by Martin Thomas | Nov 24, 2024 | Burton Road, Christmas, Covid 19, Covid-19, Doddington Hall, Domestic Abuse, Domestic Vio;ence, Immingham, Lincoln, Lincoln Castle, Lincoln Cathedral, Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire Blogger, Lincolnshire Heritage, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, Lincs Connect, LincsBlogger, LincsConnect, LincsConnectChristmas, Museum, Restaurant, Rutland, ShopLincs, Stress, WhatsOnLincs
Lincoln Christmas Market
If anything is going to epitomise the Lincoln Christmas Market it has to be Lincoln Cathedral and Lincoln Castle. Castle Square was the original home of the market and over the years the market expanded to the Lincoln Cathedral, The Lawn and surrounding areas.
The Lincoln Christmas Market saw a huge expansion over the years that it operated. In my opinion, the expansion wasn’t particularly well managed with many stalls duplicated and triplicated. The expansion saw a significant rise in visitor numbers. This resulted in the Lincoln council ‘pulling the plug’ on health and safety grounds. In my opinion this was a big mistake as it dealt a huge blow to the local economy and the kudos of Lincoln City internationally.
The market was a huge asset to the city and the wider county. Local employment, small business income and tourism have all been affected by its closure. Its Christmas atmosphere, local financial income and kudos are missed in equal measures. However, with your comments added to this blog and lots of shares around your friends we may be able to encourage a rethink. It would be fantastic to see the market return to Lincoln.
Vienna
As a result of the closure of the market we (my wife and I) decided to seek an alternative to get us into the Christmas mood. That meant taking our custom elsewhere. ‘Another trail’ around the city looking at ice sculptures, knights, imps or monsters didn’t appeal. The first trail was fun but having the same idea rolled out several times a year didn’t inspire us. As a result, our research took us to Vienna.
Vienna has much to offer. Its history, fantastic architecture and many Christmas markets caught our attention. Following some research we planned a short break (4 nights) centred around visiting as many Christmas markets as possible. We managed 7 of the 9 Christmas markets and enjoyed them all.
Lincoln Christmas Market Inspired By Vienna
The Viennese Christmas markets took us to several different areas of the city. All but one was in walking distance (30-40 minutes) from our hotel. It struck me that Lincoln could certainly learn something from the Austrian idea. One of the markets was a local art market where artists and crafters had stalls to sell their gifts. Mixed in with the craft stalls were quality food vendors selling local hot foods and drinks.
The most important point to remember is ‘no duplication’ of stalls. There may have been several stalls selling Christmas tree decorations but they each had their own hand made unique products.
The atmosphere was relaxed and unhurried with enough stalls to keep shoppers interested for several hours. With food stalls and gluvine available visitors were able to spend several hours at the market to enjoy the atmosphere. Local cafes and restaurants also benefited from the increased tourist trade too of course.
Could Lincoln have a series of markets inspired by Vienna?
Market Locations
Just to be clear, the markets in Vienna were all on every day from lunch time until 9.00pm. That’s all 9 markets trading every day from mid November until Christmas! Each market has its own location with a theme. There was some duplication of stalls over the 9 markets but generally each one was unique.
Perhaps some good locations for Lincoln markets would be around the outside of Lincoln Cathedral to encourage shopping around The Bailgate as well as the market stalls. Another at The Lawn to encourage shopping on Burton Road. The Strait, Brayford, the arboretum and South Park would be a fantastic locations to encourage more local shopping. In addition there is Hartsholme Country Park, Whisby Nature Reserve, Doddington Hall, Newark Air Museum and Boultham Park. Perhaps a ‘music themed’ market at The Cornhill? The possibilities are many and varied.
Just A Thought
I wonder how feasible it would be to take inspiration from the Austrian idea? Personally I think it would be a great tourist attraction which would have the advantage of spreading tourists out around the city. Obviously local traders would benefit in their shops just as much as the market stall holders. The knock on effect for restaurants, cafes and hoteliers would be a welcome bonus too. Perhaps ‘flat rate’ taxi fares from market to market would also help another industry.
I would love to know your thoughts. If you have any ideas perhaps you could leave a comment below.
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Merry Christmas
Whatever you do from now until Christmas, I hope you have a very jolly time.
by Martin Thomas | Apr 20, 2020 | Afternoon Tea, B&B, Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire, lincolnshire Business, Lincolnshire Heritage, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, Lincolnshire Wolds, Lincs Connect, LincsConnect, Snipedales, Walking, Website
Summer Holiday
I don’t know about you but I’m not considering a holiday abroad this year. My mind is focused on our present Covid situation so I’m inclined to stay in the UK 2020. Perhaps Walking in the South Lincolnshire Wolds might be a good option.
I envisage us coming to an end of this coronavirus lockdown soon but my mind is focused on the safety of home rather than abroad. From conversations on social media I know I’m not alone in my thinking. As a result I’m wondering where I should be heading to and what I could possibly do in Lincolnshire. I need to find something that I haven’t done before.
Father & Son Promise
Following the recent death of my father, my son and I made a promise to make sure that we keep making memories by doing something together every other month. The brief is that we take it in turns to organise something low budget.
I organised the first weekend away but I’m afraid his turn has been curtailed by the Coronavirus travel restrictions. However, it’ll take more than coronavirus to make me waver from the plan so It’s time to plan our next adventure. Our first outing was a night in Harrogate followed by a walk from Harrogate to Knaresborough along the banks of the river Nidd. It’s a walk I have done many times as a youngster and I was keen to share it with my teenage son.
Fishing
I’ve never tried fishing before so that was his plan for me. These trips are designed to bring us closer together but at the same time provide some new experiences. We both have a love of walking so my first choice was quite easy. Fishing…. Well, that is his idea of fun so I’m duty bound to go with him so that he can teach me. I’ll experience something new and it will have been together.
March came and went but we were still in lockdown.
Low Budget
Trips to London are something we both enjoy but, even on a low budget, it’s an expensive area. Travel costs, accommodation, a few cups of coffee and meals out will soon eat up several hundred pounds. The point of the exercise is to enjoy our time together and not spend lots of money. With that in mind, and with it being my choice of activity in May I’m choosing a walk in the Lincolnshire Wolds. We both have walking boots and all the clothing so the only expense will be meals and accommodation. I have a plan!
The Southern Wolds
As I work on Saturdays the chosen location for the weekend has to be reasonably local. The idea is to travel on Saturday afternoon/evening, B&B overnight if needed, spend the day walking on Sunday and return home refreshed in the evening. However, being so close to home (half an hour) an overnight stay isn’t really necessary.
My plan is to walk from Bolingbroke Castle to Snipedales Country Park via Hameringham with our return leg being from Snipedales Country Park to Hundleby via Hagworthingham and Raith and back to Bolingbroke. Time permitting we’ll partake in afternoon tea at the award winning Elm Tree B&B in Hundleby. Well, why not? We are both busy and it’s not often that we get to spend quality time together. I haven’t worked out the mileage yet but we are both fit and very fast walkers.
Walking in the South Lincolnshire Wolds – Bolingbroke Castle
If you haven’t been before I highly recommend a visit. It’s ideal for picnics and local walks and the children will have great fun playing and reenacting battles as knights of old or perhaps hide and seek. The postcode for your sat nav is PE23 4HH
Bolingbroke Castle outer wall
For more information and details of events visit Heritage Lincolnshire. Access their website by clicking on the picture or why not pay them a visit on twitter @HeritageLincs
Onward then to Snipedales Country Park (Follow @LoveLincsWolds on Twitter). Here we’ll be able to explore some of the 220 acres of the country park and nature reserve with it’s steep sided valleys, wildlife, a variety of trees and streams. If we can get the timing right and restrictions are lifted we may get chance to join one of the guided walks.
If you’re interested why not click on the picture below to go to the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust website where you’ll find up-to-date information.
Click on the picture to go straight to the Lincs Wildlife Trust website and why not follow them on Twitter too? Here they are: @LincsWildlife
Snipedales Country Park will probably make an ideal stopping place for a packed lunch.
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Walking in the South Lincolnshire Wolds – Hagworthingham
After Snipedales it’s onwards to Hagworthingham where we’ll stop to photograph the Stockwith Mill. This picture is from the internet and I’m afraid there is no reference to credit the original photographer. It is a lovely picture though and I hope we’ll be able to do the Mill the same justice.
Hagworthingham. Click on the picture to find it on Google Maps
There will be plenty of photo opportunities during our walk so a timetable isn’t really going to work! However, I know it’ll be fun and worth the effort. About 2.5 miles (by road) to Raithby
Walking in the South Lincolnshire Wolds – Raithby
The small Methodist chapel at Raithby Hall in Raithby by Spilsby is one of the oldest in England.
The small Methodist Chapel (on the far right of the building in the picture above) is the oldest Methodist Chapel in Lincolnshire and is still in use today. It was opened by John Wesley on 5 July 1779. That makes it even older than me!
With a bit of luck we’ll be able to take a picture or two before heading off across country to Hundleby for afternoon tea at The Elm Tree B&B (time permitting).
Walking in the South Lincolnshire Wolds – Hundleby
The Elm Tree B&B, Hundleby. Click on the picture to go to Google Maps
If you’re looking for an underlying motive for our walk, ‘this’ is it! Or rather, the Afternoon Tea is. I suspect we will already have covered something around 10-15 miles (or more). An afternoon tea treat for father and son seems like a perfect reason to break the journey. Boasting a full 5 Stars and having already seen pictures and read revues I’m really expecting great things.
Walking in the South Lincolnshire Wolds – Afternoon Tea and B&B
I’m looking forward to this as at just £20.00 each (£25.00 for the Prosecco version) and our only expense of the day I think it’s a bargain. Can I tempt you? Well, probably not but Chris and Jonathan certainly can with this picture from their website:
Afternoon Tea Vouchers are available too and are on sale NOW! Wouldn’t it be lovely to give someone a gift voucher during our lockdown to show them how much you care? £20.00 each for a selection of 5 different sandwiches, homemade cakes, scones & jam plus a selection of Stokes Teas.
Being less than half an hour away from my home we won’t need to book in to the B&B. I very much doubt my son would want to share a four poster with his dad anyway! However, if you’re making the trip and fancy staying over, this is what you’ll be treated to:
A Four Poster bed – suddenly you can understand why The Elm Tree has 5 stars and glowing revues. Click on the picture for a direct link to the website or send a message on Twitter @TheElm_Tree
This really is a trip that I’m looking forward to so I hope the travel restrictions and social distancing rules are lifted in time for the end of May. However, I do have a plan B – organise another date for June or July to make sure the whole trip goes ahead! Perhaps a follow up blog will be in order to show off my own pictures and include some countryside images too. After all, it ‘is’ the Lincolnshire Wolds – an ‘Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ so it would be amiss of me to deprive you of our experience.
Can’t Wait?
Not everyone has the patience to wait until the social distancing rules are relaxed so, just for you, there is a special take-away afternoon tea available too. It’s the same great choice but without the hot drink. At £12.50 per person I think it’s time to get the kettle on and get your order in don’t you? Don’t forget to check to make sure the prices and availability are still current.
Until Next Time, Stay Safe
I know we are all looking forward to the end of the ‘lockdown’ but I think it’s important to have something to focus on don’t you?
