14 September 2020

Ascension

The tower of St Botolph's Church rising above Boston

The town of Boston sits on the seaward edge of the most fertile and productive  farmland in England. In modern times it has seen an invasion of farm labourers from Eastern Europe. That was very evident when we strolled around the town today. There was even a large Polish supermarket and a Bulgarian restaurant. No doubt the character of Boston is much changed because of this influx from The European Union's poorest nations.

Rising above Boston like a lighthouse is the tower of St Botolph's Church. It dominates the landscape and guides ships into the town's port. It took seventy years to construct and apart from anything else it is a monument to the town's past wealth when it was key to the thriving woollen  industry of The Middle Ages. Millions of bales of wool were shipped from Boston to The Low Countries across The North Sea. It was England's second busiest port after London.

Although it was free to enter the magnificent church, we had to pay £5 each to ascend the tower that is generally known as The Stump. It was like entering a thin stone tube. There were 365 spiralling stone steps and all that you had to hang onto was a rope. We were the only climbers.

View from The Stump - along The River Witham that leads to Lincoln

The effort was worth it. On another bright, summery day we looked  north,  south, east and west from The Stump - over Boston itself, South Lincolnshire and out towards the sea. It was from Boston's haven that The Pilgrim Fathers first set forth to Holland and then a few years later they sailed to Massachusetts, still clinging to their puritanism like a life raft. 

After scaling St Botolph's we decided to have an early lunch at a Wetherspoons pub called "The Moon Under Water". I was advised to go there by my blog chum Dave from County Cork in Ireland. Just for Dave, I drank a foaming pint of John Smith's bitter and ate my very first "Beyond" burger -  very meaty but made entirely from plants - and while we are on that subject, look at what we saw in the Boston branch of Waterstones book store:-  

"Speedy Bosh!" hit the shelves for the first time today.

30 comments:

  1. A long time ago I lived a block away from St Botolph Street in Boston Massachusetts. The dorms at Northeastern University were there. Lovely times and now I know more about the first Boston thanks to you. What a wonderful thing to see your son's book in a bookstore. It sounds like a wonderful vacation you are both having.

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    1. Thanks for calling by again Terry. I am glad that this post caused you to remember your days as a university student in the other Boston.

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  2. That's a lovely view from the church tower and congrats to your son. You must be quite proud of him.

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    1. "Quite" is an understatement Lily. We are bursting with pride.

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  3. Some of these places have a long and interesting history. Sounds like a very good place to visit.

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    1. ...and I had never been here before. That's why we came.

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  4. You two seem to be having a wonderful holiday! That is a lot of steps up the church tower but you are right, the view is beautiful. I love your picture of the church tower above the city. Enjoy the rest of your time there!

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    1. The medieval stone steps were two narrow for my big feet.

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  5. You know nothing except for a broken leg would have stopped me from climbing that tower! Is the water level of that part of the river connected with the tide?
    Great to see the latest Bosh! book in the shop!
    From what I know, the UK has the strongest influx of Eastern European immigrants, even more than Germany (and we have a large number). Even a city as small as Ripon has shops catering specifically for them.

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    1. Yes - The River Witham is tidal. Surely there is more to the character of a town than economics. The unregulated influx of low paid farm workers may have changed Boston forever - not always for the better.

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    2. Looks to be tidal only as far as the bridge.

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  6. Congratulations to the two boys, but aren't you letting down the side going to a Wetherspoons? Fabulous photo from the top of the tower, king and queen of all you survey.

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    1. I am The King of Boston just now and I had a vegan "Beyond" burger in Wetherspoons. All plants Thelma.

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  7. I have a terrible fear of heights and the last time I climbed a tower it was with both hands on the single railing! that's a long time ago.
    What a great view!

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    1. That medieval concrete tube was not the nicest place to be - that's for sure.

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  8. I used to climb things. And then one day I climbed the steps of the highest pyramid in the Yucatan peninsula and when I got to the top I could not for the life of me see how I was going to get down. '
    Since I'm not still living there now you may assume that I did. Mostly on my butt. There was also a "hidden" stairway inside a pyramid at Chichen Itza which we climbed to see the jade jaguar. It was so close, so enclosed, there were so many people. I almost died. Or felt like it anyway.
    So no, I don't climb into darkness or light anymore.
    But I appreciate you doing it and taking that picture. Thank you!
    As for seeing your son's book in the bookstore- well. What a heart-filling moment! Beautiful.

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    1. I have never been to Mexico. The Mayans left some amazing things behind didn't they?

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    2. And the Aztecs and Olmecs. So much of it still laying quietly hidden in jungles.

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  9. Glad you got to the stump! O

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    1. I was like that knight in "Monty Python and The Holy Grail". Just a stump.

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  10. If you had looked very hard, binoculars would have helped, you could have seen me sitting on the beach a bit further north.

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    1. I used the telescope. Your leopard print bikini was rather skimpy!

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  11. A nice view you had from the "stump" -- a curious name, considering how tall it appears to be. There's a pub in St. Petersburg, Fla., called "The Moon Under Water." I think it's a pretty common pub name, from some legend or folk tale, as I recall. (You probably know better than me!)

    Those puritans were an exhausting bunch. We're still coping with puritanism, in modified forms, in the USA!

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    1. "The Moon Under Water" was I believe the name that George Orwell gave to his dream pub.

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  12. I haven't been to Boston in years, but couldn't climb those steps. I'd get round the first bend then freeze.
    I wouldn't set foot in a Wetherspoons either, even if it was the last place on earth to eat.

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    1. If you froze I would gently coax you from behind, "There there Jean! Don't be scared my dear. You can make it and afterwards I will blindfold you and take you into a nice pub for lunch!"

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  13. I drank Doom Bar when I visited Wetherspoon's in Kent last year. Two Pounds a pint and a real ale. Smashing photos YP.

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    1. I laughed when we accidentally came across "The Moon Under Water" that you had mentioned/ Nice one.

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  14. Lovely view, Mr. Pudding. Unless I wanted to die of a heart attack, I don't think that scary, unsafe climb would be for me. Anyhow, I read some this morning about Boston, England as I had never heard of it before. Wow! Some are so bitter, still, and say that the Eastern Europe immigrant population there probably swung the vote for Brexit. And that almost the whole west side of town is owned by those same immigrants. Quite a bit of vitriol in what I read. But the history of the village and the wool trade is wonderful.

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    1. It is more than a village Donna. Boston's population is currently around 70,000. I believe you are right about the vitriol and the Brexit vote but it is also clear that Russia played its part in that disastrous result just as it influenced the US presidential election in 2016.

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