Lincolnshire Tourist Guide

Lincoln Christmas Market

Lincoln Christmas Market started in 1982 with just eleven stalls. Today it is a thriving traditional market with over 250 stalls attending and drawing in visitors of over 150,000 from all over the country.

With only a few weeks to go until Christmas it is the perfect opportunity to get in the festive spirit and get all your Christmas shopping done. There is so much to see, try and buy, from handmade jewellery, toys, paintings, glassware and ceramics to the delicious food halls where you can sample some of the local specialities and enjoy a glass of mulled wine.

There is a strong German influence on the market as the town is twinned with Neustradt an der Weinstrasse in Germany. It has a strong friendship and alliance which has been in place since 1969. Lincoln is steeped in history with the Gothic Cathedral and Norman Castle located in the popular Uphill area. It is always worth allowing time to explore the cobbled streets and take in all the amazing architecture that the city has to offer.

Be sure to wear sensible footwear to get around the bustling steep cobbled streets, though. It is always advisable to wrap up warm as it is often very cold with temperatures dropping in the evening. Last year the event was cancelled at the last minute due to severe weather conditions. Already this year due to its popularity all the stalls have been booked and there is a waiting list for stallholders.

Lincoln is just as stunning by night as it is by day. With the fully lit Cathedral and Castle towering above the city; this magnificent sight can be seen for miles around. The Christmas decorations twinkling and glistening in the winter air and the smells of roasting chestnuts makes for a truly romantic, warming and festive start to the month.

If you have time to spend the weekend in the city there are lots of other things to do and see including – Brayford Waterfront, the theatre, museums, boat trips, as well as lots of well established places to eat and drink. The market is open from Thursday 1st December to Sunday 4th December. Thursday 4pm-9.30pm; Friday and Saturday 10am -9.30pm and Sunday 10am-7pm. There will be park and ride locations around the city for easy access.

50th Anniversary for Best Kept Villages and Small Town Competition

Each year hundreds of individuals, groups and organisations come together to take part in the Best Kept Villages and Small Towns Competition. 2012 is the 50th Anniversary of the event and is set to attract even more villages and towns to the competition.

In 2011 127 villages in Lincolnshire entered the competition. Approximately 80 judges that travel hundreds of miles around Lincolnshire, marking each village or town that has entered and giving over 900 volunteer hours of their time. Each village or town is marked over six categories with a maximum of 20 points for each category and include some of the following: absence of litter, presentation of trees, ponds, streams, roads, paths, churchyard, business premises and the effort from the community.

Judging takes place over three rounds between May and August. The event is organised by Community Lincs and supported by the District and Local Councils, Pennells Garden Centre.  The CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England). The CPRE has been involved with the event since it started in 1962.

Teresa Palmer is the main organiser of the event at Community Lincs, and she is currently trying to get Lottery funding to enable the history of the competition to be put together. She said: ‘The competition has been evolving over the years as populations have grown and momentum for the competition has gathered. We are expecting even more entries for 2012 with it being out 50th Anniversary and there will be more publicity and hopefully more sponsors involved this coming year.

The competition gives a focal point for the villages and towns and cohesion amongst the residents who want their village or town to do well.’  The village or town doesn’t have to be picturesque or quaint; it is about involvement from the community and taking pride in the presentation of their local area. Villages or towns that win the competition often draw in interest and tourism from other areas.

My old home town of Holbeach came runner up in the Small Market Town Class in 2011. This is the fourth time it has been runner up in this class, which shows that the town is maintaining its standard of presentation. Also, only four miles from Holbeach is Moulton, which came third in Class 2 in the same year. It is always humbling to see the town during the judging period with all its full bloom of brightly- coloured hanging baskets, freshly-trimmed hedges and verges, manicured gardens and litter-free roads and pavements.

There is a choice of five classes depending on the size of the village or town: Class 1 – population of 100-500; Class 2 – population of 501-2000; Class 3 – population of 2001 – 7000; Class 4 – small market towns to a population of 7000 and a past winners’ Class. Applications are sent out to the Parish Councils in March and the closing date for applications in the end of April.

For more information visit the Best Kept Villages and Small Town website here.

About Cadwell Park

Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire is set in the Wolds.  A motor racing circuit that features a steep-sided valley, allowing for rise to dips and crests, with sharp changes in gradient, including one section called “The Mountain” where bikes frequently become airborne. With challenging corners to the track, it has been nicknamed the “Mini-Nürburgring” after the tough motorsport race track in Nürburg, Germany.

Cadwell Park Lincolnshire was originally established in 1934 by local man Mansfield Wilkinson, of Louth. The length of the track was almost doubled to 1.3 miles in 1953, and grew to its current 2.25-mile layout in 1962.  The circuit has seen 500cc motorcycle-engined Formula 3 class races.

It has three configurations – the Woodlands circuit, which is not often used, the short Club circuit, and the excellent, although rather daunting, full circuit. Some of the bends are named after family members e.g. Mansfield, Charlie and Chris.

Details of the track are:

• Full Circuit: Length: 2.173 miles (3.4768 km), clockwise direction with 11 corners
• Club Circuit: Length: 1.481 miles (2.3696 km), clockwise direction with 7 corners
• Woodlands Circuit: Length: 0.712 miles (1.1392 km), clockwise direction with 11 corners

The original track, and its fearsome, yet very photogenic Mountain feature, sees motorbikes frequently becoming airborne.  Every August Bank Holiday weekend, thousands of bike fans converge on the circuit when the track hosts the biggest round of the British Superbike Championship.

Nowadays, car racing tends to be confined to club meetings, although they are invariably very exciting events in their own right. The track's swooping nature and its striking mix of twists, cambers and gradients means the circuit is extremely popular and has, over the years, provided some fantastic racing.

However, it is now considered a little too narrow for the bigger car races. Club motorsport associations such as the BARC and 750MC still hold meetings there, and a growing number of car events are taking place as the reputation of this great circuit continues to grow. However, the layout is great for motorcycles, and the Bennetts British Superbike Championship round is by far the most popular event on the circuit's annual calendar.

Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire is now operated by MotorSport and offer Club Trackdays with the chance to test your car or motorcycle in a safe, controlled and professional environment on the course. Motorcycle enthusiasts may also test or prepare their car or bike for racing.

Several tests and feature clips for the television motoring program Fifth Gear have been filmed there.

 

British Superbikes at Cadwell Park

More information on nearly town of Louth

This coming weekend...The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials 2010

The origins of the The Land Burghley Horse Trials, are owned mainly to the Marquess of Exeter, an Olympic athletics gold medalist and International Olympic Committee member. In 1961 he heard the autumn three-day equestrian event couldn’t be held at Harewood House near Leeds, so he invited the British Horse Society to transfer the event to his estate. And the rest, as they say, is history!

In the meantime, it has established itself not only as one of the top six world equestrian events, but also the longest, continuous, running one, with no other international site succeeding in staging as many Championships.

In total Burghley has run two World Championships (1966 and 1974), six European Championships (1962, 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989 and 1997) and one Young Riders European Championship (1978) – a quite enviable record.

The current Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is an annual three day event and is one of the three events in the Annual Grand Slam of Equestrian Eventing.

Since 1990, there has also been the Young Event Horse final to judge 4 and 5 year old horses on their potential and suitability as future Olympic mounts. Three disciplines combine to form the 3-day event.

Designed very much as a complete test of horse and rider, Thursday and Friday are the Dressage days and Saturday is Cross Country day, recognised as the most exciting day of the competition. The final day, Sunday, sees the Show Jumping Event, with a combination of elegance and skill of both horse and rider coming to the fore, as they compete for first place.

Click here for more information on visiting The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials 2010.

Lincolnshire Royal Air Force

The county has a long tradition of association with the RAF. There are world-famous bases located throughout the county, many of which served as vital and pivotal centres during recent conflicts from the Great World Wars to more recent operation in the Middle and Far East.

The most famous Lincolnshire Royal Air Force of all, the magnificent Red Arrows - officially known as the RAF Aerobatic Display Team - are based north of Lincoln at the equally famous RAF Scampton, site of a World War I landing field. They are currently the sole flying users of the base. Despite its heritage and use for the modern remake of the original 1954 Dambusters film, it seems likely site will close within the decade seeing the Control and Reporting Centre, the Mobile Met Unit and the Red Arrows relocating.

RAF Cranwell, near Sleaford, is home to Headquarters, Air Cadets, and the Air Cadet Organisation's Adult Training Facility. The main building at Cranwell is noted for its distinctive dome. Cranwell is also home to 3 RAF flying squadrons, No. 16 Elementary Flying Training, No. 55 Weapons Systems Operator training, and No. 45 multi-engined aircraft training. No.3 Flying Training School for navigators and non-commissioned aircrew is also based there, as are two of the RAF’s excellent bands - The Band of the Royal Air Force College and The Band of the Royal Air Force Regiment.

RAF Barkston Heath, a beautifully unspoiled Second World War airfield, acts as a Relief Landing Ground for the flying training activities at RAF Cranwell and is venue for the British National Model Aircraft Championships. RAF Waddington is home to the RAF's Sentry, Nimrod and Raytheon Sentinel ground-surveillance/intelligence aircraft. The station is also home to No. 34 Expeditionary Air Wing. There is an outdoor viewing area close to the northern end of the long runway, itself originally designed to accommodate V-bombers. The base is home to the RAF’s largest display event, the annual Waddington International Air Show.

RAF Digby serves as the headquarters of the Joint Service Signals Organisation, and is the oldest station in the RAF. RAF Digby contains personnel from all three of the British Armed Forces and allied forces. It contains four operational units: HQ Joint Service Signals, Signal Unit, 591 Signals and the Aerial Erector School. More recently, the station has hosted a new annual RAF-established event open to the public, Party in the Park, now a regular fixture in late July or early August. RAF Coningsby is home of the Operational Evaluational Unit, the Operational Conversion Unit and the first Typhoon Operational Squadron, flying the Eurofighter Typhoon. Also based at Coningsby is the RAF's Fast Jet and Weapons Operational Evaluation Unit.

RAF Donna Nook , just north of North Somercotes is the only National Nature Reserve in the UK on MOD land. It has a large seal habitat maintained by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. RAF Holbeach and RAF Wainfleet are Royal Air Force bombing ranges situated between Boston and Kings Lynn on The Wash. The ranges provide facilities for RAF and other NATO aircraft to practice dropping bombs and firing their cannon. Targets include several old trawlers which have been beached on the sands of The Wash for this purpose. RAF Holbeach also has facilities for scoring strafing runs.

Click here for details on RAF Waddington International Air Show

George Sampson at Butlins Skegness

Britian's Got Talent Winner - George Sampson has his own show at Butlins Skegness from 19th March - 2nd January.  Take a look at their website for more information.

For general information on Butlins click here.

Charity event in Mablethorpe

Mablethorpe will be holding a charity motorcycle festival on the 20th March.

The event is in aid of the Air Ambulance and voluntary organisation Mablethorpe Tourism Forum.

Tickets selling like hot cakes to food show!

Tickets are selling like hot cakes for the Lincolnshire Food and Drink Show in Cleethorpes.

Two celebrity chefs are lined up to attend the show on 24 and 25 April.

For more information click on the link below:

Article on Food and Drink Show

Snowdrop Week

It's Snowdrop Week at Eastern Walled Gardens near Grantham.

Open from 13-21 Feb between 11am-4pm.  Walks, talks, plants for sale and tearoom open for refreshments.

Win tickets to Wedding Show!

We have tickets to Cupids Spring Wedding Show to giveaway!

The show is being held at Springfields Exhibition Centre in Spalding on the 7th March.

Just drop us a line at info@lincolnshiretouristguide.com and tell us when and where you are getting married.

The draw will take place on 22nd February. Send this link to any friends that are getting married too!