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Andrew Elsden - stories, tales , rural and social and business issues past and present as I see them.
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29. Skulls found beneath the bar of the Lincoln Arms
In January 1939 a number of human bones and three or four human skulls were unearthed by workmen under the floor of the Lincoln Arms Inn...
Feb 14, 20251 min read
30. Jason Toomer
If I had my way he would have a statue in the middle of Spalding.
Feb 14, 20251 min read
28. UFO’s
1979 saw 27 people come forward witnessing UFO’s in the Spalding area
Feb 13, 20251 min read
27. The Knickebein Beam
The Knickebein Beam or Nickobein Beam resulted in two significant bombings of Spalding by the Luftwaffe
Feb 12, 20255 min read
26. The rescue of aeronauts from an angry mob in Spalding.
Inspectors Caban and Wackett were hardly pressed while defending the parachute party and were compelled to resort to fisticuffs
Feb 11, 20252 min read
25. Foul beef.
It was moist – it was not set. It was very soft and it gave off a very foul odour. It was beef
Feb 10, 20251 min read
24. Spalding’s poor roads.
excerpt from a letter of 1850 shows how the road conditions can really get on your tits:
Feb 9, 20252 min read
23. Spalding had more drunks and crime in 1875 than any other town in Lincolnshire
In 1875 Spalding had 279 drunkards. Even Grantham only reaches 103, whilst Boston is credited with but 85.
Feb 8, 20252 min read
21. Spalding Hemp Fair
Apparently the smell of hemp wafting across the streets of Spalding isnot new.
Feb 6, 20252 min read
19. Mrs Proctors Band
Mrs Proctor was a well-to-do lady that lived in Welland Hall, a large house now occupied by Ayscoughfee School. Her band was popular at...
Feb 4, 20251 min read
18. King Hussain of Jordan had breakfast here.
In 1962 King Hussein of Jordan was passing through Spalding and stopped to have breakfast.
Feb 3, 20251 min read
16. Sheddy’s – the oldest chip shop in town.
“I’ve fed half the children in Spalding,” was Fred Turner’s boast
Feb 1, 20251 min read
15. The May Day Statutes
The May Day Statute was time to get gloriously drunk, and fight out any old quarrel which you happened to have had.
Jan 31, 20252 min read
14. Tulipan the Tulip Man
Tulipan was a character of legend being a little chap that stowed away in the baggage train that brought the first tulip to Europe.
Jan 30, 20251 min read
13. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“With bad teeth never was a woman beautiful. With good teeth never was a woman ugly.”
Jan 29, 20251 min read
12. George Shepherd
it is possibly surprising to see Spalding celebrate the birth of socialist Labour politician George Shepherd in this Tory stronghold.
Jan 28, 20251 min read
11. Spalding's Earthquakes
A man who did not wish to be named was watching TV when he “felt a vibration in his legs and noticed a toy shaking on the settee beside him.
Jan 27, 20252 min read
10. The Chatterton Water Tower
Erecting this building was quite a feat requiring 22 miles of scaffolding
Jan 26, 20251 min read
9. The Great Fire of Spalding 1715 – and a Great Fire in Spalding 1870
“Fire! Fire! Fire! Such, no doubt, was the alarm given in the year 1715 when the red crawling serpent destroyed much of the town centre
Jan 25, 20252 min read
8. The Thunder Storm of 1842
Saturday 10th September 1842 saw a massive thunder storm hit Spalding with much lightning, at that time referred to as “electric fluid”...
Jan 24, 20251 min read
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