Friday March 3rd 1933

Finished butter early and left at 8.30. Not much trade; a better Friday than usual. The finger seem alright, after all. Received double pay from the firm! (A generous gesture at last! - 2003).

(I have not been back to Lincoln since my family left in 1934, I remember it as a city built along the side of a hill. The top of this hill was dominated by the great Cathedral, visible for many miles. Nearby was the Castle and the old prison. The main shopping and dwelling areas were below the hill at that time - not now, I daresay.

There was a special distinction here, not between East end and West end, but between Uphill and Downhill. In older days, maids advertising their services would put in the c.v. “Has Uphill experience”. Westgate scouts, being posh, were Uphill, while St. Faiths scouts were Downhill. Carholm Road was Downhill but quite a pleasant road, running from the Stonebow straight out to West Common, then a race course. The Fosse would be the canal which had probably been made by the Romans to link the River Witham - pronounced Withum, not Wittham - with the Trent and Humber Estuary.

Every 15 minutes, day and night, Great Tom boomed… Steep Hill ran from Downhill to Uphill and said to be the steepest street in England. There were hand rails on the houses so one would drag oneself upwards. The railway station and industrial areas was even further downhill, beyond Brayford – the docking place - and the Fosse).