields before draining into larger "drains" and eventually, the local rivers and onto the Wash. Some of the dykes are little more than small ditches, and some are huge - almost rivers in their own right, usually with steep sided banks. Many a day I spent fishing on my local drain, the South Forty Foot drain a couple of miles from my house. I spent much of my youth wandering the fens in my local area near Donington, the village where we lived. Fishing, exploring the dykes and bridges and observing wildlife from pheasants, to curlews, water voles and more.
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| Sempringham Abbey, a dyke and a old bridge |
Nostalgia eh?
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