IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Ancaster Mews, GRANTHAM, NG33 4PN

A number 4 dial-a-ride bus waiting for the booked passengers

The flag of Ukraine, raised in solidarity in an English village.

The Windmill Inn dates from the 17th century although there may have been an alehouse on this site for many years before that. During the 19th century this was the venue for the audit dinner when tenants of the Grimsthorpe estate were summoned to pay their rents and dine on winged game and venison from the park.

This place has been a natural meeting place for many centuries being at the junction of three roads; but whereas we travel today at speed, in the past it was on foot, horseback or coach that residents and travellers came to hear speakers, attend markets and rejoice in times of celebration on this site.

The old stone market cross on high steps stands in the middle of Swinstead and although the date is unknown it bears a resemblance to one that can be found in the market place at nearby Corby Glen that was erected in the reign of Edward III (1312-1377), although this is less elaborate. The market cross was the focal point of the village in past times, where visiting priests preached the word of God, where the annual fairs were held, where proclamations of important local and national events were made and where villagers gathered to meet and to talk and discuss the momentous events that affected their lives.

This ancient cross has probably been here since the 14th Century; the high steps have afforded a 'soapbox' for passing clerics, charlatans, etc. and many have taken the offer to improve their stature: the steps are scooped out by the thousands of feet that have climbed over it for a time and then gone on their way - while it remains.

14th century village cross on octagonal steps in Swinstead

Swinstead village centre