Where is Lincolnshire?
Lincolnshire is one of the largest counties in England yet one of the most rural, and it is not on the usual tourist trail. Consequently it has remained quiet and undisturbed for many years. Though rail and road links are improving, you will still have to make an effort to discover this forgotten area. The effort is worth it! The main airports are Nottingham East Midlands, and the large London airports. From there, it's a few hours' drive.
It lies on the East coast of England - if you head north from London, you'll hit it - but most people seem to miss it out and go straight up to York. That's a real shame, as Lincoln has many of the attractions that York does, but without the pressing crowds.
Lincoln, the cathedral city
Lincoln is the main city in Lincolnshire and lies in the north of the county. The cathedral is a remarkable mediaeval building that rises from the flat surroundings at the top of Steep Hill. It was once three times higher than the building you now see, but was partly destroyed in an earthquake in 1185. The beautiful Bishop's Eye stained glass window has recently been restored and is a marvel of Europe. Opposite the cathedral you will find the castle, with one of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta, and a well preserved Victorian prison chapel where each prisoner had to sit in a tiny locked cupboard so that he could only see the preacher, not anyone else. It has a chilling air to this day.
The Uphill area of Lincoln is also called Bailgate and is home to many small and independent shops, galleries and public houses. At the bottom of the hill is the more commercial district with all the usual high street shopping amenities. Also worth a visit is the Brayfood Pool area, which has seen a lot of regeneration recently, becoming a vibrant area of restaurants and entertainment.
The Wolds
But you'd miss a lot if all you saw was Lincoln. To the north, the landscape becomes rolling hills and these are called the Wolds. If you are lucky, you'll see the RAF Red Arrows display team practising above you. Plane spotters will also want to head to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and see the one remaining Lancaster. She can only fly a certain number of hours a year, to preserve her for future generations. When the Lancaster, a Spitfire and a Hurricane go past, everyone stops to look up and pay their respects.
Also in the Wolds is a lovely little town called Woodhall Spa, which houses a tiny picture house called the “Kinema in the Woods.” A Kinema is like a cinema but the screen is projected backwards, not forwards; it's the only one in the UK.
The Fens
The Fenland area is a strange place indeed. It's almost completely agricultural and at first glance it looks desolate and dull. But the history is fascinating. Most of the land lies below sea-level and was drained in the seventeenth century by “gentleman adventurers”. An extensive system of dykes, canals and pumping stations keep the sea at bay. If sea levels rise by half a metre, all this will be lost. Before the area was drained, it was home to renegades, rebels, and outlaws who scraped a living from fishing and fowling. Stamford lies on the very edge of this place, and was once home to the third great university of Mediaeval England - Oxford and Cambridge continue, but Stamford is no more. Its Georgian architecture often features as the backdrop for period dramas.
The Coast
There are some lively and commercial towns on the coast. Skegness, for example, is cheap and cheerful with all you'd expect from a typical seaside town. For more discerning travellers, there are smaller towns dotted all up and down Lincolnshire's long coast and it is much more rewarding to simply follow your nose and find these hidden gems for yourself. Birdwatchers will want to go to the Wash, the vast expanse of mud flats at the edge of the Fens and if you want to see seals, go north.
Beyond the guidebooks
Bourne, in the south, was home to Hereward the Wake who fought the Norman invasions and preceded Robin Hood as one of the great heroes of the English. The remains of his castle are still at Bourne, where every year an odd race is run by two local boys. As they run, an auction is held for the year's lease of Whitebread Meadow and the money raised by the auction pays for bread for the occupants of the Almshouses of Austerby.
Spalding Flower Festival, in the Fens, takes place in the spring and has a remarkable number of floats decorated with flowers. People come year on year for the spectacle. Spalding has a high proportion of people with Dutch surnames, descended from the settlers of the seventeenth century who came to aid the drainage of the Fens with their expertise.
Tolethorpe Hall near Stamford is an open air theatre which runs three different Shakespeare plays every summer. You can take a picnic and dine in the grounds of the hall before the performance. Locals still talk with awe about the time a fox appeared on stage during A Midsummer's Night's Dream.
There are some working windmills still in Lincolnshire, and the UK's only eight-sail windmill is at Heckington, near Sleaford, which mills flour for visitors all summer long.
You won't find much information about Lincolnshire in the usual tour guides and books, but if you spend a little time exploring you will be very pleasantly surprised.
