London buses and planes - Saturday 26th May

Bardney to Tattershall Bridge
11.25 miles, 0 locks

It was not the best start to the day as we noticed a lady with three dogs walking along the Water Rail Way holding a pigeon by its legs and the poor thing was still flapping.  By the time I went out to go to the Co op she had left it on the grass verge and it was still breathing and twitching.  I know I should have been able to wring its neck, but I am afraid I couldn't.  Thankfully shortly after I left Chris went out with Monty and met three guys who (in Chris's words) looked like part of the 'hunting/shooting/fishing set' and one of them had the know how of how to do the necessary and put the poor thing out of its misery.  He confirmed it had been hit by a sparrowhawk.  I know pigeons are vermin, but I still cannot bear to see anything suffering.

Onto pleasanter things - this shop in Bardney that caught my eye today

With an understandably secure door.  The guns mentioned above appear to be shotguns for clay pigeon shooting.

Today was dry and much warmer with a hint of sun as we set off under Bardney bridge

Past the redundant sugar beet processing factory which really was huge.  It was first proposed in 1925 and the Lincolnshire Beet Sugar Company Ltd was registered as a Public Company on 14th January 1927.  Its closure was announced on 23rd January 2001.  Images of what it used to look like can be seen HERE.

Work begun by Ryvita to build a baking and distribution operation in March 2017.  The information I found (see HERE for an artists impression of the new site) said it should be operational in Spring 2018.  Signs of new buildings can be seen when you look back at the site.

For around 1.5 hours there were no moving boats when suddenly round the corner came this lot!  Just like London buses - none for ages and then three together.

On we went past the moorings at Kirkstead Bridge for Woodhall Spa - it was a good job we had not planned to stop - there were 5 cruisers and 1 narrow boat - all nose to tail.

The long defunct Woodhall Spa station buildings can be seen from the river

 Tattershall bridge was our target for the day and thankfully the moorings were empty.

 so plenty of room for us

The mooring is relatively quiet, but it is not great for Monty as there is nowhere safe for him to walk on either side of the river - it is a good job he had a good walk this morning and we will be off again tomorrow.  We are meeting a friend here tomorrow, so geographically it is good.

There is one other 'pro' to this mooring - RAF Conningsby is nearby and we spotted a Hurricane, a Spitfire and the only one I managed to capture - a Dakota during the afternoon.

Plane spotting

We spotted this just after 4pm, too late yet again (!), but it did explain the beat Chris thought he had heard on the wind.