Brolly weather - 15th May

Tuesday 15^th May 2018 

Torksey to Saxilby

3.25 miles, 0 locks

We were determined to try those famed and much discussed sausage rolls, so an early lunch at the café was agreed.  Sue and I headed off before that to find Torksey Castle and maybe the church as well.

For obvious safety reasons you cannot get close to this ruin of what was, I am sure, a magnificent Manorial Castle.  There is sufficient left to make the trip worth while.

We knew there was a church, so we continued on into the village in the hope that we might find it.

We passed this intriguing house name - we were sure given the lock diagram it must have some connection to the waterways, but if it does I have failed to find it.  All I got when I googled Nookin, was a link to a street in Haxey - a village we lived in many moons ago!  If anyone has any more information I would love to know what it means.

Our mission was successful and we found St Peter's Church, Torksey and wonder of wonders it was open and is, we gather, open every day in the summer. 

All of the above was interesting, but by far the most fascinating was the gentleman tucked away in a corner at the back of the church  - he is the visiting post master!  Yes the post office is situated in the church just once a week for around three hours on a Tuesday.  He visits other villages in the area on a regular basis - some even three times in a week.  As well as providing PO services he has a few basic provisions and was even able to supply Sue with a Telegraph, but sadly no Times for us.  So if your Nicholson's states there is a PO and store in Torksey now is the time to amend it to Tuesday mornings only and in the church.

His van was parked outside which we failed to notice on the way in!

Back to the church - we had read the information below and went in search of the head which we thought we had found, however......

although it is pretty grotesque there are no fingers pulling the mouth into a wicked grin, so I think we failed.

A text was sent to the men to say we were leaving - the plan was they would then head to the cafe, however, they had given up waiting and were already there!  Two diet cokes, two teas (one with milk and one with lemon) and 8 sausage rolls were ordered.  Were they worth the effort - most definitely yes.  The pastry was crisp and the sausage meat full of flavour, The service, however, was another matter altogether.  I think (well I hope it was a one off bad day) the lady must have got out of bed the wrong side.  Everything, was just too much trouble.  She asked if we wanted to split the payment to which we replied 'yes if it is too much trouble'.  Sadly her answer was 'Well yes it is'!! 

Suitably replete we were off and heading for Saxilby along the Fossdyke Canal - there is no mistaking it is Roman - it is long, straight and somewhat boring.

The weather, however, was perfect - Ken deployed his umbrella to act as a sunshade rather than to keep the rain off.

We arrived in Saxilby to find two moorings in welcome shade - a little close to the railway, but the trains were not that frequent and did not bother us overnight.

The best part of this mooring was a selection of picnic tables, barbecue pits and bins.  We were able to make use of the table closest to us for tea, cake and biscuits when a friend from our RAF days came to pay us a visit.

After tea, Helen squeezed us all into her car and conveyed us to the Pyewipe for dinner and what a meal it turned out to be.  One of the best we have had in a long time.  Chris and I went here first in 1972 in what turned out to be our first date. This was the first time we have ever returned.  We were both at RAF Scampton at the time and one Friday evening he went off on a date and was stood up.  I had gone to 'Happy Hour'  (a Friday tradition) in the Mess and was still in uniform and had not been to dinner when he returned around 7pm.  He said 'well I am hungry, are you and if so shall we go and find some dinner somewhere?'  I changed, off we went and had chicken and chips (C) and scampi and chips (me) in the basket (remember that?) and the rest, as they say, is history!!

On the tow path by the pub is details of the Proctor Trail from Torksey to Lincoln and this point was of particular interest to us all given our military backgrounds.