NOTTINGHAM — After checking out of the Travelodge I drove into Lincoln and found a park in the cathedral quarter. The weather was overcast with patchy drizzle so I thought a visit to the cathedral might give the weather a chance to clear. I was very impressed with Lincoln Cathedral—from its impressive west front to its stained glass windows. Its windows are probably the best and most colourful I’ve seen in a cathedral.

The drizzle had cleared away so I went and had a quick look at the castle very handily situated opposite the cathedral. I didn’t have much time as I’d only paid-and-displayed for a couple of hours. I climbed to the top of the observation tower of the castle primarily for the views over Lincoln; except the low cloud meant one couldn’t see much at all. Very good view of the cathedral though.

I also managed to see the display of the Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forests held in the castle’s prison buildings. Lincoln’s copy of the Magna Carta was a facsimile though as the real one is on loan for an exhibition in the United States. 

I now headed for my next Travelodge at Nottingham with a detour to visit Belvoir Castle. Unfortunately it was closed so it was on to Nottingham.

Now the Travelodge is situated on the M1 northbound between junctions 25 and 26. So I headed for junction 25 and followed the signs for the M1 north. I’m not sure what happened but I must have joined at junction 26 as I reached junction 27 without passing the service area. I exited at 27 and rejoined going south until junction 25 where I exited and rejoined going north. Luckily the traffic was flowly smoothly.  The directional signs for motorways really should include the junction number!