Lee Armstrong, Head of Commerce (Rail) at ABP Immingham, gave an illustrated presentation to SLHA members at St Hugh's Hall on Wednesday 17 May.

Rail infrastructure serving British ports has declined considerably but it continues to play a significant role. Larger and better designed wagons are now used for carrying a range of bulky goods to and from ports.

The destinations of goods imported through Immingham and carried by rail are mainly in the northern half of the country. Coal for the steelworks at Scunthorpe is still a large element of the imports though at a lower level than a few u[years ago.

British ports are making good progress towards carbon neutrality in their operations.

Image: cranes for loading containers onto rail trucks at Immingham Dock 

Jenne Pape, a member of SLHA's Building Recording Group, has found Hearth tax records invaluable in her study of early Lincolnshire vernacular buildings. She gave an illustrated talk on the subject at the Sunday Special in Nettleham on 22 January.

The number of hearths for a particular house as recorded in the late seventeenth-century Hearth Tax records can be set alongside other information such as the number of chimneys on the building when shown on a contemporary map.

Sometimes there is close correspondence between the information from different sources. At other times there are discrepancies and Jenne suggested a number of reasons why this should be so.

Bob Garlant of the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group was one of three speakers at a 'Sunday Special' held in Nettleham on 22 January. His illustrated talk covered the recent site investigations in and around  Potters' Hill on the western edge of the parish close to the A46.

There is clear evidence of huts and other features of an Iron Age settlement and also of a large and impressive Roman villa which had tessellated floors.

Boston, like other towns and cities, lost scores of industrial buildings in the 1950s to 70s. As the older town-centred industries declined or disappeared, new developments, such as car parks, relief roads and supermarkets, took their place.

Neil Wright spoke about Boston's transformation in a talk to SLHA members as part of the 'Sunday Special' at Nettleham on 22 January. Using his own fine collection of photographs and drawings from the 1960s, he gave details of some large and impressive buildings - now lost and infrequently recorded - including warehouses, mills, railway structures, factories and cinemas.

On Wednesday 18 January, Andrew Walker, Chair of SLHA, gave an on-line talk about the cars and motorcycles on Lincolnshire roads in the early twentieth century. He drew most of his material from reports and articles which appeared in Lincolnshire newspapers.

The attitude towards motorists - who were relatively wealthy individuals - can be followed through the newspaper columns. Speed was a constant issue, and the newspapers regularly referred to car drivers as 'road hogs'.

The first 'live' SLHA talk of 2023 was given in St Hugh's Hall, Lincoln by Tim Pestell on Wednesday 11 January. Tim is Senior Curator of Archaeology at Norwich Museum and Art Gallery, which is housed in Norwich Castle.

A multi-million pound project is currently underway which is transforming the interior of the castle and creating new areas for museum display. Retaining the features of both the original Norman structure and the extensive Victorian remodelling has been difficult and expensive.

Work on the project is expected to be completed by Easter 2024.