Lincolnshire this week.

Butlins have announced a £13 million investment of its Skegness holiday centre. The money will be spent on the 25 year old water complex. The feature which used to have a state of the art glass side so you could drink your milky nescafe watching the swimmers legs thrash about many moons ago will now boast new slides, lazy river and wave and whirl pools and a 29 metre flume tower. The park employs around 1200 people and is determined to stay up with the latest leisure developments. Resort director Chris Baron said:-


"It's probably our biggest single investment on the Lincolnshire coast since we put the Skyline [pavilion] in, in 1999.

"Any businesses investing in the coastal strip is a good sign. It shows it is still vibrant."

Gainsborough Trinity have exceeded expectations in reaching the Blue Square Bet North play off final according to their chairman Peter Swann:-

"We have surprised ourselves and everybody else.

"The plans were to perhaps flirt with the play-offs and probably not get to this stage."

The club will make the most of the opportunity, according to the chairman:-

"We will try to take this chance on Sunday and I will not moan about it."

The club are hoping for a bumper crowd of around 3500, no doubt boosted by Lincoln City fans who were well represented at the semi-finals. Imps supporters are very keen to lock horns with the Blues next season and would welcome Gainsborough’s elevation to the Premier Division.

Hollywood director Ron Howard is in the county once again filming his latest venture, Rush, a tale of rivalry in the motor racing world between urbane James Hunt and Nikki Lauder. The former Happy Days star, he must be fed up of hearing that, not that this blog will trouble him, is at Cadwell Park which is doubling for more famous F1 circuits. Local business owners are hoping for a spin off, if you’ll forgive the pun, from the film. Gerald Parkes, owner of the Playhouse Cinema in Louth is looking forward to showing a film which has a local connection.

He said: "American films which are perceived as British often do get the biggest audiences.

"This will be my third film with a local connection over the years. “

Ambitious plans to solve the anachronism that is the High Street level crossing in Lincoln have been put forward by a group of investors represented by Hodgson Elkington. Moves are already afoot to build a new link road extending Tentercroft Street which could lead to the closure and pedestrianisation of a further part of High Street and the new bid would see the British Heart Foundation building, formerly Argos, demolished and replaced with a new unit which would straddle the railway line and feature escalators and a lift to allow pedestrians over the line. There is some disagreement over the level crossing though with the general feeling that the crossing has had its day and it is really time to close off the road, hence the new link and the County Council who would prefer the crossing to remain. Sam Elkington is due to meet Network Rail in a bid to move the project forward said:-

“We need a 21st century solution to a 21st century problem. People want to make the most direct route, which this will provide. We’re very enthusiastic that something will get done and I think this is an opportune time to go ahead with it,” he said.

“At the moment there is some momentum moving it forward. This is the first step. When you look at the university, St Marks and Lindongate, this is the central area for all of this.

‘We need a 21st century solution to a 21st century problem’

“Network Rail is excited by the idea as it decreases accident risk, noise and pollution. It will help Lincoln to meet the challenges of this century.”

A 21st solution to the problem would seem to me not to include a 19th century road arrangement but there you go, at least something seems to be on the horizon one way or another.

It’s time to raise the barriers for another week, not that there are many trains using the line at the moment, have a good week.