The Swan and Railway Hotel. Had reopened a few months before first lockdown. Looking forward to a nice pint of Draught Bass there sometime later this year.
One of the few places I've found Draft Bass. I enjoy a pint in there when passing/visiting the town.
Took a wintry walk along part of Grantham Canal today. Starting out from home and heading out of town takes me passed Baird's maltings - the last one of many the town once had, but sadly due to close soon. Onwards passing the fire station - just as a 'shout' comes.
Onto the canal itself. I'm already in the process of walking the whole route to Nottingham (in stages); and am about two-thirds of the way there. This is the point where the culvert under the A1 emerges, 32 miles from Nottingham. The canal itself opened in 1797. However, the opening of the Grantham to Nottingham railway in 1850 foreshadowed the eventual demise of the canal. In 1861 the railway company obtained control of the canal. By 1921, after a series of mergers and takeovers, control was vested in the London and North Eastern Railway Company. It is interesting to note, however, that while the two main railway bridges crossing the canal near Plungar are dismantled, the canal is still intact!
The second overbridge you arrive at takes a minor road from Harlaxton village over the Harlaxton Cut (also known as the Drift). The canal restoration volunteers have built a new pontoon on the site of the Harlaxton Wharf. Here an information board explains the history of the area and in particular the marks on the bridge where the tow ropes for the barges cut into the stonework.
Leaving the canal at this point I then headed towards the village of Barrowby, about a mile and a half away. Here I took the short lane down to All Saints church, passing the Reading Room and Village Green on the way. How a nice pint in the White Swan would've been appreciated; maybe another time?
I returned home by one of the main routes to the village from Grantham, this time crossing over the A1; the traffic tailed-back due to an accident further south; (so that's where the fire engine went!) Down passed the sports stadium - the football pitch hardly used this season, and home again.