Lincoln

Mr S and I have just returned from a few days in Lincoln. This is our first visit and we were delighted by what the City had on offer. At first we were disappointed that the Food and Drink festival was being held in an 'out of town' venue, and that we were a week early for their Christmas Market. By Saturday evening, as people were starting to put up the stands for Christmas Market, we realised that our view of the delightful street scape would have been spoilt.

In contrast to the current Christmas attractions, I found an ancient carving on the front of the Cathedral: doves, an emblem often found on Christmas cards:

The bells of the Cathedral sounded as we explored the City, and we were touched that the bells were silenced through the night, so as not to disturb sleepers. Our hotel was just a couple of streets away from the Cathedral, and from our window we had dramatic views of the Cathedral towers, and the walls of the Castle which were very well lit up at night. During our visit and guided tour of the Cathedral I found out about the Lincoln Imp, which Lizzie had told me about. Although it was quite late by the time we finished our tour, the light through the stained glass was wonderful. Later that evening as we rested prior to going down to diner, we heard a pair of owls calling not far from our window.

The shops down Steep Hill were very attractive, and it was interesting to go in and browse and look at the inside of ancient buildings.



We came across The Collection, which is the name of the City's Museum. It is housed in a very modern building, which has an excellent Cafe, with views up the hill to Cathedral. We spent almost half a day viewing a special exhibition called Making History: 300 years of Antiquaries in Britain. Another very different type of Museum, which we very much enjoyed was the Museum of Lincolnshire Life which is housed in some old barracks. In contrast to all the Christmas bling, this old printer's plate in the Museum caught my eye:

Then later I found a stained glass window with pretty flowers. So having missed the Christmas Market, I still found items from former times on the subject of Christmas, peace and good will to all men.

This is the original window designed by Edward Burne-Jones which came from the demolished St mark's Church in Lincoln. I think I have seen this design on Christmas Cards too.

To cap it all, a most extraordinary thing: just as we were walking down to have a coffee in an old Coffee House on High Bridge, I spied my Uncle Colin and Aunty Doreen. We had not been in touch for months, and they live quite some way and had come up on the train for an outing. It would have been so easy to miss each other in the crowds too.