One of the Past and Present events in the Grantham area was a walk on 6 September, looking at the history of Sewstern Lane, the Grantham Canal and the railway line near to Woolsthorpe Wharf on the Grantham Canal. Sewstern Lane is an ancient trackway, still in use today.

There is a sharp contrast between the undisturbed sections and those reinstated after being quarried for ironstone between 1883 and 1918. The ironstone was the reason the railway was built in 1883 and extended to Denton in 1885 with a branch to Harlaxton in 1941 as working moved further south. It closed in 1974. In between times the Canal opened in 1797. It was abandoned in 1936 but long term restoration began in 1992. 

Members of the public and SLHA met at Grantham Museum on Sunday 31 August to mark the launch of 'Past and Present', the exhibition about the Society. A new edition of 'Grantham: an Industrial Heritage Trail', written by Peter Stevenson, was also presented.

John Manterfield, an SLHA member from Grantham, led an informative tour of some of the principal industrial sites on the south side of the town centre - including the engineering works of Hornsby, the Coultas foundry, Mowbray's brewery and several maltkilns.

Buy a copy of the Grantham Trail booklet.

Members and friends enjoyed an excellent visit to Liverpool over the weekend 4 to 7 July. Quarry Bank Mill (National Trust) made a convenient stop on the outward journey.

In Liverpool on Saturday the group took tours to view the architecture around the docks and city centre, followed, for some, by a behind-the-scenes examination of the Mersey Tunnel. Sunday began with a mini-cruise in the Mersey before visits to the U-Boat Museum in Birkenhead and the splendid Port Sunlight village, gallery and museum.

Guided tours of the city's Anglican and Catholic cathedrals brought the weekend to a close.

Thanks are due to Ken Hollamby (his tenth tour as leader) for the excellent arrangements, including two first rate speakers who introduced the group to Liverpool's buildings and the archaeology of Merseyside.

At the U-Boat Museum Birkenhead and in the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral

On Sunday 29 June - mercifully dry and warm - a group of members took picnics to Gunby Hall (between Spilsby and Skegness) and enjoyed a wide range of activities.

Tours of the house and garden, offered by National Trust volunteers, were supplemented by talks about the church (by David Stocker), the deserted medieval village (Paul Everson) and the park's Victorian/Edwardian waterworks (Stewart Squires).  Rod Callow also provided musical entertainment on the Hall piano and church organ.

We are grateful to Astrid Gatenby and her staff at Gunby Hall for the generous help given to the day's arrangements.

Looking at St Peter's church with David Stocker (left) and the deserted
medieval village in the park with Paul Everson (right)

Over 600 visitors attended a special event organised by SLHA in association with the Museum of Lincolnshire Life on Sunday 8 June.

The Society had a bookstall and a display showing a selection of foods that were rationed in 1945 including a few items that were generally unavailable, to promote discussion.

Typical evacuee items together with some associated documents also formed the basis of some interesting discussions. Tours were arranged around the farm machinery in the Agricultural Gallery at the Museum.

Visitors enjoyed a variety of living history displays and a live musical performance.

This half term family activity day at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life on 29 May was very well attended with a constant flow of visitors throughout the day.

The craft activities organised by the Society, took place in the gallery alongside the "Past and Present" exhibition. This worked very well and there was a lot of interest in the Society and its activities with many visitors spending time perusing the books on display.

Many visitors were on holiday in Lincoln and were impressed with the wide ranging activities of the Society covered in the exhibition.

Activities for families included modelling domestic and wild animals of Lincolnshire, creating bangles with animal inspired decoration and making decorative wall plaques based on farm animals. Lots of people asked about forthcoming events for families!

The event was part of the Past and Present project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

On Sunday afternoon, 18 May, a capacity audience at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life was entertained to a talk about Lincolnshire folklore and customs by Tom Lane and illustrated musically by his colleagues Teri, Anne and Nigel.

Tom ranged over events such as the Haxey Hood, Plough Plays and Stamford Bull-Running to the more obscure customs such as Caistor Gad-Whipping, Mould Washing and Reed-Strewing. Songs included the Lincolnshire Wedding Song, Horkstow Grange and the Statute Song; the whole event was brought to a close by a stunning performance by Maurice Morris, the band's jig-doll, followed by well-deserved applause.

This event is part of "Past and Present", the SLHA's year-long series of events supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

A book about the First World War memorials of Lincolnshire was launched by Judy Theobald of BBC Radio Lincolnshire on Saturday 26 April. The book launch was one element of a successful day conference on Wartime Lincolnshire organised by The Lincoln Record Society at the University of Lincoln.

This substantial book, written by Michael Credland, edited by David Start and published by SLHA, gives details of all the county's WW1 memorials (their designs, architects, opening events) with contemporary photographs.  Also included is an index of names of all those listed on the memorials. Buy a copy of the book.

On 4 April a large group of SLHA members - of several generations - and guests attended the opening of an exhibition at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life to launch PAST and PRESENT, a year of events and activities to celebrate the Society's special 2014 anniversaries.  Honoured guests were the Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire and his wife, Tony and Jenny Worth; the Mayor and Mayoress of Lincoln, Patrick Vaughan and Lorna Stow; and the Sheriff of Lincoln and her consort, Patricia and Maurice Carter.

In this year, 2014, SLHA is celebrating the 170th anniversary of the earliest forerunner of the Society, 50 years of an active Industrial Archaeology group in the County, and 40 years of SLHA itself.

The special exhibition includes 20 illustrated panels of information and several display cases highlighting the history of SLHA and the wide range of its activities and interests.

The exhibition is open at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life until 25 July 2014. (Museum opening hours: 10.00 to 4.00 Monday to Sunday.)   It will then be displayed at Grantham from 5 August to 31 October 2014 and will later be transferred to Caistor Heritage Centre.

This half term holiday event for families organised by the Society and held at Nettleham Library was attended by 76 visitors of all ages.

The successful two hour drop-in session included the opportunity to discover intriguing facts about Roman Lincoln and the chance to enjoy a selection of craft related activities inspired by evidence from the Roman period.

The activities included making a decorated dagger and scabbard, painting a mini frescoe on a plaster cast and creating a Roman board game and playing it.

Several families had travelled from Lincoln and surrounding villages. Many visitors expressed interest in the Society and its activities and were very positive and enthusiastic about more family events being arranged in a variety of venues.

The event provided an excellent opportunity to highlight the forthcoming activities for families linked to the Society Celebrations of 2014.