IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Ann Wayne Avenue, HORNCASTLE, LN9 6FD

This is the flood plain of the River Bain just south of Horncastle. This land has been used for pasture but there are plans to let it revert to water meadow. The river itself runs in a straight channel on the far left of the photograph.

Formerly known as the Drill Hall, this building was built in 1901 and saw use by the military in both world wars. It has been used since for dances and concerts. The single storey attachment to the side of the hall was an indoor rifle range but is now council offices.

The Spa Trail is a foot- and cycle-path which runs about 7km from Sandy Lane, Woodhall Spa through to the crossroads in the centre of Horncastle. It coincides over its length with the Viking Way, a 237 km long-distance path which runs from the Humber Bridge to Oakham. In October 2010, an extension (seen here) brought the northern end of the Trail from Thornton Lodge through to the centre of Horncastle. The Horncastle Canal alongside ran from the River Witham up to Horncastle. It was a broad canal with locks capable of taking boats of 15 ft beam. Fully opened from 1802, it was never a great success and the last commercial traffic ceased in 1910. There is some interest in restoring the canal to full working order.

At the time of writing these cattle and sheep pens which have been slowly rusting away since the closure of the market occupy just about the most controversial piece of land in Horncastle. The local council wants to build new council offices on this land, a proposal which sees furious opposition from many local residents. These stalls occupy part of an area of land known as "The Wong". Some argue that as The Wong is ancient common land it should not be built on. The word "wong" is an rarely used term meaning 'common land' although it was in more regular usage about 1000 years ago.

Far end of the building showing fire escape and wheelie bin.

Rear entrance.

This view at the far end of the building shows the extensions to the south-side.

Chimney cowl - the cowl rotates away from the wind and prevents downdraught and rain entry.

Fire escape on the west end of the building, which cuts across two windows. I would have thought that the escape would have extended outwards to allow escape from the windows, but I'm no expert.

A view showing construction of the fire escape from the underneath. Also the two styles of downspout - cast iron and plastic.