This is a panoramic view looking eastward over Boston and the surrounding Lincolnshire countryside taken from the top of Boston Stump (St Botolph’s parish church).

The Tower of Boston Stump took 70 years to construct and is 272 feet high. This photograph was taken from the second balcony of the tower at 197 feet and is reached by a small, poorly lit and claustraphobic circular stairwell (I only mention this because I had to climb it with my camera and tripod – it nearly finished me off!)

The special association with America began in 1607 when a group of Puritans, later to become known as the Pilgrim Fathers, seeking religious freedom planned to sail from Boston to Holland in a Dutch ship. The Captain, however, informed against them and seven pilgrims were imprisoned in the Guildhall (the castle-like building at the bottom left) before being tried at Lincoln. In 1630, ten years after the sailing of the “Mayflower”, Boston citizens landed in New England and set up a colony which they named “Boston”.