Once we were parked up near the town centre I had a pleasant surprise.
The first hour's parking was free.
Just enter the car registration number and hit the green button on the ticket machine.
First task was to walk out the back of the car park which leads to a country lane. That gave madam a chance to have a good stiff at every tuft of grass and do whatever else she needed before we walked into the market square. As we ambled back past the shops I saw the charity shop was busy so I decided to have a look round the outside of the parish church.
This is the second church built on the site, the first being constructed of wood.
At least part of the present building is said to date back to 1289.
On previous visits, mainly in the Summer time, I have seen people abseiling down the tower, usually to raise money for charity. This time all was quiet apart from the traffic which passes the church on the way to and from Mablethorpe on the Lincolnshire coast.
Once we had found a gap in the traffic we dashed across to the church where we could relax and take our time.
I had not walked round the church before and there was plenty to look at.
First the base of the tower and its entrance door
Once round the back, the North side, I could see the roof edge was lined with well weathered gargoyles.
One thing I did notice was that most of the arches over the doors and windows were terminated with carved heads. A couple of composite pictures made with the Mac App Photo Wrangler to show closer views of the carvings.
Just look at those magnificent hinges.
A clearer view of one
Nearing the East end of the church a glance heavenwards showed the pinnacles which top the tower.
Moving round to the front of the church one can see the very prominent war memorial.
There are several grave cover stones in this area.
One which caught my interest (complete with patient greyhound shadow).
An enhanced view of the inscription.
That led us to the main entrance.
After this quick tour round the exterior of
we walked back to the market square and visited the charity shop. I achieved my purpose - to buy a pack of Christmas cards which have been specially designed for Fen Bank Greyhound Sanctuary. The four legged boss fell in love with the lady who had the tin of dog biscuits kept to reward doggy visitors. Then it was time to return to the car and journey home.
A good look round. I miss English churches.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that tour round Alford John. Although I am Lincolnshire lass and lived there (Washingborough first and then later on Aisthorpe) for thirty years that is a long time ago. As a child we spent many holidays in Skegness and Mablethorpe but as we had no car we went by train, so Alford was never visited. Lovely photographs.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting post. I must have passed through Alford a few times as a youngster when travelling from Spalding to Mablethorpe for a summertime seaside visit, usually on a Sunday. At that age there's no recollection of the town only the usual "are we there yet?" from the back seat. Churches were often built on pagan sites of worship so there may be an even older building somewhere near.
ReplyDeleteI once stayed at Mablethorpe with a Nature Conservancy scientist who I was going out with at the time. He and a team of scientists were measuring the damage to dunes from people walking over them I seem to recall. I was back at camp, a seaside bungalow, doing the camp cooking. I enjoyed the post about the Alford. There is a milk haulage company up the road from here who have it written on their lorries, Bunwell and Alford.
ReplyDeleteA lovely and very interesting church. There is always so much to see on churches and in churchyards. I particularly like the gargoyle and stone carvings. Glad you managed to buy your cards :)
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the comments. Interesting to read about folk who have visited my local area of the country.
ReplyDelete