Monday 16 October - Boston


Heading east across around the Wash and then to north Norfolk, Norwich and Cambridge. This may be over-ambitious but that's the plan.

posted at 09:12 in /where (permanent link)

Sunday 15 October 2006 - Boston


The wedding party seems to be continuing with the dining room full at breakfast. Very different from the usual hushed breakfast conversations. Most are in good form, plenty of hangovers but lots of joking as well.

Head to Rotherham which seems very quiet. It is nice to be in a town where the shops aren't open all the time. The only shops which seem to be open are Woolworths and the bookies. Otherwise there are people out for a stroll but it is quiet - and very clean. Banners saying 'Rotherham - All together, cleaner', lots of recycling bins and signs talking about how many people have been prosecuted for litter (522). Not sure if it has been part of a regeneration thing, but the town does look spotless and it does make a difference. The Minster is at the centre of the town and the shops seem to be part of the town and high street and not tucked away in a mall which always makes places feel more sociable.

Then go to Sheffield where the shops are open and people are in them. Lots of young people - I assume some are students. University towns seem to be thriving more than many. I wonder how much higher education contributes to the economy? Are these the things that now make the difference to a town or city. Universities certainly seem to contribute energy and optimism to a town.

Go to the Millennium Galleries which are fantastic. No time to visit all of it but there are galleries and a huge lobby filled with tropical plants and cyclists stopping for a coffee. Slightly surreal to see the bikes in the midst of exotic plants and the cyclists themselves looking rather exotic in their bright racing lycra. There are exhibitions about Sheffield's history in metalwork and displays of cutlery - amazing how much it has changed through the centuries. There is a moving mechanical giraffe made from cutlery which keeps everyone entertained.

The centre seems prosperous but not far away there are signs of decline where regeneration has not yet reached. I think perhaps having a 'goods 1960s' was not such a great thing for a place. It seemed to mean that things were torn down in the name of progress and that some version of the modernist dream for rational living was put in place. But the dominance of cars (and roads) over people and the decline of industry and consequent loss of jobs and income led to deprivation. It may be a matter of time and the loss of industry is the stage of change we are living through. The changes of history are everywhere. Towns that were thriving places of business in the middle ages when wool was the source of Britain's wealth are now shadows of their former selves. Substantial churches and public buildings show their former affluence and seem at odds with places that now seem little more than villages. But the towns were small, only the better built have survived the centuries and now they are part of the toytown world of tourism. Much of the Cotswolds is like this houses that have stood since then, still pretty gardens, now filled with antique shops and tea shops. The market place there for the farmer's market of expensive delicacies and the sheep from which the wealth was made kept in the fields - looking pretty but no smell or sound to disturb the visitors.

I end up doing a complete loop of the Sheffield ring road and then am travelling back on the road I came from. Am heading to Newark and then onto Lincolnshire. Newark is a town with layers of history - the centre seems to have a strong Georgian presence, but there is also a towering sugar beet plant. It is working full time there is a strange sweet earthy smell as the beets are being turned into sugar. There also seem to be beets scattered at the roundabouts as the trailers turned into town.

I have passed lots of distribution centres in this part of the world - it is the centre of the country and the centre of the road network so I guess it makes perfect sense to ship everything out from here, but it does mean there are a lot of lorries on the road round here. Am heading out across the flatlands and so there are fewer traffic surprise than in other parts of the country. I can see lights and headlights for miles. Lorries stand tall about the rest of the traffic, some adorned with lights and look like moving buildings. The flatness and twilight seem to do things to the imagination, it was the same last night. Clumps of tree seem to be transformed into cathedrals, and then into factories. Perhaps it's the flatness after so many hills and mountains.

Get into Boston and get a room at the White Lion. I tried to stay here a couple of years ago on the first part of my travels. But directory enquiries having checked that I didn't want Boston in the US misheard 'Lincolnshire' as 'Lincoln' and I ended up with a room in Lincoln, rather than Boston and so no time to explore Boston. Like many places the hotel has been re-furbished, has a room and is a delight. I even manage to get vegetables for supper. My vegetable obsession continues and is even greater with the loss of gluten from my diet.

posted at 09:10 in /travel (permanent link)