Marissa Belle

Final touches are being added to a Lincoln Catherdal festival celebrating the city’s engineering heritage, with the theme of ‘Back to the Future’, starting tomorrow.

Spark! Engineering Festival 2017, held from May 5 to 7 celebrates Lincolnshire’s pioneering excellence spanning centuries and the world-beating engineering businesses here in the county today.

Check out the behind-the-scenes action at the cathedral on the day before the festival sparks to life.:

James Pinchbeck, local businessman and organiser of Spark! Festival said: “Spark! Festival is a biannual event, and this is the third one. Not only do we want to promote Lincoln and Lincolnshire’s engineering past, but also to look at the future and our world record achievements.

“For example, we have the Ruston-Hornsby car, one of the few left in existence was made in Lincoln, and also the Delorean from Back To The Future which is the star of this festival.

“Its a diverse mix of historical context and also exciting new applied engineering and technology.

“The special thing about this festival is reaching the community and what we’re trying to do is promote engineering as a career for younger people.

“May 5 will be Schools Day for the festival, and there will be special activities for year 11 and 12 children, and introduce them to engineering and careers in engineering.

“Another special thing about SPARK! is that we give people the opportunity to see things you can’t normally see around Lincoln. The public gets access to engineering in the 21st century.”

“My favourite exhibition at the festival would be a mix of the virtual reality corner, which is where we learn about robots and how we use them, and also the BRM 1958 Formula 1 Grand Prix car.”

Other exciting additions include The Monowheel Warhouse, which is a Guinness World Record holder for the fastest mono wheel motorcycle, the Ruston-Hornsby car which was produced by a Lincoln firm between 1919 and 1924, The “Venture” steam engine which was build in Lincoln in 1914 by William Foster and Co and contraptions, costumes and props from the Lincoln Steampunk Society.

Admission is free for all.

Visit the Spark Lincoln website for full details of what’s on, who’s exhibiting, and a gallery of previous events.

Roadworks have begun on St Mary’s Street in Lincoln, adjacent to the city’s train station.

The works form part of the £30 million Lincoln Transport Hub scheme, providing a state-of-the-art bus station, 1,000 space multi-storey car park, retail space and a pedestrian plaza.

From Thursday, May 4, the existing loop at the end of St Mary’s Street will be closed and a one-way route opened along Oxford Street to Pelham Bridge.

The Transport hub is beginning to take shape in the city centre.

Access to Lincoln Central Station will remain from St Mary’s Street. However, all traffic leaving the station will need to turn right and follow the one-way road down Oxford Street.

Motorists not accessing the station are advised to continue to use the existing diversions.

Temporary taxi ranks will be on Wigford Way during the works.

Led by the City of Lincoln Council, the scheme will also see improvements to Lincoln Central railway station and create a more accessible and attractive gateway to the city.

Existing loop at the end of St Mary’s Street

Kate Ellis, Strategic Director for Major Developments at the city council, said: “Work on Lincoln Transport Hub is progressing well and the next step is to begin work creating the new pedestrian plaza at the front of the railway station, which will connect the station with the new facilities.

“The contractors, Willmott Dixon Construction, will start this work in St Mary’s Street later this week. To enable this to take place, the existing loop at the end of St Mary’s Street will be closed and a one-way route opened along Oxford Street to Pelham Bridge from Thursday, May 4.”