Here is Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire welcomes Paul Steele … a visual round-up

On 30 and 31 August I was honoured to welcome Paul Steele to Lincolnshire for a number of reasons … Firstly I knew that as a county we would be propelled into the travel world as a ‘must-see’ UK travel destination. In addition the thought of showing a much-respected travel writer some of the great [...]

Lincoln Cathedral … still glorious during renovation

On what can only be described as a beautiful autumnal day we were fortunate enough yesterday to visit Lincoln Cathedral to learn more about the immense restoration programme planned for the two West Front turrets. The 16 week programme to erect scaffolding around the first to be restored, the South West turret, is now complete [...]

A Campaign Medal for Bomber Command … September 2011 Update

I’m delighted to report that I’ve received a letter from my Member of Parliament Mr Edward Leigh, who has in turn heard back from the Ministry of Defence in connection with our request that the decision to not award Bomber Command with a dedicated campaign medal at the end of World War 2 be revisited. [...]

A magical early morning in Lincolnshire …

Very occasionally I will look out of my window as I’m making my first cup of tea of the day and think how I’d love to pop out to take a few photographs. You see there is something quite magical about a Lincolnshire summers morning when the sun is shining and the early morning mist [...]

Dropping in on… the Museum of Lincolnshire Life

I have a dreadful confession to make … Despite being born and bred in this county until recently I had never visited the Museum of Lincolnshire Life. Not until this week, when I took my seven year-old along to enjoy the experience. Now most parents approach visits of this nature with a sense of underlying [...]

Lincolnshire welcomes Paul Steele … a visual round-up

September 21st, 2011

Editor

On 30 and 31 August I was honoured to welcome Paul Steele to Lincolnshire for a number of reasons … Firstly I knew that as a county we would be propelled into the travel world as a ‘must-see’ UK travel destination. In addition the thought of showing a much-respected travel writer some of the great things we have to offer filled me with great excitement. But most importantly I knew Paul would have fallen in love with Lincolnshire by the time he left.

And I’m very confident I was right on all three counts!

Here are just a few of the images from our hectic two day tour …

And finally … here is the marvellous AVRO Lancaster Just Jane returning from one of her taxy rides during our visit. Paul’s comment after her engines shut down was simply this …

“That was awesome!”

With thanks to BBC Radio Lincolnshire, Lincoln Cathedral, The Lincoln Hotel, The Petwood Hotel, Kinema in the Woods, Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre and the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight for making Paul’s visit so memorable.

Lincoln Cathedral … still glorious during renovation

September 16th, 2011

Editor

On what can only be described as a beautiful autumnal day we were fortunate enough yesterday to visit Lincoln Cathedral to learn more about the immense restoration programme planned for the two West Front turrets.

The 16 week programme to erect scaffolding around the first to be restored, the South West turret, is now complete and so work is about to commence including stone replacement, re-carving and essential maintenance to ensure further deterioration is prevented.

The project to restore both turrets is expected to take around five years to complete and will cost in the region of £2.5 million.

In the meantime some rather attractive hoardings embrace the lower part of the turret, displaying photographs of the Cathedral team and a wonderful view from St Hugh (who resides at the top of the South West turret) across our wonderful city:

Of course major restorative work on this scale requires a large amount of funding and the team at the Cathedral are still working hard to raise the remaining £1.7 million needed to complete the work.

You can donate by clicking this link …. Please help maintain and care for the Cathedral so that future generations can enjoy it as much we do today.

And finally … No visit to Lincoln Cathedral passes without a gasp of wonderment or two.

Yesterday for me it was the wonderful colour and light cast across the floor as the autumn sunshine blazed through the magnificent window …

A Campaign Medal for Bomber Command … September 2011 Update

September 5th, 2011

Editor

I’m delighted to report that I’ve received a letter from my Member of Parliament Mr Edward Leigh, who has in turn heard back from the Ministry of Defence in connection with our request that the decision to not award Bomber Command with a dedicated campaign medal at the end of World War 2 be revisited.

The Right Honourable Andrew Robathan MP (Minister for Defence Personnel Welfare and Veterans) states in his letter:

“The (Honours and Decorations) Committee maintains a consistent policy that it will not consider the belated institution of awards or medals for service given many years earlier. The reason for this is that the present committee cannot put itself in the place of those who made the original decision and who would have had to take account of the views of all interested parties at the time. … A dedicated medal for Bomber Command was considered by the HD Committee at the time and it was decided that the institution of such a medal was not appropriate”

At this point I have to admit that my shoulders did drop slightly as I felt we were meeting the same brick wall that previous campaigns have met in years gone by, until I read further on in the letter ..

“The Coalition set out its intention in the Programme for Government, published in May 2010, to review the rules governing the award of medals as a part of its commitment to rebuild the Military Covenant. The review is nearing completion and the relevant elements of the draft report will shortly be sent to representatives of the various medal campaign groups, including those seeking a Bomber Command Medal. This will provide an opportunity for us to consider the views of the various interested parties. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on the outcome of the review until such representations received have been fully considered.”

I sincerely hope this represents a glimmer of hope that our remaining Bomber Command veterans will be appropriately honoured in their lifetime for their unwavering courage and bravery they displayed in defence of not only their country but of the freedom we all enjoy today.

These events may have taken place some seventy years ago but if it wasn’t for the contribution of the men and women of Bomber Command we would be leading very different lives today.

You can join our campaign by emailing us or else you can contact your MP at Write to Them to express your support for a dedicated campaign medal for Bomber Command.

In the meantime, when we hear more we will let you know!

A magical early morning in Lincolnshire …

August 27th, 2011

Editor

Very occasionally I will look out of my window as I’m making my first cup of tea of the day and think how I’d love to pop out to take a few photographs.

You see there is something quite magical about a Lincolnshire summers morning when the sun is shining and the early morning mist is still laying over the ostensibly even landscape. And it’s even better at a weekend as there is little to no traffic to disturb the blissful stillness at 6.00am!

Very often I have duties and chores to undertake which render the possibility of the aforementioned “popping out to take photographs” impossible, but not this morning!

Most of the fields around me have now been harvested with the newly-bound hay bales still in residence. The air was crisp, the ground still soaked from the previous nights’ rain and my trusty iPhone4 (current camera of choice!) was fully charged … Here’s what I captured:

Dropping in on… the Museum of Lincolnshire Life

August 24th, 2011

Editor

I have a dreadful confession to make … Despite being born and bred in this county until recently I had never visited the Museum of Lincolnshire Life. Not until this week, when I took my seven year-old along to enjoy the experience.

Now most parents approach visits of this nature with a sense of underlying fear … fear that the adults will enjoy it but the kids will hate it, or vice-versa. I’m happy to report that neither was the case in this instance; we both loved it!

A ten minute walk from the Bailgate area, the museum is open daily from 10.00am until 4.00pm (including Sundays April until September). There’s free admission and a whole wealth of exhibits to enjoy, including a pharmacy, a post office and a tailors from the turn of last century.

You’ll also find an extensive display of Lincolnshire’s considerable engineering heritage including trains, tooling, aircraft propellers (the Ruston Proctor factory in Lincoln produced the Sopwith Camel) and a genuine first world war tank, ‘Flirt’.

You will hear the strains of the Lincolnshire Poacher as you walk through the military memorabilia rooms, filled with artefacts and representations that record the proud history of the Lincolnshire Regiment from both world wars.

Not only is the museum a great pace to visit for all the family but the service was excellent too .. Cheerful, smiling staff who were happy to go the extra mile to ensure we had an enjoyable visit (we love good service at Here is Lincolnshire ..)

I have appropriately slapped my own wrist for leaving it way too long to visit this fabulous place; please don’t make the same mistake as me!

We award the Museum of Lincolnshire Life 9/10 … Excellent quality exhibits with free admission!

Burton Road, Lincoln LN1 3LY

Telephone +44 (0)1522 528448

www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/museumoflincolnshirelife

‘World’s most influential travel writer’ Paul Steele is coming Lincolnshire!

August 11th, 2011

Editor

Those of us who are fortunate enough to live in Lincolnshire already know how fabulous it is … the big skies, the wonderful Cathedral standing majestically over us, yesteryear’s iconic aircraft flying overhead … But not everyone on this glorious planet knows.

And we believe that far too many people still don’t know about Lincolnshire, so you can imagine our excitement when Paul Steele agreed to visit this fair county.

Paul is a much-admired and respected member of Twitter, and also a Huffington Post and Visit Britain travel blogger to boot .. ”Looking forward to experiencing Lincoln! A new place for me to explore, cathedral, landscapes, history and more… oh and sausages!” he commented.

So .. on 30 and 31 August respectively Paul will be joining our effort to take Lincolnshire to the world, and to bring the world to Lincolnshire (hopefully not all on the same day..).

And if you needed convincing further of Paul’s pedigree please click this link to read what the Daily Mail recently had to say about him …. and here to see how Paul ranks globally in terms of online influence in the travel industry.

We hope you will join us, either in person or virtually, to participate in a very exciting two days for our county!

In the meantime, you can read Paul’s fascinating online travel journal at baldhiker.com

One iPhone 4, One Cathedral, One Morning.

July 4th, 2011

Editor

Last year I took my trusted digital SLR camera and (very heavy) tripod for a little trip around Lincoln Cathedral. The results were pretty good, but I was on the road to exhaustion after I’d finished lugging my kit around for the best part of two hours.

So, given all the hype we’ve seen about the camera on the iPhone 4 I did wonder to myself if it could actually do as good a job as it’s workhorse of a big brother.

A few days ago I put it to the test, and I have to admit I’m quite impressed with the results. Of course, it is well nigh impossible to take a bad shot of this particular subject but then as I’ve said on many an occasion I am hugely biased in that regard!

Here is the magnificent Lincoln Cathedral through the lens of an iPhone 4 …

Dropping in on … The Castle Hotel

June 29th, 2011

Editor

When it comes to accommodation there is something to suit everyone’s tastes in Lincoln’s cathedral quarter (frequently referred to as ‘Bailgate’ on this site) ranging from smart bed and breakfast establishments to 5 star rated hotels.

The Castle Hotel certainly is at the more expensive end of the scale, but from what we could ascertain on our recent visit it seems that the additional expense is justified and worthwhile.

We’ve devised a little test (on the advice of an expert in the hotel field!) that we believe is a good measure of the quality of an establishment … And this is:

What sort of greeting did we get on arriving from the first member of staff we encountered?
How good is a cup of tea or coffee? Typically this is a low-cost item, so how much effort do they put into it?
What are the restrooms like? No-one likes grubby toilets … we rest our case!

On arriving we were met by a very efficient receptionist who quickly directed us to where we could get a cup of coffee. I don’t recalled she actually smiled, but personally I’d rather have efficiency over a broad grin.

The coffee was served quickly and adeptly by another non-smiling employee, but the quality of said beverage was so good that again I’ll excuse him.

Finally, the restrooms were beautifully decorated with superb quality fittings. And oh so clean!

Would we recommend the Castle Hotel? Absolutely!!

It’s a beautiful hotel with stunning decor. I can overlook the lack of friendliness given that it wreaks of quality and style from the moment you set foot in the place, but if smiling faces are important to you then you may want to consider somewhere else.

The Castle Hotel
Westgate
Lincoln
LN1 3AS

Tel: +44 (0) 1522 538801
Fax: +44 (0) 1522 575457
Email: info@castlehotel.net

Regarding Lincolnshire … stunning landscapes from Peter Barton

June 28th, 2011

Editor

We were very excited to recently discover these wonderful images of Lincolnshire produced by Peter Barton and as such we were thrilled when he agreed to us producing this gallery of his stunning work.

In particular we love the abstractness, the minimalism and of course the feeling that emanates of the vast beauty of the Lincolnshire skies.

For further information on each photograph please hover your cursor over the image …

With many thanks to Peter Barton (see more of Peter’s work by clicking here)

What makes Lincolnshire so lovely …

June 24th, 2011

Editor

If you follow us on Twitter you will notice that we tend to start each day with a “good morning from lovely Lincolnshire” tweet … And it has occurred to me that we really should bring some proof to the table that the county is as lovely as we’re stating on a daily basis!

On the school run this morning I captured a few shots on my iPhone 4 which I hope go some way to demonstrating why we believe this to be the case; a riot of poppies, wheat fields and blue skies with rolling white clouds is a perfect backdrop to the start to anyone’s working day!