OUR HOSTESS AT THE HIGH HOUSE FARM B&B Doug Porteous from Toronto, Bob and I were welcomed by Carol our hostess.

The house is a 17th century listed building. It had been restored to the requirements of the National Trust. Next door is an old "mud and stud" barn which is listed also.

PUSSCAT GUARDS THE KITCHEN DOOR When Pusscat got tired of watching the door, she took a break at the watering hole; the chickens eventually did come into the kitchen but Carol shooed them out.

Pusscat would bring Carol small, grey, wiggly gifts and leave them on the door stoop. One morning, we watched her bring a "gift" to the door...oh, my was Pusscat proud of herself.

THE 17TH CENTURY MUD AND STUD BARN There is metal-sheeting roof on the barn to protect the possibly "original" thatching found in this barn. I was given a quick peek of the inside...really interesting. This is one of the oldest survivors.

Other areas of England have their own style of mud and
stud buildings, from "clam and staff" in Cumbria, "wattle and daub" in the Midlands to "cob" buildings of Devon...but according to Rodney Cousins author of Lincolnshire Buildings in the Mud and Stud Tradition "... for true mud
and stud you must come to Lincolnshire."

LINCOLNSHIRE'S TRUE MUD & STUD The traditional materials were those readily available in the area. The "mud" was made of dirt (some say cow dung was also used), straw, water. The "stud" was from rough timbers. These buildings were generally thatched. Here the metal sheeting is protecting some of the original or very early thatching. Thatching is special straw or reeds that are packed tightly enough to not allow the weather to penetrate. A properly thatched roof will have its life over 20 years with periodical maintenance.

This barn is in area where my ancestors may have been part of the crew who constructed this building. It was worth a quiet thought when I was inside.(Early 17th century!)

WWII LANCASTER READY TO TAKE OFF From across the road at the B&B, I zoomed in on the Lancaster as it taxied to the runway for take off. This is one of the vintage WWII airplanes which fly over this part of Lincolnshire and is stationed at the RAF as part of the Battle of Britian Museum across the field from our B&B.

Other RAF planes fly on practice sorties. There are WWII Spitfires flying out of the RAF. The new jet fighters - Typhoons - were being tested while we were there. Their landing path was very close to our B&B. Sometimes they would get so close, I thought they were going to land on
the roof.

MAREHAM LE FEN St. Helen's is my PORTAS family's church. Here is where great-great-great-grandparents, Joseph and Mary are buried. The baptismal font has been used to baptise many of my ancestors through the ages.

Doug was getting our 50¢ tour of the area. We wanted him to see "my country." It is good to get another perspective.

GYPSY WAGONS AND HORSES NEAR MAREHAM LE FEN On our way back to our B&B we passed the gypsy wagons. I didn't realize they were still around this area.
I would suppose they were workers on a local farm.

ON THE HORIZON IS NORTH SEA We were on a quest to find a church which was on farm land somewhere called Wyham cum Cadeby. On our search, we ventured high up on a hill. Not finding a church up there, we turned the car around and this was the view...on the horizon is the North Sea.

We would later drive down to the sea and look back beyond the hay field up to the hills we had been looking for the church.

BEWARE THE WATCH COW We did find the church. I looked around and took some pictures. All Saints church is in a farming estate across the lane from the cows. They were very curious about what we were doing.

This is a very old church. According to Genuki Church History, there was a monastry/nunnery in medieval times. All Saints was thoroughly restored in 1886. How old is the tree?

TANKERS ENTERING AND LEAVING HUMBER ESTUARY These tankers were at the mouth of the Humber Estuary. There was a lot of activity out there. We stopped to talk with a birdwatcher who not only could tell us which birds were in the area -- by name, but could tell us who these tankers belonged to and where they were going...

WALKING OVER THE HIGH BRIDGE IN LINCOLN This is the oldest bridge in England that still has buildings on it. About where the red, white, blue signs are is the actual bridge. In the distance is Stonebow which is a Tudor Gothic bridge was the city's south gate. Council meetings are still held in chambers above the arch.

Most every town in Lincs has a war memorial. This one, I found two PORTAS entries - WWI was J.H.C. Portas and WWII was R.C.W. Portas. I don't have a clue who they are.

HIGH BRIDGE CAFE SITS ON THE BRIDGE Over the Fosdyke canal is the oldest bridge with buildings on it in England. This half-timbered building is where we had lunch break from my research at the Lincoln Archives. Our window seat afforded us a little people watching plus a great view of the canal.

Just one of the many canal boats which glide down through the "Glory Hole" which is really the High Bridge.

ST. MICHAELS IN CONINGSBY The clock can be seen a long way off. Notice there is only one hand.... the hour hand. Our US President Thomas Jefferson had a clock with just the hour hand. He said there was no need to know what the minutes were. You can tell what the time is just by the position of the hour hand -- 3 p.m. My great-great aunt Elizabeth Ann Vamplew Portus - infant - is buried somewhere in this church yard which was cleared of most headstones.

This is a finial on top of another Lincs church steeple. I just thought it was intriguing and beautiful. There is a similar one on St. Michaels. Oh, I just wanted to look at that pig gargoyle from York Minister again.

NORTH SEA NEAR MABELTHORPE It is too bad a beautiful beach has to be littered with a burned out car.

LEEKS AT WILLOW FARM On this trip, Bob and I met another cousin. Vera and her husband own this leek farm which is not too far from our B&B -- just a couple fields across the road.

LEEK PROCESSING AT WILLOW FARM Vera gave us the 50¢ tour of the processing. Here, after the harvesting, the leeks are cut, cleaned, and packaged for market. Quite an operation and an aroma!

ROYAL MAIL BIKES ARE STILL AROUND We couldn't find the Royal Mailman who belonged to this bike. That would have been really nice to get a photo of him in uniform with the bike. See, I told you the trip wasn't all genealogy! There was something for Bob, too.

THE WOLDS TOUTS BILLOWS OF HILLS These fields look the way a patchwork quilt does when it falls on the bed still with pouches of air.

At St. Germans Church - Ranby Parish. Now you know how the black dots get on the medieval church doors.

WE DROVE TO GRANTHAM TO SEND DOUG ON HIS WAY Lunch stop before Doug's train. We parked on a side street and was going to walk back to a restaurant... as we pulled up to the spot, I noticed the Blue Pig Inn. Perfect! Forget the other place...Bob wants to eat here. It was really a nice place. The inside, of course, was decorated in eclectic pig collection. Wouldn't you know it would be located at Swinegate Rd.

SWEET GOODBYE TO US AND LINCOLNSHIRE Doug says goodbye -- he didn't turn back just waved as he walked towards the train station in Grantham. Next stop for Doug was Manchester Airport and then home to Toronto. We stayed on for another 15 days.

The weekend before we went home, our B&B wasn't available. What did we do? We went south - Somerset, Wales, Avon, and parts not charted by me until we got there...Let's GO!

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