Stokes Coffee Roasting, The Lawn, Lincoln

February 2020

Stokes new roasting facility. An interesting tour and a coffee tasting.
 

Loomes & Co, watch & clockmakers, Stamford
and Warner's Printers, Bourne (no pictures)

March 2020

A very interesting tour of Loomes showing their highly skilled work in repairing and renovating clocks and watches in their old workshops in the centre of Stamford.
Then, after lunch, on to Bourne for a tour of Warner's Printing works.
 

Frame Knitters Museum, Ruddington, Nr. Leicster

December 2021

Ruddington once had more frame knitting machines than any other village in the country. And leicester was the centre of the sock/stocking market. It was a skilled job in cramped conditions, the machines were lined up next to the extensive windows to get the best light.
But the introduction of powered knitting machines meant the end of small workshops like this.
 

Lindum Group Station Road, North Hykeham.

February 2022

We were welcomed with tea, coffee and biscuits, and a complimentary Lindum Group diary. Then we had a talk on the origins of the company, how it has developed from quite a small business in 1956 into the very successful enterprise it is now. It has been partially employee owned since 1994, a quite radical innovation at the time.
There are about 40 separate businesses on the business park, some closely associated with Lindum, and some quite separate, and it seems that they all operate in harmony. On site there is a joinery workshop (below), and a transport garage, where emergency vehicles, plant machinery and privately owned vehicles can be serviced and repaired. There is also a plant, and hand tool hire department, plus repair facility, all available to the public. At each of these locations we were given a short talk.
We were impressed that Lindum recycle their own waste, only 5% of it goes to landfill. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit, we left feeling impressed by what we had seen.
 

Drax Power Station, Selby

March 2022

A huge site - we were driven round by minibus! We had a fascinating tour of the plant given by our guides Jane, Steve and Louise. Picture 2 shows a scale model with the central building housing six boiler, steam turbine and generator sets, each generating 625 megawatts. Originally coal fired, four of the sets have been converted to run on bio-fuel made from waste products from the wood and food industries.
Drax are currently undertaking trials to make the plant carbon neutral and then carbon negative - impressive stuff . Afterwards, we had a very nice lunch in the Drax Sports and Social Club next door.
 

Hanson Cement. Ketton, Rutland.

April 2022

At Hanson Cement, Ketton, Rutland, they mine the basic chalk, and refine it on the same site. We had a talk on the history and then a tour in two groups. One half had a minibus tour while the other half had a very muddy walking tour. We then swapped round. The process takes in the mining, crushing, grinding, roasting, sorting, testing and bagging of the cement. The roasting takes place in an oven about 30 metres long and 4 metres in diameter, which rotates to send the cement from one end to the other. The heat from 15 metres away was intense.
We were looked after very well, with tea, coffee and biscuits. On leaving we had an excellent meal at a pub/restaurant in Colleyweston.
 

Heckington Mill

May 2022

The unique 8-sail windmill. .
... And the 8-sail brewery.
 

Newark Air Museum

June 2022

An extensive and interesting collection of planes and memorabilia.
 

Great Central Railway, Loughborough

July 2022
A trip on the GCR heritage line from Loughborough Station. The train was steam hauled, with six vintage coaches attached, and stopped at Quorn and Woodhouse, Rothley and Leicester North, before the loco shunted to the other end of the train to haul us back down the line. Most of us left the train to take a meal at the station cafe at Rothley, before continuing our journey.
All the stations had artefacts which took us back to a WW2 scenario, and at Loughborough there is a small but interesting museum.
  There was time during the day to travel the full line twice, so we satisfied our urge to ride behind a steam engine for the year. 

National Emergency Services Museum, Sheffield

September 2022

Heights of Abraham and Museums

October 2022

Denby Pottery

November 2022