Saturday  20^th August

25 years after the Withern Cottage was originally declared open at Church Farm Museum Skegness it is to be declared open again at The Village, Church Farm, Skegness.

Why you might ask?

Last year you will remember that the thatch caught fire and had to be removed. There was also a problem that every time it rained the mud floors inside the cottage flooded so it had to be closed to visitors.

Over the winter and spring all the thatch has been replaced and a team of very hard working volunteers have been constructing a huge, and I mean huge, french drain around the cottage attached to no less than 5 separate soak-aways.  Under the watch full eye of  one of the volunteers, Alec Gurney, various groups of volunteers have shifted tons of soil and replaced it with tons of stone. A mammoth effort and all done by hand.  

When originally sited at Church Farm a time capsule was buried inside the cottage, this has not been disturbed but in addition they have also added two more outside the cottage .

So that is why it was thourght that a re-opening was in order.

It was decided that Alec should do the grand opening honours. Not only in the recognition of the 250 hours hard work he had put in but also the fact that he was born and brought up in a mud and stud cottage ** years ago.

After saying a few words I handed over the scissors to Alec to perform the cutting of the ribbon,actually it was string which is far more fitting. Alec handed back the scissors and got out a 70 year old pocket knife

“This is how we cut string on the farm” he said.

So that’s it Withern Cottage is open again. If you have never been round it before make the effort to go now, it is FREE . The incredible thing is that in  rural Lincolnshire people were still living in these until not that long ago.

Sunday 7th August

After we left the cyclists we went straight to The Village,  Church Farm to open the annual Friends of Church Farm garden party.

The Friends raise money for Church Farm and help to pay for  many of it’s activities. Their annual garden party is the biggest event they hold and is always well attended. This year was no exception and the garden party had a lovely village fete feel to it. There was a brass band playing on the green and a selection of stalls.

At 3 O’clock we were invited into the cafe for afternoon tea. This turned out to be more of a banquet consisting of  sandwiches, salads, cakes, fresh fruit and of course a nice cup of tea.

After afternoon tea it was just left to draw the raffle, which we did. There were many prizes and nearly everybody won something. I say nearly everybody because I left empty handed but as they say” lucky in love….”

We would like to thank the volunteers at The Village, Church Farm and The Friends of Church Farm for their kindness and hospitality.