Blessed comes to Lincoln

Renowned actor Brian Blessed is heading to Lincoln, as part of an evening to be held at the city’s Ritz Cinema.

The event, titled ‘’An Evening With Brian Blessed’’ will take place on the 18th of May at 7pm.

Blessed will be appearing at the Ritz cinema in 'an evening with Brian Blessed.

Blessed will be appearing at the Ritz cinema in ‘an evening with Brian Blessed.

Born in Mexborough in Yorkshire and known for his outlandish personality, Blessed is perhaps most famous for his role as Prince Vultan in the 1980 film Flash Gordon.

He has made his name in a number of different roles over the past five decades, appearing in a number of Shakespearian adaptations and also playing roles in films and television shows such as Doctor Who, Disney’s Tarzan and Star Wars.

The announcement of Blessed’s appearance is the latest coup for the  cinema, which is currently set to reopen officially in March after being refurbished for a number of months.

Tickets cost £15.00 per person and can be purchased from ticket outlet Eventbrite at http://theritzcinemaandtheatre.eventbrite.co.uk/

Lincoln Waterside continues development

The Waterside shopping centre in Lincoln has been undergoing some further development and improvement. However, new stores H&M and Next are yet to be unveiled to excited shoppers.

The waterside centre before the developments.

The waterside centre before the developments.

Lincoln’s town centre has been long awaiting a brand new store, that wasn’t already on its high street, with H&M being the main attraction. As reflected by locals; “Hooray, H&M at last!”; Lynsey Hampshire. “About time!”; Fiona Kelham.  

Development work started in July 2013 with the intention of having the new vision fully completed by December 2014, just in time for the Christmas shoppers. The first phase of the renovation, including renovated stores New Look, Burger King and new Café Italiano, is complete and now open to the public.

New Look has a revamp and re-opened in December 2013 as a bigger unit giving the customer a wider range, even including a menswear section. Burger King has also had a facelift as well as a move. With the ground floor Primark now gone, both Burger King and Café Italiano now occupy the larger space.

Businesses that are already open are seeing positive customer feedback already. Shopper Jetta Denton, 20, said that the new ambiance was tranquil and made it a better environment for the public to shop as well as eat in. 

Work is still continuing with the new first floor stores, with the potential to be complete in the summer of 2014. The exact proposed date of their grand openings is yet to be confirmed.

Lucy Tower Car Park overnight closures

Following the original closure of the car park in March 2013 for essential maintenance, Lucy Tower will now see overnight closures in order to complete the final repairs necessary.

The Lucy Tower Car Park on the Brayford.

The Lucy Tower Car Park on the Brayford.

The closures will continue for 1 month since closing on January 20th. The car park will not be in use from 8pm until 7am. Alternative overnight parking is available for motorists on Orchid Street. 

After being closed completely, the car park partially re-opened on 6th December 2013 so shoppers would have more places to park with construction continuing. The car park will be fully completed and open to the public around March 2014.

Delays on level crossing work near Lincoln University

After the planning proposals were approved, National Rail has set the plans to start work on the new bridge to replace the existing level crossing. 

Pedestrians cross the train tracks on the high street after being held at the barriers.

Pedestrians cross the train tracks on the high street after being held at the barriers.

The bridge will provide a safer and faster alternative for waiting at the crossing for pedestrians.

The plan was originally to close the road for the full duration of construction, closing the road to vehicles passing through from 7am on 13th January 2014 until 7pm on 11th June 2014.

However, the disruptions have been pushed back until March 2014 to minimise road disruption in the Lincoln area.

The road will remain open to all vehicles until further notice.

A detailed programme of construction is to be released to the public when available.

Stow Minster damaged in ‘tornado’

A ‘tornado’ caused significant damage to one of Lincolnshire’s most ancient churches yesterday.

The winds caused a stain glassed window to break and damaged large sections of the roof at Stow Minster, which is one of the oldest churches in the country.

The Minster as it stood before the damage.

The Minster as it stood before the damage.

The church, which was formed in the 7th century and was the main church in the county before the building of Lincoln Cathedral, which has resulted it being  referred to as ‘’the Mother Church of Lincolnshire’’ in some parts of the county.

It was included in the top 100 most endangered sites in the world back by the World Monuments Fund back in 2006, with it reportedly needing hefty refurbishment.

The incident has also hit a number of houses in the area, with several fences and roofs and fences being damaged as well. 

The Met Office are currently investigating whether the incident was a small tornado but they have been unable to comment thus far.