Lincoln
Charlie’s Christmas Stop in the Midlands
Charlie arrived in Lincoln on a Thursday evening. It was the weekend of the Christmas market which had been highly recommended to Charlie before. She had come by train from York and went straight to her AirBnB. It was a good 20-minute walk to Gill’s house in the Westend of Lincoln. Charlie was immediately amazed when she arrived. Not only was she welcomed by Gill and shown around the house, but there was also a lovely Christmas tree waiting in the living room.
You could feel the love that had been put into the house and Charlie stayed in a room with a comfy bed, a sofa chair and some kitchen facilities to prepare breakfast. Gill was very warm and caring and even offered Charlie a dressing gown and a hot water bottle in case that she’d feel cold during the night. It was a lovely gesture but not necessary as the house was warm enough anyways.
A castle surrounded by Festivity
Charlie had to work a bit on Friday morning, and she did so from a very comfortable chaise longue in Gill’s living room. Views towards the Christmas tree included, obviously! Once she had finished her work for the day she was off to the Lincoln Castle. She couldn’t get a ticket online and was hoping to get lucky at the ticket booth by the entrance. She was lucky! She arrived at around 2.30 and could directly go inside to visit the Victorian Prison. She also wanted to do the Medieval Wall Walk, but would prefer to do it in the evening when it was illuminated. This one hadn’t been available online either, but there were tickets available at the castle. The lady at the ticket shop was very friendly and even made it possible for Charlie to get one ticket that included both in the non-usual order.
Is this the entrance to the prison?
What a weird question to ask, but totally justified on that occasion. Inside Lincoln Castle is a Victorian Prison that is open to visitors. You can see and hear about daily life at the prison and even try some of the activities they used to spend their time with. You hear stories of prisoners, what crimes they had been imprisoned for and what happened to babies that were born in the female prison. Charlie was surprised by the chapel. It did not look like a normal chapel at all, more like a court room and all visitors were sitting in a separate box. That was to prevent the prisoners from communicating with each other during service. As a visitor you could walk up to the chancel to see everything from above. Charlie was taken by surprise when she noticed that there were people sitting in the boxes. You could only see them from above. They weren’t real people, but it was still a little surprising.
Lincoln Christmas market
After her visit to the prison museum, Charlie had about two hours to spend. The ticket for the illuminated wall walk was for 5.15pm. She used that time to explore the Christmas market which had not been too busy at that time. A familiar scent captured Charlie’s interest: caramelized almonds. She had never been too fond of them on the markets back home in Germany, but this time around, it felt like home. She got a pack of almonds.
She strolled around the market on the castle grounds, left the castle through the gate on the opposite side and saw that there were a lot more stalls waiting. She noticed that some of them had numbers and she saw numbers 250 and 251. That meant that there were at least 250 stalls at this Christmas market. You could find anything you’d expect and more. Charlie wasn’t there for shopping, but she fancied a mulled wine. She stopped at a small stall that offered artisan mulled wine and cider. She had chosen well. The mulled wine was delicious!
Charlie had to catch up on two years of Christmas markets (she had been surfing in Andalucia in December the previous year), so why not get a crepe too? Yumm!
Charlie continued her tour along the northern side of the castle, passed by more stalls and marquees, a ferris wheel and some other carousels. She reached castle square and the top end of Steep Hill before walking towards the cathedral. It had gotten darker and also busier by that time. Charlie walked all around Lincoln Cathedral to take some photos. She got another mulled wine before it was time for the illuminated wall walk. You could walk around the Castle grounds high up on the Medieval wall. It was easily accessible via a staircase and during Christmas, it was beautifully illuminated. From up there, the views towards the cathedral and the city of Lincoln were magnificent. It is probably one of the best views you can get.
Whilst Charlie walked along the walls, she heard an announcement over speakers that the Carol Service at the Cathedral would start soon. Charlie doesn’t usually go to church (except on Christmas Eve in her hometown), but a Carol Service sounded interesting. She walked back to the Cathedral to see if she could still attend, even though she was a bit late. She was allowed in and even given a candle. It was a beautiful service in a beautiful cathedral. They were reading the biblical story of Christmas and there was a lot of singing involved. It lasted for about 30 minutes from when Charlie had joined.
The Westend Lights
Charlie took a little detour on her way back to the AirBnB that evening. Gill had told her about an event happening that night: The Westend Lights would be on between 6 and 9 pm. It was a yearly community event where lots of houses in the neighbourhood would decorate their windows with special light displays or videos on screens. Gill had sent Charlie a link to a map that listed all the houses with special light installations. Some of them had gotten very creative and Charlie was impressed by such commitment.
Exploring Lincoln and its history beyond the Christmas traditions
Whenever Charlie visits a city, she tries to get on one of those free walking tours. There was one for Lincoln too! It was scheduled for 10 am that Saturday morning. Meeting point was in front of the Cathedral. Before walking up that hill though, Charlie brought her suitcase to the Premier Inn in the city centre. She could have left it with Gill, but the Premier Inn was closer to the train station and more convenient to pick up later. Charlie had booked this via Stasher. The website offered Charlie multiple options to store luggage and the booking process was very quick and smooth.
Lincoln Free Walking Tour
The Lincoln free walking tour started at 10 in front of the Cathedral. The guides were Matt and Brant – two friends who offered these tours in their freetime out of pure love to the city of Lincoln. Apart from Charlie, there was only one other person on the tour that day – it was almost like a private tour. Charlie was surprised that they would still run the tour with that little attendance, but it shows their commitment.
The Lincoln Christmas market would heavily affect their route that day, so they provided a little introduction accordingly. It took place for one weekend every year since 1982. It had started with only 11 stalls back then and the idea had been brought over from Germany, from the town of Neustadt. That explained why there was a stall by a club called “Neustädter”. Charlie had seen that the day before.
Lincoln Cathedral
They stood right in front of Lincoln Cathedral which was a good opportunity to talk about its history. Matt and Brant went into historic details before the group walked towards the south side of the building to see some special architectural elements. There were some impressive grotesques that Brant talked about. One was very unique and has been installed at head height instead of the roof. It was there since the restauration in 2011 and showed a skull, a snake and a hand holding coins. It is a symbol for the greed of bankers and had been built to remember the financial crisis of 2008.
Whilst standing at the Eastern end of the Cathedral, they learned about the Lincoln Imp. Its origins are found inside the Cathedral in something unusual: a grotesque on the inside. Of course, it is an imp.
Roman foundations
The origins of the city of Lincoln (and its name, derived from Lindum Colonia) date back to Roman times. Some traces are still visible around the ground of the former Roman forum, nowadays the castle. Matt and Brant guided the group along the Eastern gate, the Bail gate and the former Roman Baths. They showed images of how it would have looked in Roman times. Unfortunately, there isn’t much left as the Medieval structures were mostly built above the Roman ones and very little has been excavated to date.
Matt and Brant took the group into a Cul-de-Sac just a bit below the castle. There was a good view over the city and the surroundings. The sun was shining through the clouds in that moment, so Charlie got a perfect shot whilst Brant talked about Lincoln during World War II.
On their way towards Steep Hill and the High Street, they heard about the Battle at Lincoln Castle in 1217 and explored the Cultural Quarter with its theatres, museums and art galleries. Up to this point, they had heard a lot about Romans and Normans, but not much about the Victorian age. That part was left for when they reached the lower part of the city. It almost seemed like two separate towns, the historic part up on the hill and the modern, more commercial part by the river. At the central market and the old corn exchange, they heard the story of Snips the Dog that had become famous in Lincoln in the 60s and helped raise a lot of money for charity in his day. They finished the tour at the Brayford Pool with a view towards the University of Lincoln.
After the tour Charlie went for lunch at Stoke’s High Bridge Cafe. They had passed by that café which was inside a Tudor style house built on a bridge – one of the last of its kind in the UK. This was the end of Charlie’s trip. She took the train back to London later that afternoon.
