Lincolnshire Pride April 2023

There’s a pervading sense of optimism in the Pride office as spring proliferates in our gardens and hedgerows. All around us, the sense of a fresh start is in the air. If you’re keen to refresh body and mind this month too, you’ll probably find our guide to the area’s best wellness retreats quite useful... each is concerned with health, mindfulness and nutrition, and will help you to feel energised and enthusiastic in time for the new season.

Elsewhere this month, we’re meeting a family who are bringing back hand-printed heritage wallpaper designs, plus Lincoln’s very own king of cakes, and we’re sampling a brand new dining experience in the heart of Lincoln as Stokes opens its new evening bistro menu at The Lawn. Also in this edition, we’re taking a trip to Grantham, a town with plenty of interesting history attached to it – not least in the form of its most famous residents – and we’re enjoying the festival gardens of Spalding’s Springfields, which have their origins in the area’s horticultural industries, ahead of the return of the town’s flower parade next month.

Our best wishes, for a great month!

Executive Editor robin@pridemagazines.co.uk

We’re always looking for scenes of Lincolnshire to feature on our covers and in the magazine. If you’re a budding photographer, email your pictures to the address above!

THE WEALTHIEST PEOPLE IN THE AREA READ PRIDE MAGAZINE

Pride Magazine is delivered free of charge, via Royal Mail, to high value homes in the county. Our circulation is to homes in the top three council tax bands, which are predominantly worth over £300,000. This guarantees the magazine has an affluent readership commensurate with our content. The magazine is also sold in leading newsagents and supermarkets and we also deliver the magazine to local businesses including selected hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, doctors, dentists, executive motor dealerships and golf clubs. This helps to ensure we have a continued presence, right across our catchment area.

Our titles also have more social media fans than any other local magazine. In addition we have over 45,000 online visitors viewing our magazines free of charge, online, on their tablet, computer, laptop or mobile phone via our website, our app, and via the Readly and Issuu platforms.

If your business would benefit from being showcased to the wealthiest people in the area, please call our friendly sales team on 01529 469977.

THE PRIDE TEAM

Managing Director: Julian Wilkinson.

Sales Director: Zoie Wilkinson.

Customer Service Manager: Abby Moon.

Sales Executives: Kim Alford

and Tamara Mortimer.

Executive Editor: Rob Davis.

Customer Care Manager: Mandy Bray.

IT Manager: Ian Bagley.

Web Developer: Joe Proctor.

Office Manager: Chloe Watson.

Administrator: Bethany Freeman-Burdass

Who should win Lincoln’s top award?

NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR CITY OF LINCOLN COUNCIL’S CIVIC AWARDS

Lincoln residents are being urged to put their thinking caps on as the search begins to find this year’s winner of Lincoln’s most prestigious accolade.

The Trustees of the Lincoln Civic Award recently launched their call for nominations of individuals, charities or companies worthy of being presented with the stunning silver trophy.

Chairman of the Lincoln Civic Award Trustees Henry Ruddock said: “Anticipating the receipt of nominations is a very exciting time.”

“Over the years we have had some brilliant suggestions naming individuals from all walks of life, outstanding organisations and innovative businesses. If you have never made a nomination before, make this the year that you do. Lincoln continues to grow and change, attracting new

residents and more interesting businesses. It is also home to a wealth of charities, so there is plenty of choice out there!”

Nominators may want to suggest a company or business

Heroes return from Turkey

TEAM OF INTERNATIONAL SEARCH & RESCUE SPECIALISTS RETURN FROM TURKEY QUAKE

which has impressed them by helping to put Lincoln on the map.

The eventual winner will be presented with the Civic Award – which stands 19

A team of four officers from Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue have returned to a heroes’ welcome after spending a week in Turkey helping to search for survival of the country’s recent earthquake. The team included officers from other fire and rescue services around the UK: Cheshire, Essex, Greater Manchester, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, London, Mid and West Wales, Merseyside, Scotland, South Wales and West Midlands.

From Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue, the UKISAR team included Group Manager,

n Cast your nomination at www.lincoln.gov.uk.

Ashley Hildred; Sleaford Crew Manager, Colin Calam; Lincoln South Crew Manager, Mark Dungworth and Dog Handler, Neil Woodmansey, and his dog, Colin.

Deployed for more than a week, the team has searched hundreds of buildings, located and rescued a number of survivors – reuniting people in their darkest hour.

Along with the four fire and rescue search dogs the team landed to a watercannon salute from fire engines at Stansted Airport. The team is now enjoying a well-earned rest and in the case of Colin, steak for supper! n

SLEAFORD

inches high and is in the form of an eight-side obelisk - by the current Mayor of Lincoln Roseanne Kirk.

LINCOLN

Space-age wind turbines

TWO SPACE-AGE TURBINES INSTALLED IN PILOT SCHEMES IN SPALDING & SKEGNESS

An evening with Spitfire poet John...

The Petwood Hotel – famous for its own Dambusters connection, –is celebrating another hero of the skies this month. Simon Devenish of the John Gillespie Magee Jr Foundation will talk about the life and poetry of John Gillespie Magee Jr, author of the poem ‘High Flight’ on Thursday 13th April. n Tickets £6, for details see www.petwood.co.uk.

If it looks like aliens have landed on the East Coast, fear not... it’s a wind turbine, not a flying saucer!

The South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership has facilitated a UK first with the installation of two innovative and costeffective mini wind turbines.

The 2m high wind turbines have been installed at FreshLinc in Spalding and at

the end of Skegness Pier.

The space-efficient wind turbines are quiet in operation, produce minimal vibration and can be easily mounted on rooftops. The turbines are omnidirectional to capture wind from all directions without turning, making them low maintenance.

The turbines have been designed by Ventum Dynamics of Norway. n

Lights, camera, antiques!

DAYTIME TV SHOW BARGAIN HUNT FILMS EPISODE

AT BOURNE’S GOLDING YOUNG AUCTION HOUSE

Auctioneer Colin Young was ready for his close-up recently as the BBC’s Bargain Hunt team filmed the latest episode of the show at the company’s Bourne-based auction house.

It was the fourth show to be filmed with the company, and featured the company’s director and Colin’s daughter Kirsty. The programme was also filmed at the nearby Delaine Bus Museum, and the first of the four programmes will air as Pride goes to press.

“This was the first Bargain Hunt for me since Covid and it was really nice to be involved in helping contestants again,” said Colin. n

£282,000 will be invested across Spalding town centre, South Holland District Council has announced. The funds will focus on improvements to public realm, planting and seating within the town centre. Arts Council funding will further enhance the town’s appearance.

LOCAL

In Brief STAMFORD

Community Fund grants to support Coronation celebrations

SPALDING

£282k

SKDC has slotted in an extra round of its Community Fund grants scheme to help communities celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III. The Coronation Events Scheme is a small pot of funding and grants will be limited to £2,000 per application on a first come, first served basis. Awards of up to £1,000 will be viewed most favourably. Charities and constituted community and voluntary groups can apply for funding for events such as street parties. Events must be within one week of Coronation Day on 6th May and early application is advised via the council’s website. n

BOURNE

WOODHALL

EAST LINDSEY

Chestnut Homes £7,500 for Charity

HOUSEBUILDER’S RAFFLE DONATIONS SPLIT BETWEEN RNLI AND ST BARNABAS...

Lincolnshire housebuilder, Chestnut Homes, has raised £7,460 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and St Barnabas Hospice.

The funds were raised through the team’s annual raffle which is now in its 20th year and had a total of 55 prizes donated by partner companies and contractors –the highest number to date.

Prizes donated included a four-ball golf day from the 59 Club, a £100 voucher for Lincolnshire eatery The George, Beats studio buds earphones, a 43-inch LG TV, a Fortnum and Mason hamper, plus a variety of wines, champagne and vouchers.

Olivia Stephenson, marketing manager, at Chestnut Homes said: “The RNLI and St Barnabas Hospice were our chosen charities this year.”

LOCAL NEWS In Brief GRIMSBY MP ‘GRACEFULLY DECLINES’ CLOTHING OPTIONAL EVENT

Great Grimsby MP Lia Nici said she would ‘gracefully decline’ a clothing optional invite organised by Naked Lincolnshire to view a new exhibition of Peter Forster’s For the Entertainment of Cats exhibition at the town’s Turntable Gallery on Victoria Street, which runs until 23rd March. n

“We are also partners of St Barnabas’ HeArt Trial, which places beautifully designed heart sculptures across Lincolnshire to bring awareness to the hospice and

how it supports the families of Lincolnshire. We will have two dedicated painted hearts along the trail in Boston and Lincoln.”

n See www.chestnuthomes.co.uk.

AVisit to Abbey Road...

UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN MUSIC PRODUCTION STUDENTS ENJOY TRIP TO ICONIC MUSIC STUDIOS

A group of second year Sound & Music

Production students from the University of Lincoln were thrilled to step foot into the iconic Abbey Road Studios, which have given life to some of the most iconic albums from musicians like The Beatles, Adele, Oasis and Kate Bush.

The students spent two days with industry professionals learning more about music production techniques and mixing. One student, Niamh, said: “Knowing we were in a studio that some of the greatest bands and musicians have recorded in, felt like an experience like none other!” n

LINCOLN

LINCOLNSHIRE

• Superb Luxury Executive 5 Bedroomed House in Desirable Residential Location Close to Fantastic Leisure Amenities

• Open Plan Poggenpohl Kitchen Living Area, 4 Reception Rooms, Cinema Room

• Oak Fitted Office, Under Floor Heating, Triple Garage Incorporating Gymnasium

• Paved Parking Area with Private Rear Gardens with BBQ Area, Spa Pool, Garden Office

• High Specification Contemporary Detached House

• Attractive 4/5 Bedroomed House and Commercial Premises Set in 3.6 Acres with Swimming Pool

• Suitable for Working From Home or Variety of Different Businesses

• Over 7,000sqft of Retail Showrooms, Workshops and Stores

• Horticultural and Garden Machinery Business Available Separately

• Spacious and Well Appointed Five Bedroomed Detached House in 3.22 Acres

• Unique Opportunity to Acquire a Superb Modern Dwelling

• 4 Reception Rooms, Large Modern Fitted Kitchen Diner, Separate Utility Room

• 5 Bedrooms, 2 En-Suites, Integral Double Garage, Mature Gardens, Paddocks and Pond

WELLNESS for SPRING

Health and well-being go hand-in-hand this month as we visit a few of the best venues for a spring reset of your body and mind with nutritionists, therapists and spas...

Words: Rob Davis.

Mayu: Nutrition & Wellness

HAVING SPENT 17 years working in private service for ultra high net worth individuals, nutritionist and yoga advocate Pamela and chef Kieron have curated their unique wellness experiences, which they now run from North Norfolk.

“We’ve been creating discreet, calming, luxurious environments for ultra-high net worth clients for more than 17 years and will work with your timetable to provide an unrivalled experience for you, your family and guests.”

Mayu – a Japanese expression meaning to take wings and fly – can offer Bespoke Retreats at your Norfolk home or holiday home or residential retreats throughout the year at various locations.

“Together, Kieron and I produce nutritionally balanced meals including breakfast, a two-course lunch and three-course dinner, designed by a qualified nutritionist and cooked from hand-selected local produce by our private chef.”

“After your initial enquiry we’ll arrange a telephone call with you so we can fully understand your requirements and schedule. All of our retreats are tailored to your needs and preferences, so once we have liaised with our preferred practitioners, we send a provisional timetable and menus for our guests’ consideration.”

“We can organise yoga, pilates, ballet fitness, meditation and sound bathing. We also offer breathing classes and cold water exposure, including a bracing ocean dip, all fitting seamlessly into a retreat schedule tailored entirely for you. Facials, massages and manicures using some of Norfolk’s most sought-after therapists can also be arranged. Our retreats can also be tailored to pinpoint specific health issues, from weight loss to menopause, pregnancy, low energy or a detox to ensure you benefit from a truly unique experience.” n

A Mayu Retreats experience combines sciencebased knowledge of nutrition and wellness with thoughtful, flawless and generous hospitality...

THE DETAILS

Mayu Retreats, North Norfolk

History: Set up in 2021 by Pamela and Kieron Taylor, whose 17-year career in private service for ultra high net worth individuals have seen the two providing hospitality for clients from St Tropez to New Zealand to North Norfolk.

The Retreats: Day retreats from around £150/person including two classes and nutritionally balanced meals. Two/three day retreats from £595/person tailored to support your physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.

Find Out More: 01485 572 334 or 07929 061 351, or see www.mayuretreats.co.uk. n

Ragdale Hall: A Luxury Spa

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023, Leicestershire’s Ragdale Hall offers unsurpassed luxury and relaxation...

TUCKED AWAY in the beautiful Leicestershire countryside and celebrating ‘50 Golden Years’ in June, award-winning Ragdale Hall Spa offers a variety of residential breaks, spa days and evening escapes, and the best in modern treatments and relaxation. For decades they have been turning your time into you-time, as they believe time is the most precious gift we can give.

Experience a world of warmth in their Thermal Spa with 11 heat and water experiences enabling you to indulge in every sense. Six unique pools including an outdoor waterfall lagoon, a luxuriously heated Rooftop Infinity Pool featuring ‘Leicestershire’s best view’ and a magical underlit cavern Candle Pool to allow your worries to simply float away.

Refine your workout routine in Heart + Soul Fitness, take the weight off your feet in one of the spa’s many relaxation lounges and indulge in sublime delicacies at mealtimes from a team of experienced chefs.

Where time stands still, you’ll even find an hour or two to treat yourself to a treatment from their extensive menu, performed by one of their 130 expertly trained beauty therapists.

Every break at Ragdale Hall Spa has been designed with ultimate relaxation in mind and includes breakfast, a three-course lunch and dinner, at least one nurturing treatment and full access to all facilities. So, however you choose to relax you will leave Ragdale Hall Spa feeling replenished and recharged. n

Facilities: Thermal spa with 11 heat and water experiences including Outdoor Waterfall Pool, Volcanic Salt Room, Rose Sauna and Scented Room. Rooftop Infinity Pool, exercise pool, steam rooms and saunariums. State-ofthe-art gym and fitness studios.

Treatments: 50 treatment rooms offering traditional and holistic therapies, Beauty Express area for shorter treatments,e.g. hand or foot massage treatments. Massage from £51 and facials from £60.

Food, Drink, Accommodation: 3 bars including a cocktail bar and 2 restaurant offerings; overnight spa breaks with 93 bedrooms.

Find Out More: Ragdale Hall Spa, Melton Mowbray LE14 3PB, call 01664 434831, www.ragdalehall.co.uk. n

Homefield Grange

IF YOU NEED to relax an overwhelmed mind, kick start better ways of eating, or get some inspiration for weight loss, Homefield Grange is the answer to your prayers. This boutique wellness venue is nestled in 23 acres of Northamptonshire countryside. Residential only, this converted farmhouse retreat offers five choices of retreats to help you look and feel better.

Run by full-time professionals, including Naturopaths, Nutritionists and Wellness Coaches, here you will find the time and space to focus on your own health. Whichever residential package you choose, all activities are optional and each programme includes food, juices and drinks designed to press the reset button for a healthier, happier and more vibrant you.

The venue boosts a stunning wellness spa including a salt steam chamber, infra red beds, magnetic loungers, an infinity hydropool, cold water plunge, herbal sauna, aromatherapy

showers and also an ice fountain. Six treatment rooms provide a relaxing space for guests. There are many spa ritual treatments on offer ranging from Rasul Mud Therapy, Vitamin Infusions, Massage, Hammam, facials, body wraps and Dietary Intolerance Testing. Bedroom accommodation is cosy and welcoming, accepting only 20 guests per week ensures that your stay will feel personal and unhurried.

Guest love the varied programme of events that run each day during the programme, from the food demonstrations, health talks, nordic walking, yoga and meditation. Be as busy or as relaxed as you feel is right for you.

The venue is overseen by the caring and passionate eye of Naturopathic Practitioner Suzanne Peck who has been running the programmes since 2005. Suzanne says, “It is so motivational to see how different our guests can look and feel in just a few days, with nourishing food, relaxing therapies, a bit of gentle exercise and some rest and relaxation away from the demands of life. We are here for people who just need to remember how important looking after their mind and body is if you wish to live a good life well.” n

Find inspiration, motivation and relaxation at Homefield Grange...

THE DETAILS

Homefield Grange, Rushton

Approach: The UK’s only exclusive residential health & wellness retreat specialising in fully inclusive weight loss, detox and stress reducing programmes that will change how you look, think and feel.

Facilities: Wellness spa made from natural stone, slate and cedar wood Awaiting you is a herbal sauna, infinity hydro pool, salt steam room, infra-red benches, deep relax water beds, magnetic loungers, aroma showers, ice trough and Kneipp water therapy. Full gym and fitness suite.

Treatments: Six treatment rooms deliver bespoke therapies from an extensive wellness treatment menu designed to detox, relax, slim, tone, pamper, cleanse and renew.

Courses: Weekend Detox from £699; Five Day Weight Loss or Detox from £2,074.

Find Out More: Homefield Grange, Manor Road, Rushton Northampton NN14 1RH. Call 01536 712 219 or see homefieldgrangeretreat.co.uk. n

Woolfox: A Place to Escape & Unwind...

Woolfox Lifestyle Members Club is now open, and if you haven’t visited – you better get in there quick as their membership is limited!

WOOLFOX, on the Great North Road just a few miles from Ford is a brand new, exclusive private space for individuals, couples, or families. Members may enjoy full use of the facilities and classes seven days a week.

The recently refurbished farm buildings have taken on a new lease of life. As you wander down the beautiful, glazed walkway, through the sleek and cosy changing rooms you are met with a breath-taking first view of the 20 metre indoor swimming pool.

The pool, Relaxation Room and gorgeous cedar wood sauna all overlook the rural Rutland landscape and 18 hole golf course. You really are struck with an overwhelming sense of relaxation and calm from the moment you arrive.

Woolfox Gym and Studio are not your usual work-out space and host a growing Studio Timetable with classes such as Poolside Hot Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Sound Healing, Dance, Outdoor Fitness, Gym Circuit training and more.

A number of luxury second homes are also soon to be built as part of Woolfox Residence and Stay Development. Owners will have an option of bespoke builds which will comprise of eco and open plan living. This will be a lifestyle opportunity for those searching for a luxury second home. Woolfox allows its members to rediscover a sense of luxury and leisure in the heart of Rutland. n

THE DETAILS

Woolfox Lifestyle Members Club

Facilities: Newly created gym and studio. Yoga, pilates and wellness classes. Indoor 20-metre swimming pool with poolside sauna and relaxation room.

Food & Drink: Fika, a modern brunch spot serving simple food with a punch is open to the public at Woolfox, offering a variety of hearty, healthy options, focusing on brilliant brunches and vibrant lunches to set you up for the day.

Find Out More: Woolfox, Great North Road, Stamford PE9 4AQ. Call 01780 460 330 see www.woolfox.uk or email hello@woolfox.uk. n

Reflexology: Wellbeing from toe to head...

REFLEXOLOGY is a non-invasive complementary therapy that involves applying pressure to specific points on the feet, hands, and ears to stimulate the body's natural healing process. It is based on the principle that these points, known as reflexes, correspond to different parts of the body, and that by stimulating them, a reflexologist can improve the functioning of the related organs and systems.

Reflexology is typically used to promote relaxation, relieve stress, and alleviate a wide range of health conditions, including headaches, back pain, digestive issues, and hormonal imbalances. During a reflexology session, a trained practitioner will use their hands to apply pressure to the reflex points on the client's feet, hands, or ears. The pressure applied can range from gentle to firm,

depending on the individual’s needs and preferences. Clients typically experience a deep sense of relaxation during the session, and many report feeling rejuvenated and refreshed afterwards. n

Find Out More: Reflexology practitioners in Lincolnshire include Helen Nagle and Deb Stafford-Yates, based in Horncastle and Lincoln, call 07872 040 903 or 07786 577 736 or see www.reflexologylincolnshire.co.uk.

Reiki: Healing with universal energy...

REIKI is a holistic healing technique that originated in Japan. It involves the use of the practitioner’s hands to channel energy and promote emotional, and spiritual well-being. The recipient lies down or sits comfortably while the practitioner places their hands on or near their body, allowing the energy to flow.

Reiki is believed to reduce stress, alleviate pain, and enhance the body’s natural healing abilities. n

Acupuncture...

Alternative Therapies

Complementary and alternative treatments fall outside of mainstream healthcare. These may include acupuncture, homoeopathy, or meditation, and should always be pursued following conventional medical advice.

ACUPUNCTURE involves inserting thin needles into specific points on the body. It’s believed that these needles stimulate the body’s natural healing abilities and the practice is used to treat a variety of conditions, including pain, nausea, and anxiety, among others. n

Find Out More: Acupuncture and Cupping is offered at the Chinese Acupuncture Clinic in Lincoln, call 01522 804873 or see www.chineseacupunctureclinic.co.uk

Hypnotherapy...

HYPNOTHERAPY is very effective for circumstances like phobias, panic attacks and anxiety, IBS, confidence, weight loss and helping people to stop smoking. It has a huge clinical evidence base behind it, and is used more often than any other alternative therapy. n

Find Out More: Hypnotherapy Lincolnshire has clinics in Woodhall Spa and Lincoln, see www.hypnotherapylincolnshire.co.uk.

Find Out More: Chris Raine is a Reiki Master based in Sleaford, see www.chris-raine.com, whilst Born Again Reiki & Massage is based in Bracebridge Heath, see www.bornagainmassage.co.uk.

Different flavours of Yoga...

YOGA is a practice that combines physical postures, breathing techniques, and meditation to promote physical and mental wellbeing. There are many different types of yoga, each with its own unique approach and focus. One of the most popular types of yoga is Hatha yoga, which emphasizes physical postures and breathing exercises. Ashtanga yoga, on the other hand, is a more rigorous practice that involves a set sequence of postures performed in a flowing manner.

Iyengar yoga is a form of Hatha yoga that emphasizes proper alignment and the use of props such as blocks and straps. Kundalini yoga focuses on awakening the spiritual energy at the base of the spine through meditation, chanting, and physical postures.

Bikram yoga, also known as hot yoga, is a style of yoga practiced in a heated room. It involves a set sequence of 26 postures and two breathing exercises. There are also less well-known forms of yoga, such as Jivamukti yoga, which incorporates spiritual teachings, and Yin yoga, which focuses on holding poses for an extended period of time to improve flexibility and circulation. No matter which type of yoga you choose to practice, the benefits are numerous, including improved strength, flexibility, balance, and mental clarity. n

Find Out More: Founded in 1967, The British Wheel of Yoga is the official representative for the activity and is based in Sleaford. To find a class near you, call 01529 306851 or see www.bwy.org.uk.

What’s On...

LINCOLN

SUNDAY 16th APRIL

COUNTRYSIDE LINCS

Countryside Lincs is returning once more to the Lincolnshire Showground!

Explore the nine different zones and join in with family friendly and farming activities at Countryside Lincs in April. Families can join the fun activities in the nine different zones across Lincolnshire’s largest indoor and outdoor exhibition centre.

Countryside Lincs Zones include the Explore it Zone, Make it Zone, Sports Zone, Food Zone, Farmyard Zone, Countryside & Environment Zone, The Tractor Zone, Heritage Zone and Shopping Zone too.

n From 10am, £10.75/adults, £6.45/child, Lincolnshire Showground LN2 2NA.

Enjoy a Night at the Opera

LONDON CONCERTANTE PRESENTS A CAPTIVATING EVENING AT THE OPERA WITHIN THE NAVE OF LINCOLN CATHEDRAL...

LINCOLN

SATURDAY 15th APRIL

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

London Concertante present a captivating evening at the opera with various works of the finest opera arias and overtures, including works by Puccini, Verdi, Rossini and Mozart.

All from the finest operas such as Madame Butterfly, Turandot, Tosca, The Barber of Seville, and so many more.

With some of the countries greatest opera singers, this concert is not to missed.

n Lincoln Cathedral, from 7.30pm, tickets from £21.08, call 01522 561600, www.lincolncathedral.com.

SCUNTHORPE

SATURDAY 1st APRIL JURASSIC

EARTH

Prepare to go on a jurassic adventure! Meet intrepid explorers, fascinating professors and the bravest of rangers as they take you on a journey through jurassic earth, introducing their herd of the most incredible dinosaur species!

n From 12noon and 3pm, Baths Hall, DN15 7RG, from £24, call 01724 296296 or see www.scunthorpetheatres.co.uk.

GRIMSBY

TUESDAY 18th APRIL

THE MAGICAL MUSIC OF HARRY POTTER – LIVE IN CONCERT

A one-of-a-kind film and music experience, The Magical Music of Harry Potter – Live in Concert, with a special Weasley guest. The concert features the best music from the films and the play with the London Philharmonic and Symphonic Film Orchestra. Original actors, star soloists, a choir, and symphony orchestra will bring the magic of Harry Potter to life.

n From 7.30pm, tickets from £39, Grimsby Auditorium, DN31 2BH, 0300 300 0035, www.grimsbyauditorium.org.uk.

SCUNTHORPE

18th MARCH - 27th MAY

ENTWINED: PLANTS IN CONTEMPORARY PAINTING

Major exhibition featuring some of the UK’s leading painters at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe. n 2021visualartscentre.co.uk.

LINCOLN

SUNDAY 16th APRIL

PAUL YOUNG:

BEHIND THE LENS

He goes away, but every time he takes a piece of us with him, 1980s heart-throb Paul Young returns with classic hits like Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home), Every Time You Go Away and Love of the Common People as well as his contemporary hits from his tex-mex band, Los

Pacaminos. Now, on the 40th anniversary of No Parlez, he’s releasing a remarkable new record and publishing his extraordinary memoir; both called Behind The Lens.

He’s touring the UK, too, where he’ll meet fans, sing hits, and tell stories about his incredible career. It’s time to revel in the classic hits!

n From 6.30pm, £32/adults, New Theatre Royal, Lincoln LN2 1JJ, 01522 519999.

Easter at Belvoir Castle

ENJOY THE VALE OF BELVOIR’S REGENCY CASTLE WITH THE WHOLE FAMILY THIS MONTH...

BOSTON

TUESDAY 18th -

SATURDAY 22nd APRIL MY FAIR LADYBOSTON OPERATIC SOCIETY

A glorious production of Lerner and Loewe’s world famous musical features the much-loved classic songs I Could Have Danced All Night, Get Me to the Church on Time, Wouldn’t It Be Loverly, On the Street Where You Live, The Rain in Spain, I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face, and many more.

If you want to make your evening extra special, a Centenary Gala performance on Saturday 22nd April at 7.30pm, will include Champagne and canapés.

n Blackfriars Arts Centre, Boston, PE21 6HP. £14/adults, 01205 363108, www.blackfriarsartscentre.co.uk.

GRANTHAM

SATURDAY 1st APRILMONDAY 10th APRIL EASTER AT BELVOIR CASTLE

Bring the whole family along for an adventure through our beautiful formal gardens on a quest to find the Easter bunny and friends.

Set your little one’s imagination soaring as you solve puzzles and work your way through the stunning Belvoir Castle landscape.

Other highlights at Belvoir Castle include the newly opened Adventure Playground is inspired by the iconic architecture of Belvoir

Send your press releases and events to editor@pridemagazines.co.uk

LINCOLN

SUNDAY 16thAPRIL CITY OF LINCOLN 10k

The City of Lincoln 10K is one of the biggest and best-loved running events in the North.

Whether you’re a seasoned athlete chasing a new PB, a charity runner there to fundraise for an important cause, or you’re just getting active and trying something new, you're certain to love this fast and flat course.

Rain or shine, you’re sure to have cheering crowds supporting you from the sidelines! You’ll enjoy taking in Lincoln's most iconic sights, including the Roman Walls, Lincoln Cathedral, and the stunning gardens around the city. n Taking place in Uphill Lincoln, see www.runforall.com.

Estate and its past and present explorers. Altogether the playground covers four acres and is a safe space for imaginations to run free! Featuring a giant timber castle, along with a ship and towers, it is perfect for children and teenagers of all ages to explore!

Opposite Belvoir Castle itself is the Engine Yard retail village with nine luxury retailers, plus The Fuel Tank café and The Balloon Bar.

Other highlights for spring/summer 2023 include a Coronation Weekend special, Steampunk event and outdoor cinema.

n See www.belvoircastle.com.

Castle, Park & Gardens

Lincolnshire’s best kept secret

3000 acres of parkland, gardens, woodland and lake walks, gift shop and an adventure playground!

A remarkable collection of art awaits you within the Castle, preserved inside lavishly decorated state rooms. Bring the children during the Easter holidays and enjoy a bunny hunt around the Gardens, then visit our Storyteller and burn off some energy in the Adventure Playground!

Buy a Season Ticket for 2023 to enjoy all Grimsthorpe has to offer.

OPEN APRIL TO SEPTEMBER

On a Roll The Family Business that’s

This month we’re meeting the North Hykeham family who are definitely on a roll with their business. Bruce Fine Papers was founded in 1994 and is one of just four or five remaining block printed wallpaper specialists anywhere in the UK, artisan in nature and specialising in keeping alive an age-old printing technique…

YOU’D NEVER KNOW IT WAS THERE. Bruce

Fine Papers is located in very narrow, very long premises just off one of North Hykeham’s residential streets. Its position in the market is equally niche, squeezed in among myriad much larger businesses in the wallpaper industry, but with a distinct and highly specialised approach to its work. How specialised? The only way the company can work is by fabricating its own equipment. At the centre of its operation are two platforms and two print tables which, along with almost every other bit of equipment, has been conceived, designed and made by Alex Bruce, father of the family, owner of the business and a ridiculously talented engineer too.

The firm’s equipment is totally unique, and doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. Nor are the firm’s processes replicated anywhere else – indeed many are trade secrets – such is the specialism of the firm and the reason it’s able to segue into an industry in such a unique way.

Not only does it occupy a commercial niche which other companies can’t accommodate – either technically or profitably – the approach of the Bruce family also allows them to work alongside or for some massive players in the industry, even bringing some very well-known brands’ heritage designs back into circulation.

The company’s output is artisanal in volume, because doing what it does and in the way it does it is – in technical parlance – a right bloody faff.

Block printing is the oldest common printing technique, utilising a positive impression of an image (a ‘block’), which then is then introduced to ink (or in this case, an individual colour within a wallpaper’s design), and pressed onto the paper… think about a stamp being pressed into ink, and then onto a page.

The technique presents a number of technical pitfalls all of which the Bruce family have managed to work with, if not overcome. Firstly, for each colour within a design, another block has to be overprinted and that means lining up or ‘registering’ the paper exactly to ensure one part of the design isn’t wonky or out of position.

Secondly the repeat of a pattern has to be imperceptible and the printing consistent with no variations in density or divergence of colour. Thirdly drying time has to be accommodated despite paper being porous, expanding and contracting upon exposure to moisture and different temperatures.

Understandably given its tricky nature, block printing was superceded by screen printing for shorter run, more high-end jobs and from the 19th century, gravure, surface

Main: North Hykeham’s Bruce Fine Papers block printed this heritage design for Nottinghamshire’s Elizabethan Wollaton Hall.

and rotary printing techniques facilitated greater volume, in conjunction with technology from the industrial revolution. So if the process of block printing presents such a challenge, why not concede to another technique?

“There was still a demand for block printing because of its unique look and nature, so there was a lot of fakery and many pastiche papers, with new technology,” says Alex Bruce. “There was a definite gap in the market despite the supersession of the technology.” Ironically the technique of block printing for use on walls originated in China as a way of broadening the availability of wallcoverings beyond the very expensive commissioning of woven tapestry-style panels for walls. Instead, a design could be block printed rather than woven onto fabric (usually silk) and when the technique came to Europe, onto paper too.

One of the skills the company possesses then is the ability to recreate heritage wallpaper for properties under the custodianship of English Heritage or the National Trust. If a heritage property has a room with largely intact wallpaper, but a damaged panel, Bruce Fine Papers can replicate the design exactly as part of a restoration project. Otherwise, the firm can achieve the unique look of a screen-printed design exactly for small-volume, highly bespoke designs, working with some of the most high-end interior designers or for firms like Colefax & Fowler – a brand which can trace its history back to the 1930s – to recreate heritage designs which would otherwise be lost forever.

The firm has created bespoke wallpapers for Nottinghamshire’s Elizabethan Wollaton Hall, and has supplied no fewer than three wallpapers for Number 10 Downing Street; the company’s papers can be spotted in the background when Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have appeared in TV interviews.

Alex and Naomi Bruce head up the company, with Naomi’s brother Tom and the couple’s son Jake all working in the print shop. Ellie Bruce, meanwhile, has been working in the family business since the age of 15 and among other responsibilities like marketing she brings two very important skills to the company.

First is the ability to analyse an existing design and to recreate it exactly, bringing back to life a heritage design for a stately home, for example. Second is the ability to create a brand new design of her own, exclusive to the company. Bruce Fine Papers has already curated its own in-house range of designs, which are currently available only on special order, although the aim is to eventually offer some of its papers from stock.

Ellie creates each design on some thoroughly modern design software, with each layer of colour in the design able to be shown simultaneously – for a composited impression of the design – or isolated and printed individually, each layer yielding a single block. A really complicated design can comprise up to 12 blocks, so once it’s on the press, it’s dangerously possible to print the first 11 layers of a design, then make a mistake on the final one, writing off all of the previous hard work… happily that doesn’t happen these days, since the company is incredibly accurate and acutely aware of the pitfalls.

Top: Father and daughter Alex and Ellie Bruce. Opposite: Julie mixing the firm’s colours... by eye!

The firm’s 150gsm wood-pulp paper is sourced from Europe and comes into the studio on large reels which are cut down into more manageable rolls of about 5kg. Then a base colour is grounded – brushed on by hand – for a unique look and its very subtle texture. The paper is then cured and rolled up ready for the team to begin block printing the design, layer-by-layer, in whatever colour the design necessitated.

An incredible shout out at this point to Julie, who mixes every individual colour across all of the company’s designs – even in the reproduction of a heritage design for which a particular and exact colour match is required – by eye, ensuring no perceptible variation across batches. >>

Dearle Damask.

>> Colours are created from just white, plus red, blue and yellow pigments, with additional gold or silver powders for metallic elements.

Currently all papers are printed to order with a lead time of about 12-16 weeks. They’re hand-trimmed (using a secret method invented by Alex) then rolled and handpackaged in lovely traditional craft paper.

Having renovated their premises the firm is now creating a small studio to the front of the building where interior designers, private clients and heritage specialists can discuss a commission.

The family is aiming to have its studio complete by the end of the year and they eventually want to display a portfolio of

papers of which it will offer a small but thoughtfully curated range, each available from stock.

The firm has about 30 of its own designs across three collections – Contemporary, Heritage and Multi Colour – and because of the bespoke nature of the company and its processes, clients can specify any colour

of their choice. The price of a particular paper varies according to the complexity of the design (the number of blocks, for example) but is still priced akin to mass-produced papers despite each being quite a labour of love… not to mention a labour of time.

“It’s a more challenging way to work, but the technique and the look and feel of our papers is what gives our work its unique look, feel and character,” says Ellie.

“When you accept that something is more labour-intensive, there has to be a benefit –a strength to play to – and there’s certainly a benefit to a block printing technique. It’s been emulated before, but never with the same authenticity and character. We definitely use the process to best effect!” n

“It’s a more challenging way to work, but the technique and the look and feel of our papers is what gives our work its unique look, feel and character,” says Ellie.

Find Out More: Bruce Fine Papers is based in North Hykeham, for more information call 01522 705000 or see www.brucefinepapers.com.

Historic, Thriving & Growing GRANTHAM

Grantham is a town that has consistently reinvented itself over subsequent centuries. Here’s why we believe the town is as rightfully proud for its role in the present and future, as its past achievements!

Image: Thatcher’s statue, erected May 2022... not without controversy!

>> IT’S HOME to 45,000 people, as a parish it covers about 5,000 acres, and we can confidently – if a little predictably – point out that it has been home to some very famous people indeed. Grantham has yielded not just scientists and politicians but some interesting historical footnotes too.

The town is mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086, but its origins predate even the Roman presence in Britain, the town being located right on what later became known as the Great North Road. Grantham’s economy as a coaching inn route town wasn’t its only source of industry, with wool and leather also contributing to the town’s early affluence. In the 1600s the wool industry migrated to Yorkshire, although Grantham still prospered and was a handsome stone town.

It was also home to Sir Isaac Newton, a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, one-time MP for the University of Cambridge and socially awkward genius, educated at the King’s School before serving as president of the Royal Society.

Newton’s work on optics and gravity, plus his writings – not least Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), first published in 1687 – remain relevant event in the 21st century.

Grantham has a reputation for being the home of strong, independent women… like Edith Smith. Edith served as a nurse and midwife, then in the Women Police Volunteer service before being the first female police officer to be warranted –i.e.: given the power of arrest. She was commemorated in 2014 with a blue plaque in the town, and Grantham Museum adjacent to the town’s Guildhall Arts Centre curates a permanent exhibit recognising Edith’s role as a forebear of more than 50,000 women serving as police officers in England and Wales today. >>

Grantham has made many interesting contributions to British history, from the first WPC and Prime Minister to popular biscuits and broken land speed records!

>> Speaking of trailblazers… Grantham’s St Peter’s Hill has, since May last year, been home to a 3.2 metre bronze statue of Margaret Thatcher, born in the town in 1925. It’s fair to say that Douglas Jenning’s casting of Britain’s first Prime Minister, dressed in ceremonial robes and costing £300,000, wasn’t erected without controversy.

The statue was originally mooted for installation in London’s Parliament Square but instead it was offered to South Kesteven.

Originally, a £100,000 unveiling ceremony was planned but was frustrated by the presence of Covid and well-founded concerns about the likelihood of its vandalism. Sure enough just two hours after its installation the statue had eggs thrown at it, before being vandalised by red graffiti and perhaps most ignominiously of all, it was then subjected to a live performance of bagpipe music by a disgruntled protester.

It’s not a stretch to say that a number of Thatcher’s policies were unpopular, nor that her intractable political persona made her as many enemies as allies, but whatever your

opinion on her politics, it’s impossible to avoid acknowledgement that she laid the foundations for women to have a much greater influence in politics.

As Kelham Cooke, leader of SKDC remarked at the time of the statue’s unveiling: “Margaret Thatcher will always be a significant part of Grantham’s heritage.”

“It is, therefore, appropriate that she is commemorated by her home town, and that the debate that surrounds her legacy takes place here in Grantham. We must never hide from our history, and this memorial will be a talking point for generations to come... We hope that this memorial will encourage others to visit Grantham and to see where she lived and visit the exhibition of her life in Grantham Museum.”

Another historical footnote in Grantham’s history is the role that the nearby estate of Belton House played in Britain’s constitutional crisis of 1936. Third Earl Brownlow Peregrine Cust offered the estate to the government in the First World War as a training ground for the 11th (Northern) Machine Gun Corps. >>

Left: Aerial view of Grantham. Above: Isaac Newton’s apple tree.

“Whatever your opinion might be on Thatcher’s politics, it’s impossible to avoid acknowledgement that she laid the foundations for women to have a much greater influence in politics...”

>> During the Second World War, Belton also housed RAF Belton Park. Perhaps on the back of service to King and country and to the local area, Cust served as Mayor of Grantham, Lord Lieutenant and eventually as Equerry to King Edward VIII.

It’s believed that prior to the constitutional crisis, the King stayed with Peregrine Cust, 6th Baron Brownlow at Belton House and that the latter counselled the King through his eventual decision to abdicate in order to continue his relationship with Wallis Simpson. Cust also accompanied Wallis on her flight to France despite his reluctance to openly support the King’s decision to abdicate.

Lord Brownlow subsequently extricated himself from the former King’s circle and declined an invitation to the couple’s marriage ceremony in 1937. The Duke of Windsor’s relationship with Cust subsequently deteriorated, as did the condition of Belton House itself. In 1961 the 6th Baron embarked on a three-year

restoration project and the 7th Baron Brownlow attempted to open the stately home to the public with a new adventure playground and woodland, but to little success.

He transferred the estate into the custodianship of the National Trust in 1984 who took on 1,317 acres of parkland and £8m of contents like the estate’s collection of art and antiques.

In addition to Margaret Thatcher, the 20th century also saw the birth in Grantham of broadcaster Nicholas Parsons in 1929. Nicholas was the host of Sale of the Century, and a long-running presenter of Radio 4’s Just a Minute but had myriad other credits to his name like appearances in Dr Who and Have I Got News for You.

A little later in Grantham, in 1938, another historic event occurred… but blink and you’d miss it. On 3rd July Joe Duddington climbed aboard The Mallard steam train, and just outside Grantham, achieved a new world record of 126mph, a record for the

top speed of a steam locomotive which still stands today.

Also appearing in the 20th century was a bypass of the town in 1960, the Isaac Newton Shopping Centre in 1984 and The George Shopping Centre in 1991. Behind the scenes of one local shop

specifically number 28 London Road – is the story of Alastair Hawken’s efforts to resurrect production of Grantham gingerbread.

The biscuit was first created by accident in 1740 by William Eggleston, who used the wrong ingredients in the process of creating Grantham Whetstone biscuits. Soon William was championing the enormously popular biscuit and it remained an invention enjoyed by children in the town until the 1970s when many independent bakeries closed down.

Alastair resurrected the biscuit in 2009 and has created an enormously successful brand which proves that when it comes to establishing itself in history, Grantham really does take the biscuit. n

The Story of Lincolnshire’s ELEANOR CROSSES

Following her death in Lincoln, Eleanor of Castile, beloved wife of Edward I decreed that 12 monuments would be erected close to the destinations at which the late Queen’s funeral cortège stopped overnight, on its way to Westminster, including crosses in Lincoln, Grantham and Stamford...

MEN are not the most romantic creatures, as a rule, and in particular, monarchs and other men in power have throughout history demonstrated more than a casual disregard for all those around them… even their wives; Henry VIII, we’re looking at you.

At best, there was an element of succession in mind when many marriages between royals throughout history were considered. Like many others, the ultimately happy marriage of Spanish princess Eleanor of Castile to England’s future monarch, in fact began as a political deal to regain the Duchy of Gascony from King Philip IV of France.

Philip was an ally of the Scots, who also found themselves at war with Edward, claiming suzerainty North of the border, as the king also fought off a rebellion from the Welsh as part of the Plantagenet conquest of the country.

Edward was a hard-working king, recognised for formally establishing the role of Parliament in the setting of taxes and reforming law utilising the new legal device of the statute which his father Henry III had created. Henry’s original set of laws were given assent in 1267 and comprised 29 legal chapters, of which four are still in use today. Edward codified many laws into the Statues of Westminster in 1275 and 1285.

The darker side of Edward’s reign were his constant scrapes with Scotland and Wales, and his Edict of Expulsion in 1290, which was not overturned until 1657 by Cromwell. The king was physically robust, standing six feet and two inches, which gained him the

nickname Longshanks. Though known to be pious, he was equally renowned for his Machiavellian mind and fierce temper… perhaps ideal qualities for a medieval king who needed to show strength.

Eleanor, meanwhile, was born in Burgos in 1241, daughter of Ferdinand III of Castile and Joan, Countess of Ponthieu. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Eleanor of England, the daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England.

The future queen was originally due to marry Theobald II of Navarre, the territory

Eleanor was well-educated, literate for the age, and had a keen eye for the aesthetic, commissioning tapestries, tableware and even designing the palace’s royal gardens...

between Spain and France in the Western Pyrenees north of La Rioja. Eleanor’s half-brother Alfonso X of Castile revisited another ancestral claim to the Duchy of Gascony though, so after negotiation, this was to be a territorial concession to Henry III instead, with the marriage of Eleanor and Edward thrown into the bargain.

The two married at a monastery in Burgos in November 1254, despite Eleanor being just 13 years of age (some sources suggest even younger) and Edward being 15.

Words: Rob Davis.

Whilst the union had a less than romantic pretence, the marriage thrived and was one of the few close medieval marriages… and if you need any further evidence of their closeness, Eleanor and Edward had four sons and 11 daughters, including Edward II. Unlike other kings, it’s thought that Edward I remained faithful to his wife, eschewing the usual retinue of mistresses. And, instead of leaving her behind, Edward and Eleanor travelled together, for instance during Edward’s ninth crusade to the Holy Land.

Eleanor was also a good businesswoman, with her own fortune as the Countess of Ponthieu which she subsequently used to make land investments and secure business interests buying and taking over debt from usuries which she would then write off in return for an acquisition of land instead.

Eleanor also supported Edward through the Second Barons’ War, remaining in the country and retaining control of Windsor Castle until Royalist forces were able to free Edward I from his capture during the Battle of Evesham in 1265.

It’s said that after this show of strength, England saw the Queen playing a greater part in ruling the country alongside her husband, although it’s unclear how formal or informal her influence was.

Eleanor was well-educated, very literate for the age, and had a keen eye for the aesthetic, commissioning tapestries, tableware and even turning her hand to designing gardens. In total the couple’s marriage spanned 36

years – not bad as a medieval lifespan, let alone a medieval marriage, especially a royal one.

However, Eleanor’s health suffered in her later years, possible from a Malarial haemorrhage or cardiac problems, and at the point of her death she was arranging marriages for at least two of her daughters (Margaret and Joan), presumably aware that she was nearing the end of her life.

Eleanor was touring her properties in 1290 and reached the village of Harby, just seven miles from Lincoln, when she was forced to stop and lodge at the home of nobleman Richard de Weston. There she received the last rites and died on 28th November with Edward at her bedside.

It was usual for the embalming process to involve the separation of the heart and the rest of the body for separate burial.

Unusually, Eleanor’s viscera were also separated from the rest of her and these were buried in Lincoln Cathedral. The rest of the queen was taken on the 180-mile journey to London, a trip which took twelve days. Her heart would be buried at Dominicans’ Priory at Blackfriars whilst her body was buried in Westminster Abbey.

To mark the journey, Edward ordered that 12 monuments would be erected at the destinations at which the funeral cortège stopped overnight, as recorded in the executors’ account rolls. Upon each would be inscribed orate pro anima or ‘pray for the soul.’ The crosses were erected from 1291 to 1294, and were each made of caen stone or a similar limestone.

The first stone was situated in Lincoln, at a cost of £120 and was designed by Richard of Stow with just a remaining fragment now in the grounds of Lincoln Cathedral.

Grantham’s stone was located in the town’s High Street, pulled down during the civil war and replaced in 2005 by a modern relief stone plaque. The 18th century antiquary William Stukeley claimed to have kept a piece in his garden, on the town’s Barn Hill, for a number of years.

The cortège stopped in Stamford on 5th December 1290 and perhaps the following day too. Stamford’s Eleanor Cross was one of the final to be completed and though its exact location is in dispute, it’s generally accepted that it was located close to the Great North Road.

By 1650 the monument was all but ruined, and 50 years later the monument itself was almost certainly destroyed, though William Stukeley succeeded in excavating its hexagonal base and a few stones from its superstructure, enabling him to sketch his best impression of what the monument would have looked like – although he did take the next stone, situated at Geddington, as an influence for its appearance too.

One fragment from Stamford’s stone recovered by Stukeley was judged to be authentic in 1993. A Purbeck marble rose was rediscovered some years earlier and was taken to Stamford Museum. It is now kept in the town’s library.

In 2000, the Stamford Gateway project arose from public consultation, and would take five years to complete. The scheme would cost £1.3m and would pedestrianise Red Lion Square and Sheep Market, but would also accommodate a centrepiece to celebrate the town’s history.

A national competition was launched seeking suggestions for a piece of civic art which would give the project something significant at his heart, and of the 37 entries received, the ten-strong judging panel was intrigued by Wolfgang Buttress’s Ketton stone and bronze monument, a more modern structure reinterpreting the original cross.

It measures 1.2m at the base, and comprises four metres of stone and seven metres of bronze casting. Each bronze stud is engraved with the words of 150 haiku poems about love written by local youngsters with each of the words randomly mixed up to ‘spread’ the words of love around. The structure was created at the Atelier 109 workshop in Etton and was installed in September 2009.

The next Eleanor Cross is one of the best preserved of the three remaining ones. Located in Geddington, it’s taller, slimmer and triangular. Hardingstone in Northampton’s cross was subject to restoration work in 2019, whilst crosses in Stratford, Woburn and Dunstable were demolished by 1643, and St Albans’ cross was demolished in 1874, replaced by a drinking fountain.

Waltham Cross is still standing but its statue depicting Eleanor is a replica, with the original image of Eleanor now stored in London’s V&A Museum.

On 14th December, Eleanor’s cortège reached London, where the queen would be honoured by two crosses, firstly at Westcheap (now known as Cheapside) where her heart was buried.

Stone from the Westcheap cross had an irritating habit of falling off and clobbering people, whilst its Catholic iconography caused resentment during the Civil War, and so in May 1643 it was demolished in an iconoclastic display which offended those with anti-monarchy politics.

The cortège reached Charing Cross on 16th December where the final cross would be situated just north of Westminster Abbey, on the site of what is now Whitehall.

It too met its fate in 1647 and Charles I, in the reformation era, ordered the erection of an equestrian statue in its place. Nevertheless the name of Charing Cross – a reference to what was there before – remains.

A new Eleanor Cross was created in 1865 in the gothic style by George Gilbert Scott and is situated just a couple of hundred yards from where the original would have been positioned.

As royal marriages go, few were as long or successful as the marital bliss enjoyed by Eleanor and Edward. Then again, few romantic gestures match a 180-mile long series of monuments to honour your wife.

But Edward I was certainly no ordinary romantic, the couple’s marriage, unlike many others of the time… and Eleanor herself? She was certainly no ordinary queen. n

Opposite: Stamford’s Eleanor Cross.

Seared seabass fillet on baby spinach, confit onions & a saffron cream sauce £11.

A Brand New Dining Experience in Lincoln LATE at the LAWN

A familiar venue, but a brand new experience. This month you’d have to be mad not to try Late at the Lawn, where the team who have taken over the asylum are definitely not lunatics!

Words & Images: Rob Davis.

IT WAS THE COMPOSER Oscar Levant who once remarked that the line between genius and insanity was a thin one. Historically, The Lawn housed the latter, but now it’s been taken over by the former, and their new evening dining experience is, indeed, a work of pure, undiluted genius.

For those still somehow unfamiliar with one of the most famous names in Lincoln, Stokes Coffee was established in 1892 by Robert William Stokes, great grandfather of the company’s current custodian, Nick Peel.

The Stokes family began life as grocers and Robert capitalised on a trend for good tea and coffee by roasting his own coffee, founding the Coffee Palace, in what is now Marks & Spencer. The retailer wanted a store in the city, and eyed-up Robert’s building with envy, making him an offer that he couldn’t refuse, so Robert moved next door and founded Stokes’ High Bridge Café.

After opening a second premises at The Collection museum in 2011, in 2017 Stokes purchased The Lawn, a Grade II listed Greek revival building, home to Lincoln’s ‘Hospital for Mental and Nervous Diseases’ from 1921 to 1985, when the consideration given to – and the treatment of – mental health was much more primitive and rather less sympathetic.

The business relocated its coffee roastery to The Lawn in order to satisfy the supply of over 500 cafés and restaurants in Lincolnshire alone, and also opened its own 60-seater café on the site too.

It’s become a go-to daytime destination for coffee, brunch and daytime dining ever since, but has traditionally closed its doors at 4pm... that is, until now.

A couple of months ago, with a brilliant team upon which they could capitalise, Stokes created a menu of good quality bistro dishes, adding the availability of cocktails, plus a bit of nice music and low lighting, creating a really nice atmosphere for evening dining.

We’ve tried it. We love it. Lincoln is packed with places to eat, and yet Stokes has managed to create a unique appeal to Late at The Lawn, designing a menu comprising worldwide culinary influences. >>

MEET THE CHEF

DAN

History: Raised in Doncaster, Dan arrived at The Lawn in late October 2022 and was immediately encouraged to discover a young, skilled and enthusiastic team all keen to make Late at the Lawn a success.

Food Heaven: Sweetbreads.

Food Hell: Liver. n

GREEN SOUS CHEF

Beef teriyaki, served in a baby gem lettuce cup with pickled vegetables & coriander, £11.50.

on the MENU

Let’s Get Started

Assorted local artisan breads with homemade compound butters, olive oil and balsamic glaze, £4.

Chickpea hummus & grilled pitta bread slices, £4.50.

The Main Event:

Small Plates

Seared seabass fillet on baby spinach, confit onions & a saffron cream sauce, £11.

Beef teriyaki, served in a baby gem lettuce cup with pickled vegetables & coriander, £11.50.

Chicken katsu, with panko bread crumbed chicken strips, served with sticky jasmine rice, £7.50.

Trio of sliders; mini beef, chicken & lamb burgers, £12.

Wild mushroom arancini balls with basil mayonnaise, £6.50.

Pan fried spinach and potato gnocchi, baby spinach, basil tomatoes, a parmesan crisp, £7.50.

And To Finish

Treacle, lemon and ginger tart, served with lemon clotted cream, £6.

Stokes coffee panna cotta with khalua drizzle, £5.

Cheese board a selection of local cheeses, served with plum bread and apple chutney, £8.50.

NB: This is a sample menu, and featured dishes are subject to availability and change.

Late at The Lawn brings to Lincoln a great menu, following a small dishes concept, lots of personality and warmth, plus dishes that are delicious, nicely presented and generous in proportion...

>> The menu states that its main course dishes are small plates, but the jury’s out on that point to me. Portions are as substantial as a main course dish in my opinion, and this is definitely not a tapas format of dining where you’ll mix and match a few dishes.

That said if a few diners were ordering different options, there might be some scope for sharing each others’ dishes – as well you might, because each dish presented to us during our photoshoot was delicious, the sort of menu that makes me want to try a little bit of everything.

Currently Late at The Lawn is offered on Friday and Saturday evenings. In the cooler months the restaurant has 54 covers, but that could almost double in the summer as the restaurant’s terrace will be very popular

and the menu will suit additional diners outdoors with a nice relaxed feel.

The team say they’re not trying to emulate a fine dining experience but instead create a nighttime oasis with atmospheric music, lighting, exciting menus and professionally mixed cocktails.

The cosy, sophisticated setting, handcrafted cocktails and sumptuously designed dishes –created by a team led by former London chef, Rory – are receiving rave reviews, the team says, and we’re happy to underwrite that claim with our own experience.

One of the benefits of having such an established presence in the county is knowing exactly which suppliers will offer the best ingredients, and so Late at the Lawn sources its butchery from Pepperdines, plus veg from

Trio of sliders.

Arancini balls.

Boston, cheese from producers like Market Rasen’s Cote Hill and plum loaf for its cheese board from Modens. Navenby’s Welbournes provides the restaurant’s sourdough bread, and coffee after your meal comes from a very decent local supplier too...

Dining spaces are divided into the main restaurant and its Fish Section alcove, which is quite smart and helps to break up the space. To the back of the premises, the Viewing Gallery as its name suggests gives a good view into the roastery during daylight hours, although not in the evening.

Parquet flooring, Cole & Son’s Teatro wallpaper and well-considered lighting in this room all create a really sophisticated, intimate and comfortable space. Upstairs, too, there’s The Blue Room, a really nice

function suite which also hosts live events and weddings. At the front of house, Rizvaan Ashfaq was great and led a very lovely and attentive team.

There’s a lot of competition in Uphill Lincoln for Friday and Saturday night diners or those seeking a cocktail. The Lawn, too, is a short walk from Bailgate and Steep Hill. As such Late at The Lawn has to offer something unique and good in order to thrive. Is it unique? Yes. A great menu, small dishes concept, lots of personality and warmth and charm. Is it good? Oh heck yes. Each of our dishes was delicious, nicely presented and generous in proportion.

A couple of decades ago you’d have to be deemed insane to be taken off to The Lawn... but today, you’d be mad not to try it! n

DINING OUT AT... Late at the Lawn, by Stokes, Lincoln

The Pitch: “A new concept sees the popular Lawn Café transformed every Friday and Saturday evening into a nighttime oasis with incredible music, lighting, exciting menus and professionally mixed cocktails...”

Dining Times: Late at the Lawn Friday/Saturday evenings, 6pm-late. Café seven days from 8.30am (9pm Sunday) to 4pm.

Late at the Lawn, Union Road, Lincoln LN1 3BU. Call 01522 523 548 or see www.stokescoffee.com

Stokes coffee panna cotta with khalua drizzle, £5.

THE JOY of CAKE

Celebrating 50 years of producing mouthwatering cakes in 2023, The Original Cake Company, based in Lincoln, is gearing up for a busy spring, producing no fewer than 50,000 cakes every week...

“I’VE STILL GOT that baker’s sweet tooth,” confesses Simon Woodiwiss whose business, The Original Cake Company, is based in North Hykeham. Simon has got probably the best perk of any business owner, because it’s incumbent upon him to engage in regular – if informal – quality control checks.

This month, with both Mother’s Day then Easter approaching, there’s no better time to indulge your love of something sweet, or gift something delicious to somebody special. Happily, The Original Cake Company shares our love of a good quality, deep and well-appointed cake, one that’s handmade and hand-finished.

“I eat cake every day,” he says, and has to pause to reflect which among the company’s 100+ different products might be his favourite. After some consideration he settles on the firm’s lemon meringue and raspberry cake, which wouldn’t be too far from our choice, either.

The Original Cake Company is unique not least because otherwise the industry tends to have home bakers working on a domestic

scale and then factories producing enormous quantities of cakes for large wholesale customers. But generally, there’s very little in between those two extremes.

Somehow, and very much to its credit, The Original Cake Company has managed to scale up its production, but without compromising the quality of its cakes or its ability to innovate and produce delicious new flavours.

So if, like Simon, you’re quite partial to a slice of unadulterated joy, there’s really only one name in Lincolnshire to know.

Raised in Nottinghamshire, Simon has worked in everything from small family bakeries to large-scale bakehouses, both in the UK and overseas. He returned to Britain 14 years ago with the opportunity to invest in The Original Cake Company and took over the business a decade or so ago.

“It was at the beginning of Covid, which was a tricky time to take over a business but actually many more people were stuck at home and looked to purchase products –including cakes – online,” says Simon. >>

Words: Rob Davis.

>> “We already had really good products and a really good reputation, so we wanted to build on the name and ensure people would come to us and regard the brand as being synonymous with quality.”

The company is now turning over about £5m a year, and produces over 50,000 cakes a week. Wholesale customers include farm shops, garden centres, country estates like Sandringham, cafés (about 150 in Lincolnshire alone), plus hamper companies. Chances are if you receive a luxury hamper with a really good Christmas cake in it, that cake will have been produced by The Original Cake Company.

But as well as its wholesale customers, which make up about three quarters of the firm’s business, a significant slice – pun intended –of The Original Cake Company’s products are sold directly to the consumer, not least via the online shopping channel QVC, upon

which Simon has made a guest appearance, representing the brand.

Enjoy a slice of Quality

The company’s cakes are available to purchase online, or for collection from the company’s bakery in North Hykeham by special arrangement. To view the whole range, see www.original cake.co.uk.

Within the company’s ranges are about 20 different flavours of 10” cakes, each offering 14 generous portions, plus loaf cakes and selection of boxes of nine individual chocolate truffle, and fruit cakes plus brownie boxes.

The company also provides ready-to-decorate ‘nude’ cakes. These are individual tiers of chocolate, orange, vanilla, lemon or red velvet sponges in sizes from 6” to 12”.

If you’re keen to flex your cake-decorating abilities, but find your baking skills a bit hit and miss, or if you’ve a special occasion coming up and want to impress with a cake comprising several different tiers, perhaps in different flavours, the company can help you to produce a stunning showstopper… as to

whether you confess that the moist, flavoursome sponge underlying your creation is actually down to Simon’s team, well, we’ll leave that to your conscience.

In the case of the company’s large triple-layered cakes, though, there’s no doubting their provenance. Each one is baked in house and hand-finished by about 30 bakers. The process, Simon reckons, isn’t that different from how you’d bake a cake at home, just in somewhat larger batches. The same type of planetary mixer is used to produce a smooth cake batter, but in volumes of about 150kg, yielding up to 90 of the company’s triple-layered cakes.

Simon says he hasn’t – and won’t – give up the mixing bowl entirely for a pile of spreadsheets and still enjoys being on the shop floor when time permits. >>

as the two pioneer limited edition cakes with special flavours every month… spiced apple and cinnamon, or strawberry and white chocolate, for example.

Other inspiration for Jane’s products have included Kit Kats, Jammie Dodgers and Jaffa Cakes as well as ‘trending’ ingredients like Biscoff and Nutella. It’s a forever changing range, which begs the question of which cakes prove to be Simon’s best sellers.

“Coffee and walnut, salted caramel and carrot cake are the three most popular flavours, with Victoria sponge probably at number four. People tend to stick to a Victoria sponge when they’re baking at home, perhaps because they’re more familiar with the recipe, but when they’re in a café or ordering online, our customers definitely enjoy different flavours.”

says. “We’ve all had a cake which looks delicious but disappoints, so we’re always adamant that each of our products must surpass our customers’ expectations. I’m a baker, so I’d know instantly if any of our cakes could be better, and that really would feel like a let-down, so I’ll never let it happen.”

“We never scrimp on the quality of our ingredients since they’re fundamental to the taste, and if a cake needs chocolate shavings or a drizzle of caramel or hand-piped buttercream, we don’t spare the piping bag, because to do so would be to compromise not just the product itself, but the ritual.”

“A cake is a joy and a treat. It’s something that you can derive a huge amount of pleasure from. Making cakes is a passion to us, and so we feel quite a responsibility not to compromise and never to disappoint!” n

Find Out More: Many of The Original Cake Company’s products are available for national delivery, or for collection by special arrangement from the company’s North Hykeham premises. To view the company’s ranges for yourself see www.originalcake.co.uk or call 01522 694411.

In the KITCHEN

A traditional way of serving lamb, but with a herby twist from the oregano and a zesty one from the lemon. Serve with steamed green vegetables, and a Spanish red – perhaps a bottle of Tempranillo...

ROAST LEG OF SPRING LAMB with LEMON & OREGANO

Preparation Time: 10 minutes. Cooking Time: One and a half hours. Serves: 3-4.

Juice 2 lemons • 1 tbsp olive oil • 2 crushed cloves garlic • 2 tsp dried oregano

2kg Whole New Zealand Leg of Lamb • 1.5kg red-skinned potatoes, peeled and cut into large cubes • 500g gravy, warmed according to pack instructions

Mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and oregano. Place the lamb in a large roasting tin and make some incisions all over the leg using a small, sharp knife. Pour over the lemon mixture and leave to marinate, covered, in the fridge for 1-2 hours, if you have the time.

Preheat the oven to 200˚C, gas mark 6. Roast the lamb for 45 minutes then add the potatoes to the tin, turning to coat them in the juices.

Roast for a further 45 minutes until the lamb is nicely browned but the meat is still a little pink on the inside. Lift the lamb onto a board, cover with foil and leave to rest for 10-15 minutes. Drain any juice from the tin (add this to the gravy) and return the potatoes to the oven for a further 10-15 minutes until tender and golden brown.

Carve the lamb and serve with roast potatoes, gravy and some steamed green vegetables. Take the lamb out of the fridge and leave at room temperature for an hour before cooking to get the best roast, slightly pink in the middle. n

Thousands of recipes can be found at www.waitrose.com/recipes.

In the KITCHEN

Field-grown rhubarb is available from late April right through to September, and this delicious dessert will be one you’ll prepare as a family pudding all summer long...

RHUBARB & CUSTARD TART

Preparation time: 15 minutes. Cooking time: 45 minutes. Serves: Eight.

• 375g pack ready-rolled shortcrust pastry • 800g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 4-5cm pieces • 340g golden caster sugar

• 1 vanilla pod, split • 1 tbsp cornflour • 2 large eggs, beaten, plus 1 egg white, for washing • 1 x 300ml pot crème fraîche

Preheat the oven to gas 6, 200°C, fan 180°C. Roll out the pastry large enough to line a deep, 23cm round tart tin with a removable base. Trim the edges, then prick the base with a fork and chill for at least 30 mins. Meanwhile, arrange the rhubarb in a large ovenproof dish with 120g of the sugar and the split vanilla pod. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 20-25 mins, until the rhubarb is just tender but still holds its shape. Drain the liquid and set the rhubarb and vanilla pod aside.

Cover the tart base with a piece of nonstick baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice. Blind bake for 15 mins, then remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5 mins, until cooked but still pale. Immediately brush the base with egg white to seal.

Reduce the oven temperature to gas 3, 170°C, fan 150°C. Combine the remaining sugar and cornflour in a bowl and gradually whisk in the eggs and crème fraîche. Scrape out the vanilla seeds from the reserved pod and whisk in.

Arrange the drained rhubarb in the pastry case and pour over the custard mixture. Bake in the oven for 30 mins, or until just set in the middle. Allow to cool in the tin before serving in slices. n

Thousands of recipes can be found at www.waitrose.com/recipes.

Celebrating 10 Years of Warner Edwards talent...

Old Tom is a special 10th anniversary limited edition gin from the Leicestershire distillery Warner Edwards has a few final bottles remaining of this, its 10th anniversary magnum opus. The Old Tom was a gin recipe popular in 18th-century England, when the British government tried to stem the flow of the gin craze through prohibitive licenses and taxing. This drove the gin scene underground and here is where Old Tom was born. Bold and creamy juniper with angelica, fennel and nutmeg. n £45 / 70cl / 44% ABV, warnersdistillery.com.

The Wine Cellar

THREE SUPER SPANISH WINES FROM ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S MOST WELL-RESPECTED PRODUCERS, PLUS A BRILLIANT RIESLING AND A LOCAL SPIRIT 10 YEARS IN THE MAKING...

Wine of the Month

Summus Toscana IGT 2018, Tuscany, Italy

£40 / 75cl / 14.5% ABV

Described as a ‘Supertuscan’ wine, this Summus

Toscana is a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. It’s as full-bodied as any wine you’ve ever enjoyed, and has intense fruity aromas with notes of jam, spices, coffee and tobacco. It also matches beautifully with red meat dishes and aged cheese. A real stunner for a spring evening around the firepit!

n Available at Waitrose or via waitrosecellar.com.

A Fresh Delicious Riesling for Spring

A trio of wines from Beronia in Spain, one from up and coming Rueda and two from the Rioja region. Our first recommendation is the Verdejo from Rueda, Fresh and Citrussy, £8.99/ 13% ABV from Waitrose and Ocado.

Next up is Beronia’s Crianza Rioja, a Tempranillo/Garnacha/Mazuelo blend, cherry red in colour with spices and ripe berry fruits. Ideal with Sunday roasts, mature cheese or cured meats, £11.99 / 13.5% ABV, available at Waitrose/Sainsburys/Majestic.

Finally, from Beronia is their Reserva, deep plum in colour and crafted from the best grapes this flagship wine has been recognised with a Gold medal in DWWA 2022, £14.99 / 14% ABV available at Waitrose, Ocado, Sainsburys & Majestic.

More commonly with the Rhine region, this beautiful Riesling originates from Western Australia, and is a partnership between Howard Park Wines and Tesco. From a pioneering familyowned winery with great terroir, the retailer has done well to secure Tingleup’s place in its stores, and can comfortably justify giving the wine its Finest designation. Lime, citrus, and zest with a hint of white pepper... a definite spring recommendation!

£10 / 75cl / 12.5% ABV, Tesco stores, or via www.tesco.com.

n Our featured wines are available from the best local independent wine merchants, supermarkets and online, prices are RRP and may vary from those stated.

50 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE: A trio of wines from one of Spain’s best producers...

LOVE at FIRST

SIGHT

Think property experts are immune from ‘love at first sight?’ Apparently not! Right from the moment he set eyes on it, Lincoln estate agent Rupert Fisher thought this 1890s farmhouse was the most welcoming and special house he had ever seen!

Words: Rob Davis.

THE DETAILS

Grange Farm, North Elkington

Location: Louth 4.7 miles, Lincoln 16.7 miles, Grimsby 14.6 miles.

Provenance: Former farm house created in 1890 set in 2.85 acres and restored by current owner.

Rooms: Five reception rooms currently arranged as sitting room, breakfast kitchen, snug, playroom and study, plus four bedrooms, including one en suite and box room.

Guide Price: £899,950.

Find Out More: Savills of Lincoln, Doddington Road, Lincoln LN6 3SE. Call 01522 508908 or see www.savills.com.

EVEN ESTATE AGENTS AREN’T IMMUNE from swooning over lovely looking properties. Whilst the rest of us enjoy a peek behind the door of Lincolnshire’s country properties, you’d think the appeal would a least soften, eventually. Apparently not... just ask Rupert Fisher.

“Upon taking a job as an estate agent down in London, I lived in a two-bedroom apartment in Barnes, so moving to Lincolnshire was a revelation,” he says. “I still love the place and can’t believe how lucky we are to live in such a vast, attractive county, one that offers such a good standard of living.”

“Working for Savills right across Lincolnshire, I reckon that I see over 350 properties a year, so you’d think I’d be immune from the perils of love at first sight... apparently not. When I first saw Grange Farm I was absolutely enamoured with it.”

Of course, as an estate agent responsible for valuing the property, Rupert recognised there was a conflict of interest, and had to let his colleagues handle the marketing of the former farmhouse at North Elkington near Louth.

Rupert recalls feeling so nervous it would sell, being desperate to put in an offer on the place, but having to keep his distance. Being very transparent about his interest and ensuring he remained unimpeachable, he was relieved when he was finally able to express an interest formally and then put in an offer which was accepted back in 2008.

For all of its appeal though, Grange Farm did look rather different back then. “The property needed some TLC and so we ended up giving it a new roof, new wiring, new plumbing and commissioning brand new bespoke hardwood sash windows throughout,” recalls Rupert.

“It was a quite an effort to complete all the work, and expensive given that it’s an older property, dating back to 1890, but the result is a property with all the period charm but with pretty much brand new services.”

The property is arranged over two floors, with a south-facing sitting room and study, plus a breakfast kitchen with a separate pantry.

A snug serves as a family dining room complete with Karndean flooring and a Clearview log burner, and a separate playroom provides plenty of extra space for Rupert’s daughter.

The kitchen has been crafted by Louth’s Murdoch Troon, and features an electric Aga plus myriad built-in appliances.

Meanwhile, a separate utility room, boiler room and cellar provides plenty of storage space and there’s a box room on the first floor – in addition to the farmhouse’s four bedrooms and family bathroom – to ensure plenty of storage space for any family’s collateral, clutter and clobber. >>

>> The abundance of space isn’t limited to the property’s interiors, either. Set in 2.85 acres of grounds, there’s near-360° views over farmland and seasonally-evolving arable landscapes, plus a large paddock for ponies, stables and a tack room.

The property’s mature grounds are packed with mature trees, hedgerows and abundant lawns. There’s an another little secret too in the form of an old well... 300ft deep, Rupert reckons; drop a stone down there and you can count to five before you hear the splash.

Rupert’s vice, though, is restoring cars (specifically modern classics) and so it’s within the property’s triple garage that his 1989 Golf GTi and his 1958 Land Rover Series II live... both with manual gearboxes. Remember those? Rupert certainly does, when nearby Cadwell Park is hosting one of its track days. Whatever your preferred pursuit though – horses or horse power – it’s a given that Grange Farm is the large, comfortable country home you’ve been looking for, with a wealth of adaptable space.

“This is the most welcoming and special house I have ever lived in,” says Rupert. “I love the way the sun fills the kitchen in the morning and we get to enjoy the amazing sunsets in the snug by the log burner in the evening. We’ll miss it a great deal!” n

n Tee View House, Skegness Guide Price: £1,150,000

A superb luxury executive five bedroomed house with open plan Poggenpohl kitchen living area plus four reception rooms including a cinema room. Gymnasium, spa pool and garden office, gated entrance and walled gardens, www.poyntons.com

n Old Woodhall, Horncastle Guide Price: £1,325,000

Attractive and charming Grade II farmhouse dating back to 1420AD, substantially built with thick stone walls. Ménage, shepherd huts, hot tub, sauna, small shower block, pitches for 10 caravans, all set in grounds and paddocks, approx 20 acres. www.waltersestateagents.co.uk

n The Old Rectory, Blankney Guide Price: £1,250,000

Exceptional seven bedroom country house with far-reaching views set in about 3.5 acres of land. Superb range of grand reception rooms. Impressive modern kitchen breakfast room opening onto garden. Situated at the heart of the historic Blankney Estate and surrounded by its working farmland. www.savills.co.uk

Peter Jackson Cabinet Makers Ltd

Devereux Way, Horncastle LN9 6AU

Tel: 01507 527113

W: www.peterjacksoncabinets.co.uk E: info@peterjacksoncabinets.co.uk

Made-to-Measure since 1967, that’s THE

DELCOR DIFFERENCE

Having the sofa you want... not the one that’s ‘close enough’ is the difference that Delcor provides. Bespoke to the inch and down to the finest detail, with British craftsmanship and infinite choice, we this month champion a few of the Stamford studio’s latest examples of their made-to-measure sofas and chairs...

Magnum extra large Sofa in GP & J Baker Rockbird Velvet prices from £3,362.

DELCOR isn’t an ‘it’ll do’ sort of a company. Their sofas are made by craftsmen and women in the company’s Northumberland workshops and chosen by customers visiting one of the company’s five design studios, including the one on Stamford’s Bath Row. A sense of quality is evident in the company’s hand-cut beech wood frames and hand-stitched fabrics, then underwritten by a 50 year guarantee, which comes as standard on all of its frames. So given that Delcor doesn’t accept anything less than perfect, why on Earth wouldn’t you? Normally, choosing a sofa means choosing something closest to what you have in mind for your home in terms of style, size or fabric. But Delcor creates your sofa just for you; to your exact size, in the fabric you want, with the finishing touches you choose.

That means instead of opting for the sofa that’s closest to what you have in mind, you can create the sofa you want, even making it taller or wider, before choosing your preferred filling, fabric, feet, and finishing touches like piping or scatter cushions. Since 1967, the firm has stuck determinedly to its ethos of ‘Delcor does it right,’ to ensure your sofa is the one you settle on, not the one you settle for. That experience begins with a showroom consultation where you can try out different styles, experience different fillings - from springy to squidgy – and then see and feel different fabrics from leading designers whose collections can also be used to create curtains and other soft furnishings, ensuring you can achieve a cohesive looking scheme for your room, with a sofa you’re proud of as its centrepiece... >>

A little longer?

Lower? Wider?

Delcor’s sofas are made to measure.

Choose your filling, fabric, feet, finishing touches and create the sofa you want, not the one that’s in the brochure...

Above: Boxer corner, prices from £4,978.

Right: Turin medium sofa in Warwick plush, Mallard Velvet prices from £2,897. Milan armchair in Harlequin Kelamby, Emerald Lime prices from £1,656.

Earl Chair in Linwood fabric, Fable in Tyger blush colourway, prices from £998.

Décor Armchair in Linwood velvet, Wonderland double dragon Lacquer red, prices from £1,455.

Since 1967, the firm has stuck determinedly to its ethos of ‘Delcor does it right,’ to ensure your sofa is the one you settle on, not the one you settle for...

Delcor crafts its British sofas, chairs and upholstered beds to your exact requirements from its Northumberland workshops. The company has five destination showrooms across Britain for design consultations including one on Stamford’s Bath Row. For a no-obligation design discussion and to see examples of the company’s work, visit Delcor on Bath Row, Stamford, PE9 2QX, call 01780 762579 or see www.delcor.co.uk. n

Welsey Armchair in Riga, Fox colourway, prices from £1,780.

SPRING FRESH for

A light green and canvas-coloured reflects the brighter, natural hues of spring as a sense of freshness returns to both home and garden...

This Page: Colefax & Fowler fabrics, blind in Ariadne, russet/sage; sofa in Tarn, beige; armchair in Kellen, beige; ottoman in Newland, olive; paintwork in Tarn, oak green; cushions in Carlotta, red. Page: Colefax Fowler blind in Ariadne, sofa in in Kellen, beige; ottoman in Newland, olive; paintwork in Tarn, oak green; cushions in Carlotta, red. 81

Above: Kristiana lamp in sage, £495. Morris buffet in greyed oak, £6,545, Pentile rug (300cm x 425cm) £3,450, all William Yeoward.

Top/Right: Nympheus wallpaper in Botanical from the Signature Wallpaper collection by GP & J Baker.

Right: Chair and bolster cushions in Saint-Tropez Prairie by Manuel Canovas, chair and table by McKinnon & Harris.

To make the best of these fabrics, seek out one of the county’s leading interior design specialists to create bespoke soft furnishings and decoration for your interiors...

Colefax & Fowler fabrics, curtains in Dante, willow; Kincome armchair in Kellen, ivory; ottoman throw Genista, aqua; cushion in Irwin, old blue.

Lincolnshire Interiors: Delcor: 01780 762579, www.delcor.co.uk. H-Works: 01780 754605, www.hworksdesign.co.uk. Richard Sutton Interiors: 01472 268377, www.richardsuttondesigninteriors.com. Stevensons: 01472 233111, www.stevensonsgroup.co.uk. n

Colefax & Fowler fabrics, Kingcome chair in Campion, pink/green; cushion in Carnforth, leaf green; Lamp Sibyl Colefax and John Fowler.

New Window Company opens a second Showroom in Stamford...

windows and doors in the East Midlands, installing across Lincolnshire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Peterborough since 1995.

It will complement the existing business of Timber Windows of Lincoln owned by the parent Company, The New Window Company based in Frieston Heath near Grantham, Lincolnshire.

All the products offered in the range of high quality and sustainable timber will be available including vertical sliding sash, flush and storm-proof casement, entrance doors, sliding patio and sliding bi-fold doors.

All products come fully finished in a very wide choice of paints and stains that carry unique long warranties and all come double glazed as a standard offer. Virtually any paint colour can be matched given a recognised brand and or RAL reference.

A speciality of the range is a heritage products that meets the requirements of the conservation rules and offers a special slim line double glazed unit that is widely used throughout the UK.

The New Window Company is the leading provider of Timber, Timber Alternative, uPVC and Aluminium

“We will showcase a superb range of our beautifully constructed award winning products in our new Stamford showroom,” says Roy Wakeman Chairman of the New Window Company.

“We love what we do, and we have over 20 years experience in the industry. We are FENSA and Certass registered so our installations are compliant with building regulation. Our passion converts into highly satisfied customers. From your first visit to our showroom to your finished installation, we strive to provide a bespoke, stress-free and professional service.”

“Come and have a look around, test out our working, full size samples and ask us any questions, we are more than happy to help. If you decide our products are for you then we can arrange a home visit to discuss your requirements, take measurements and provide a quote.”

“We are delighted to be able to introduce our supply chain partner Timber Windows.com to the Stamford and local area house owners and very much look forward to be able to introduce our comprehensive supply and installation service.” n

A second studio to show off The New Window Company’s bespoke windows and doors in the heart of Stamford...

A second branch of the New Window company, to trade as Timber Windows of Stamford. is now open for business on Belton Street Stamford close to the heart of the town centre.

The

A SPACE FOR SUMMER with SHIRE GARDEN BUILDINGS

Log cabins, summerhouses, your own bar, or a shelter for your hot tub... perhaps a reading room or a home office, or somewhere for the grandchildren to play? How will you make use of a bespoke garden building from Shire GB?

THERE ARE MANY BENEFITS to visiting Shire GB’s display space, based at Sutton Bridge, with around 50 premium garden buildings on site for you to step into and explore, enabling you to observe the quality for yourself. An additional benefit is the chance to speak to someone who can discuss how to bespoke your build to suit your needs, dealing directly with a manufacturer that has over 40 years of experience crafting garden buildings for every purpose. Our favourite benefit, though, is the chance to meet adorable Tilly. The Yorkshire Terrier/Shih Tzu cross is a great ambassador for the company, cuddling up to visitors in the site office and accompanying you on a tour as you explore Shire’s log cabins, summerhouses, writing rooms, bars, garden offices, studios, hot tub cabins, arbours, playhouses, garages and sheds.

No matter what you need an outdoor building for, you’ll find it here. And in the unlikely event that one of the company’s existing designs doesn’t suit, the firm can even create a completely bespoke garden building to your exact specifications, before Shire supplies it for you to self-build, or installs it for you, in-situ as a finished building. >>

Above: Shire GB’s site has around 50 buildings to view and explore.

Main: Shire GB’s Kinver starts from 12ft x 12ft, and is shown here with 34mm timber, with deck and toughened glass windows, from £3,132 and ideal as a summerhouse, WFH office or for storage.

Spectacular value, Elveden is one of the company’s most popular designs, from £10,348. Two internal rooms, glazing and porch plus many other options to customise the cabin to your requirements. It’s an ideal home office, games room, or to accommodate guests.

1: Twyford is an ideal summerhouse or hobby room, shown here as a 12ft x 13ft configuration with 34mm timber, £4,142. 2: Rowney log cabins incorporate a summerhouse, plus additional storage shed and separate door to the rear of the cabin, ideal for barbecues, furniture, cushions etc., shown here in 10ft x 14ft, call for best price. 3: Mammoth, 10ft x 10ft is an ideal workshop or home for bikes/garden tractors etc, shown in pine log finish, £2,124. 4: Elveden is shown here as a 14ft x 26ft configuration with two internal rooms, glazing and deck from £10,348 with 44mm timber... it’s the showroom on Shire GB’s site, with internal heating, air conditioning, plumbing and electricity. 5/6: Garden bars, playhouses and houses/runs for pets are usually available from stock and are often on special offer... call for the company’s best price! 7: A des res for your classic car, with a traditional style, Bradenham will comfortably accommodate a vehicle, with double doors for access, £3,154, 13ft x 12ft. 8: Hot tub in comfort and keep the leaves out of your spa with Bere, 11ft x 11ft, £2,178.

>> Tilly’s deputy is Tracey Thompson. She meets customers on site throughout the week and she or her colleagues are on hand on Saturdays in spring and summer to talk visitors through their options, though it’s best to call in advance.

Shire has several ranges from 12mm timber buildings suitable for storage of garden materials, bikes, tools and so on. These are flat-packed and are almost always available from stock for self-build. Meanwhile Shire also has a range of factory panelled buildings with timber thicknesses ranging from 12mm depending on a building’s intended use and the degree of insulation required – there are around half a dozen sizes and many different configurations.

The company also designs and manufacturers pine log cabins in thicknesses from 19mm-70mm, from its 20 or so established designs or to your bespoke layouts and specification, again with installation available from as little as seven days. Because the company designs, manufacturers and usually installs its buildings too, you’re buying directly from the people who make over 100,000 buildings each year, selling many of them to all the UK’s independent regional and multi-national garden centres.

What’s extraordinary, though, is that even the company’s largest and most versatile buildings are cost effective and make great spaces to relax or work in, all year round. One of its most popular buildings is the Elveden, a 14ft x 26ft log cabin offering two rooms, 44mm or 70mm timber thickness, a porch, plus optional double glazing. Whilst there are various options for bespoking the design, you’re looking at less than £14,000, installed, with double glazing... ideal as a home office, games room, your own bar, or guest accommodation.

“The working from home trend has compelled many people to create beautiful spaces that have lots of character but remain really practical,” says Tracey. “People come in having seen TV programmes like George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces, and want to create their own spaces that can be tailored to suit. Many customers send us in pictures of their painted, furnished spaces, all as individual and unique as the customers themselves!”

Shire GB was established in 1981, initially as a creator of yachts. Today, still family-owned, it operates across two sites, employing over 150 staff. The company purchases in sustainable timber – typically spruce – from Europe then creates its own milled and/or pressure treated materials in-house at its Wisbech site before manufacturing its buildings in Sutton Bridge, in a factory adjacent to its show site.

“The buildings can be tailored to suit,” says Tracey. “Electricity, plumbing, heating and air conditioning can all be incorporated by clients, and we can create bespoke designs and floor plans for customers looking for something specific.”

“Visitors love exploring the site and they’re always pleasantly surprised at how cost-effective our buildings are. We have the experience, the skills and the craftsmanship to create just about any outside building... all we need to know is how you intend to enjoy your new space!” n

Find Out More: Based at Sutton Bridge, Shire GB’s show site has around 50 buildings on display – stock and bespoke examples – the site is open weekdays and on Saturdays in spring/summer, but do telephone ahead of your visit: 01406 359052, Tydd Bank, Sutton Bridge, Spalding PE12 9XE, or see www.shiregb.com.

Crafting bespoke hardwood conservatories and orangeries, roof lights & timber windows...

SPRINGFIELDS FORWARD SPRINGFIELDS FORWARD

For a dazzling display of spring colours and a grand day out, we can recommend no better place to visit than Spalding’s Springfields, home to some spectacular spring gardens celebrating the area’s bulb-growing heritage and to an unrivalled outlet shopping experience…

For a dazzling display of spring colours and a grand day out, we can recommend no better place to visit than Spalding’s Springfields, home to some spectacular spring gardens celebrating the area’s bulb-growing heritage and to an unrivalled outlet shopping experience…

Garden Images: Peter Scharff, www.peterscharff.com, courtesy of Springfields Horticultural Society.

DAFFODILS, tulips and the chance to get out in the fresh air. All present and correct, but something’s still missing this Easter. Ah, of course! Chocolate!

Happily, the outlet shopping constituent of Spalding’s Springfields Outlet Shopping & Leisure hasn’t overlooked that spring necessity, welcoming a brand-new retailer, Cadbury, just in time to ensure you can stock up for Easter.

The site opened in its present form back in May 2004, but its history reaches back much further. From the early 1900s the area’s main crop was daffodils.

The first large plot of tulips was planted in the area by Sam Culpin in 1907 and by the 1930s, 1,500 men and women were employed to curate fields of bulbs totalling about 3,000 acres.

Tourists would visit the tulip fields by the busload to view the colourful displays, and in 1948, the area’s Growers’ Association organised Tulip Week which eventually incorporated the Flower Parade, the first event being held in 1959.

At the time the industry would grow tulips, retaining the bulb to sell on, and rather than discarding the flower head, these would be used to decorate the Flower Parade’s colourful themed floats; today the supermarket-led cut flower trade has eliminated this by-product, and instead we’re more inclined to purchase

tulips to brighten up our living rooms, still grown by local farms like Coles of Pinchbeck, Evolve Flowers and Smith & Munson of Gedney.

In 1966 – an era of peace, love and tulips – the Growers’ Association decided that with a healthy wholesale trade already established and as the area was beloved by visitors, a new site should be created to celebrate the industry.

The site of what is now Springfields was then 20-acres of ploughed farmland. Work began in October 1964, hampered by bad weather and waterlogged soil, but after a lot of hard work, including the planting of 1,000,000 bulbs, 30,000 trees and the construction of a beautiful lake with landscaped walkways, the site opened in April 1966. The area finally had a chance to show off its horticultural prowess, in the six to eight weeks of the year that its bulb-growing industry was in full swing.

The gardens were heaving with 3,000 varieties of bulbs – 300 different tulips alone – and it was common for the area to have over 400,000 visitors. The formation of the charity Springfields Horticultural Society in 1967 saw the organisation manage the gardens until 1990, when a decline in visitor numbers instigated a re-evaluation of the use of the site including a redesign of the show gardens. Significant investment by a range of partners of more than £30m enabled a reinvention of the whole area, reopening it in May 2004 as Springfields Outlet Shopping & Leisure and Festival Gardens.

Today the site comprises 11 feature garden areas across 25 of the site’s total 38 acres, created by landscape designers like Chris Beardshaw, Charlie Dimmock and Kim Wilde, plus woodlands and wetlands.

The site is also home to an unrivalled outlet shopping site comprising no fewer than 55 retailers and nine restaurants plus the Adventure Land play area for youngsters, and a hotel too.

Best of all, the site is still enjoying ongoing development with Head Gardener Andy Boyton having led the half-dozen or so strong team curating Springfields’ gardens for over 16 years. Last year over 100,000 bulbs were planted, including 50,000 daffodil bulbs (added to the 64,000 left in from previous years), plus 1,000s of tulips and other spring flowering bulbs.

One of the secrets to the site’s success is a great working partnership between Springfields Horticultural Society under its CEO David Norton and SLR Outlet Shopping & Leisure which manages the outlet shopping element of the site. >>

Both organisations work together to bring around 2.3m visitors to Springfields each year. Inga Maxwell of Springfields Horticultural Society has also been working hard to provide a new interactive planting map for visitors to the gardens, one which works via your mobile phone’s Near Field Communication (NFC) capability to help easily identify specific varieties.

Springfields Events & Conference Centre provides funds towards the maintenance of the garden via Gift Aid, and the Horticultural Society charity remains responsible for the development and maintenance of the gardens.

The Society is also in the process of completing a specially designed Nostalgia Garden for visitors with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia with pioneering interactivity designed to stimulate memories. 2023 is also a significant year for Springfields and for Spalding with the return of the Spalding Flower Parade, a bid by local man Steve Timewell and his colleagues.

The parade will return on 13th May and it’s hoped that it will see the return to the town of an annual celebration of South Holland’s horticultural heritage since the last parade in 2013. Meanwhile new additions to the outlet shopping and leisure village’s retailers including Cadbury, whose retail space is already stocked up with a mountain of Easter Eggs ready for early April.

Other names like M&S, Next, White Stuff, Jack Wills and Radley all help to create an unrivalled shopping experience.

For a site that can trace its lineage back to the 1960s, Springfields is a destination which has continued to evolve and today it offers not one but two great reasons to visit this month… some stunning gardens, and a great shopping experience too… a great place to visit this month, we reckon!

n Springfields Festival Garden site and Outlet Shopping & Leisure is open seven days from 9.30am (10.30am Sunday) on Camelgate, Spalding PE12 6EU. The site features 25 acres of gardens plus over 55 retailers offering up to 70% off RRP. The site also has nine restaurants and the Adventure Land play area for youngsters.

Springfields will host its Spring Flower & Garden show on 15th and 16th April. Then Tulips in Bloom will take place at Springfields from 28th, 29th & 30th April...

WHAT ABOUT the

OTTER

Around 25 years ago, Britain’s otter population was on the bring of extinction. Happily they’re managing to bounce back, and though they’re still very much a species under threat, Lincolnshire’s waterways and nature reserves are proving a great habitat for the creatures...

LINCOLNSHIRE is known for its rich wildlife, but one of the lesser-acknowledged creatures that call our riverbanks home is the playful and mischievous otter. These charming creatures are found in the waterways that wind their way through Lincolnshire, and they never fail to delight both locals and visitors alike with their adorable antics.

Otters are semi-aquatic mammals that are found all over the world. Here in Lincolnshire, they are most commonly found in the rivers and streams that crisscross the county. Otters are excellent swimmers, and they are also expert hunters, using their sensitive whiskers to detect prey in the murky water. They eat a variety of fish and crustaceans, and they are known to be particularly fond of eels.

Despite their adorable appearance, otters are skilled predators and are at the top of the food chain in their aquatic habitat. Otters are apex predators, meaning that they have no natural predators of their own. This is due in part to their speed and agility, as well as their ability to blend in with their surroundings. Otters are able to hold their breath for several minutes underwater, which allows them to sneak up on their prey undetected.

The otter population in Lincolnshire has had its ups and downs over the years.

Otters were once hunted extensively for their fur, and their numbers dwindled in many parts of the world as a result. In recent years, however, otter populations in the UK have begun to recover. This is due in part to conservation efforts aimed at protecting their habitat and ensuring that the waterways they call home are clean and healthy.

One of the best places to see otters in Lincolnshire is the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust’s Willow Tree Fen Nature Reserve. This beautiful nature reserve is located near Bourne and is home to a variety of different wildlife, including otters. The reserve has several hides where visitors can observe the otters as they swim, fish and play.

Another great place to see otters in Lincolnshire is the Whisby Nature Park near Lincoln. This large nature reserve is home to a variety of different wildlife, including otters. Visitors can stroll along the many walking trails and boardwalks that wind through the park and keep an eye out for these playful creatures as they swim and play in the water.

If you're lucky enough to spot an otter in the wild, there are a few things you can do to help ensure their safety. First and foremost, it's important to keep your distance and not disturb them. >>

Image: Sandra Dombrovsky.

>> Otters are easily scared and will quickly retreat to the safety of the water if they feel threatened. It’s also important to avoid feeding otters, as this can disrupt their natural hunting patterns and make them reliant on humans for food.

If you do spot an otter, take a moment to appreciate the beauty and majesty of these incredible creatures. Otters are a symbol of the health and vitality of our waterways, and their presence is a sign that the ecosystem is healthy and thriving.

By taking steps to protect their habitat and ensure their continued survival, we can help ensure that future generations can enjoy the wonder of otters in Lincolnshire for years to come. In addition to being adorable and playful creatures, otters also play an important role in the ecosystem.

They help to control the population of fish and crustaceans in the waterways, which helps to maintain a healthy balance in the ecosystem. They also serve as an indicator of the health of the waterways themselves. If otters are present, it’s a sign that the water is clean and healthy, and that other wildlife is likely to thrive as well.

Otters are one of the most beloved creatures in Lincolnshire, and for good reason. They are playful, adorable, and an important part of ecosystem. Whether you’re a nature lover or simply looking for a fun day out, be sure to keep an eye out for otters in Lincolnshire’s waterways. With a little bit of luck and a lot of patience, you might just catch a glimpse of one of these incredible creatures in the wild.

If you’re interested in learning more about otters and other wildlife in Lincolnshire,

there are a variety of resources available to help you get started. The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust offers a range of educational programs and events throughout the year, including guided walks, talks, and workshops. These programs are designed to help visitors learn more about the natural world around them and the importance of conservation and habitat protection.

Whether you’re a seasoned wildlife enthusiast or simply looking for a fun day out with the family, there's no shortage of ways to enjoy the beauty and wonder of otters in Lincolnshire. From nature reserves to walking trails to guided tours, there are plenty of opportunities to see these adorable creatures up close and in the wild. So why not plan a visit to one of Lincolnshire’s many waterways and see if you can catch a glimpse of one of these amazing creatures for yourself? n

Find Out More: The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust has over 100 nature reserves across the county and becoming one of its 25,000 members will help the charity to protect Lincolnshire’s wildlife for the future. For more information on the Trust, see www.lincstrust.org.uk.

Whisby Nature Reserve, Lincoln.

More Style, More Substance for the Range Rover Velar

A facelift for Range Rover’s style-oriented mid-sized SUV should see the model regain its unique selling point within the company’s lineup...

UPON ITS RELEASE in 2017, Range Rover’s Velar had a unique selling point. It was a style-oriented SUV with a rather less allterrain focus than its peers.

However, with a facelifted Evoque and more recently the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport integrating the Velar’s once unique visual features across the whole range, the Velar’s unique selling point has been all but eroded. It’s not quite as small or affordable as an Evoque, nor as powerful or desirable as the Range Rover Sport. So where does that leave the Velar? A mid-life facelift aims to answer that very question.

The price of Evoque ranges from £34,000 to £54,000; the Velar from £54,000 to £76,000 and the Range Rover Sport from £80,000£95,000, leading the Range Rover flagship

to take the company across the six-figure threshold. Velar’s price point, though, is almost identical to the Land Rover Defender and the Land Rover Discovery.

That leads us to surmise that £60,000 or so is a key price point for the brand, and that customers prioritising off-road capability or seeking a lifestyle vehicle will gravitate to the Defender, and those who need a seven-seat family car will consider the Discovery. Those seeking a BMW X5 or Mercedes GLE equivalent will then consider the Velar – accepting that it’s more limited off-road, less practical and more style-oriented than its peers.

Within that remit the Velar is handsome, with a very beautiful and very minimalist cabin, plus a plug-in hybrid model available. Our recommendation is the well-equipped base model, badged Velar S, with that plugin system or with our preferred 2.0V4 diesel which generates 204hp and returns 43mpg. Highlights of the Velar’s facelift include a new floating 11.4” centre console, redesigned seats with a leather-free cabin option, and active road noise cancellation, which promises quietest-in-class refinement.

So has the Velar rediscovered its uniqueness? Arguably the medium-sized SUV market is more crowded than ever. It’s also good value in entry-level trim, as long as your eye isn’t turned by other competitors in the sector, not least in the company’s own lineup. n

THE DETAILS

Range Rover Velar D200

Price: £54,045 (On sale now).

Powertrain: 2.0 four-cylinder diesel, 201hp, automatic gearbox.

Performance: Top speed 130mph, 0-60mph 7.8 secs. Fuel consumption WLTP 43.7mpg.

Equipment: Heated leather seats, electrically adjustable with memory. Heated windscreen, power tailgate, adaptive cruise control, climate control, heated steering wheel, front and rear parking aid, rear camera, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. n

MOTORS

Porsche’s 911 Off-Roader

BACK IN 1971, Porsche entered the 3,000 mile East African Safari Rally. At the time, unfortunately, there were no Cayenne or Macan 4x4 SUVs in the firm’s line-up and so the company fettled its otherwise wholly unsuitable 911 to turn it into a modified sand-storming off-roader. And now, looking back on the car which subsequently performed so well in the ParisDakar rally, the firm has recreated the 911 in an off-road incarnation, in a quantity of just 2,500 units, naming it the Dakar and putting a price tag of £175,000 in the windscreen.

The car is a re-engineered version of the 911 Carrera 4 GTS, with a 3.0 flat six-cylinder engine, active all-wheel drive and an eightspeed automatic gearbox. The 911 Dakar has 50mm of extra ride height over a 911, plus anti-roll stabilisation, Porsche Active Suspension Management, Porsche Dynamic

Porsche

911 Dakar

Price: £175,000, limited run of 2,500 cars. Powertrain: 3.0 flat sixcylinder, all-wheel drive petrol, 473bhp.

Performance: Top speed 149mph, 0-60mph 3.2 secs. WLTP 26.9mpg.

Chassis Control and a hydraulic ‘lift’ mode for 30mm extra clearance over its standard ride height. Offroad and Rally driving modes can be turned on at will, and there’s launch control for low-grip surfaces.

Different tyres, styling tweaks and the deletion of rear seats plus an expedition roof rack are other additions. Conventional colour schemes are standard but you can specify liveries from notable events like the aforementioned East African rally.

Our verdict? It’s probably a better bet for the area’s terribly potholed roads and back lanes than a standard 911... but for £175,000?

We’d rather buy a 911 Carrera Convertible for £99,800, then stick a Land Rover Defender 90 HSE D250 in the garage for £61,640... or even better, one of Jim Ratcliffe’s new Ineos Grenadiers. Two brilliant cars for the price of one, and about £13,000 change, too. n

From a safari in the seventies to a 21st century showroom, Porsche’s new 911 is very unusual, because it’s an off-road version of the firm’s classic sports car...

An English Country Garden

Colourful, fun and happy! We love the al fresco wedding of Emma and Daniel, whose summer wedding took place within the sunny and verdant enclaves of Baumber’s Waller Garden...

Wedding Photographer: Jessy Jones Photography, 07947 514456, www.jessyjonesphotography.co.uk.

THE SUMMER DAY was a far cry away from the chilly temperatures of winter 2018 when Emma and Daniel were snowed in during the Beast from the East wave of cold weather.

Emma is from London originally, but her family moved to the countryside from the suburb of Harrow. Good fortune brought the family to the village of Minting, and even better fortune meant the village hall was able to accommodate locals and a fair bit of booze when the cold weather set in.

The locals huddled together to wait out the weather and across the crowded village hall, Daniel spotted a beauty among the Beast from the East, serving locals behind the bar. His return to the bar several times in succession was, Emma reckons, just an excuse to talk to her, nothing to do with getting in another round. Don’t question it though, for it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, which of course led to love.

A couple of years later and Daniel surprised Emma with a proposal of marriage, on one knee at her workplace… a delighted brideto-be said ‘yes!’ immediately and wedding planning began in earnest.

It was a very relaxed process with both bride and groom recognising that their perfect day would be one with friends and family around them, lots of fun and laughter. They also knew exactly where they wanted to marry… Baumber Walled Gardens.

“We both live very close to the gardens, and what’s not to love about a beautiful English garden right in the middle of June? The wedding planner at Baumber, Nikki, was fantastic and helped us a lot. We had the ceremony there, as well as the reception, and it was a really beautiful place to be on a really lovely day.”

WEDDING SUPPLIERS

Like any most brides, Emma began looking for her dress immediately and with a penchant for the eclectic, discovered Lucy Can’t Dance, whose bespoke bridal collection included Labyrinth, a match and slip dress with a pretty vintage lace overlay.

Daniel confesses that he cut it a little fine to find their grey tweed suits – complete with Peaky Blinders-style Bakerboy cap – for both groom and Best Man Stuart but Emma’s bridesmaid, her sister Rebecca, and the best woman, Lisa, were a lot more organised.

Rebecca also contributed the couple’s seminaked three-tier cake decorated with high summer blooms including great big cheerful sunflowers. Very few additional flowers were needed since the garden was already in full bloom!

“We definitely wanted the day to reflect us, and our interests,” says Emma. “We used little Lego figures to represent us and our guests as table favours, and named our tables after our favourite – Daniel’s favourite –bands.”

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Baumber Walled Garden, Horncastle, 01507 578763, www.walledgardenbaumber.co.uk.

Wedding Dress: Lucy Can’t Dance, 01245 290648, www.lucycantdance.com.

Groomsmens’ Suits: Arthurs Classic Menswear, Louth, 07717 476007. Honeymoon: Treetop Hideaways, Woodhall Spa, 07771 867907, www.treetophideaways.co.uk.

Wedding Photographer: Jessy Jones Photography, 07947 514456, www.jessyjonesphotography.co.uk. n

This caused the groom to agonise over which of his favourite musicians would make the cut, with eventual table names including Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac and Rolling Stones reflecting the couple’s taste.

Daniel’s responsibility for introducing the couple’s favourite artists into the day also extended the playlist for the evening reception, which he probably agonised over for much longer than any other element of the day. Emma, though, insisted on the inclusion of a few additional pop tracks like Abba.

The couple’s first dance was to Oasis’s Let There Be Love which Daniel recalls was the first track the couple danced to back when they were courting, in his parents’ kitchen. >>

>>Among the couple’s 70 guests was Emma’s Scottish brother-in-law who, along his two sons, enjoyed dressing in their traditional tartan, and two furry gatecrashers were Bella & Dez, the couple’s parents’ dogs, who enjoyed mingling among with other reception guests.

“It was a really relaxed garden party, we loved it!” says Emma. “I was driven to the wedding by my father-in-law in his Morris Minor, which suited the traditional English look perfectly,” says Emma.

“After the day we spend a couple of nights in Woodhall Spa at Treetop Hideaways which was really lovely, our own treehouse next to a lake with a rowing boat… we soon discovered that rowing was not our forte, but relaxing in a beautiful setting definitely was!”

“We must say thank you to Jessy Jones too… as our photographer she was incredible, so lovely and unobtrusive. Dan loved dinosaurs and so we even managed to get a couple of quirky shots with a T-Rex in the background! Her shots are amazing, and she captured the day brilliantly!”

“It was definitely representative of the day; really enjoyable, great fun and definitely memorable for all the right reasons! We’ll definitely remember it for the rest of our lives!” n

Wedding Photographer: Jessy Jones Photography, 07947 514456, www.jessyjonesphotography.co.uk.

“It was a really relaxed garden party, we loved it!” says Emma. “I was driven to the wedding by my father-inlaw in his Morris Minor!”

Shift Into Neutral

LIGHT, FRESH & AIMED AT FRAMING YOUR NATURAL BEAUTY

1. Jo Malone and the scent of an English summer...

One of our favourite fragrance brands, Jo Malone has been under the ownership of Estée Lauder since 1999. The latter launched its English Pear & Freesia range in 2010 and it has been a best seller ever since, relaunched in 2021, with a slightly revised composition of just-ripe pears, wrapped in a bouquet of white freesias, and mellowed by amber. We especially love it in body mist form, £45 / 100ml.

2. Kiehl’s Ultra Facial

You’ll pay a premium for Kiehl’s Ultra Facial cream considering it’s designed to serve as a daily moisturiser, but its ultra-lightweight, nongreasy formula utilises ‘glacial glycoprotein’ for intense moisturisation and squalane as an antioxidant, for a 24-hour benefit, £32/50ml.

3. Protection for Lips

If you’re spending spring out and about walking the dog, or sorting out the garden, expect your lips to chap without a decent balm. Our recommendation is Elizabeth Arden’s eight hour lip protectant with sunscreen and Vitamin E, £21/15ml.

4. Iconic Lashes

Maximise the appearance of your lashes with Diorshow’s 3D mascara primer serum, which boosts mascara performance and improves lash appearance for instant oversized lashes that last 24h. Apply under your own mascara or use as a lash conditioner, £31/10ml, John Lewis.

5. A spring detox for your face from Elemis...

Elemis products power many of the spa treatments used by professionals and its deeply purifying foaming

6. French Vanilla Eye Colour from Clinique

long-wearing colour from Clinique, available in 10 colours including French Vanilla, shown here. Sponge-tip applicator, available

soft shimmer or super shimmer

wearing. Use as colour or highlight under brow bone,

products are available independent stockists unless otherwise stated, please note that prices stated are RRP and may vary.

BLAZING HOT

Blaze a trail in terms of spring style with this stylish selection of jackets and blazers...

Crepe Boyfriend Blazer, £375. www.michaelkors.co.uk

1. Andie Wedding Blazer, £299. www.whistles.com

2. Striped Belted Linen-Cotton Blazer, £649. www.ralphlauren.co.uk

3. Wool-Hopsack Blazer, £495. www.paulsmith.com

4. Larsson Double Breasted Twill Blazer, £298. www.reiss.com

5. Monogram Printed Blazer, £2,395. gb.balmain.com >>

1. Limited Edition Stevie Leather Blazer, £450. www.whistles.com

2. Ambero Single Breasted Collarless Blazer, £250. www.tedbaker.com

3. Eyelet Peak Shoulder Blazer, £1,890. www.alexandermcqueen.com

4. Jersey Blazer, £255. gb.weekendmaxmara.com

5. Crepe Blazer with Shawl Collar, £2,295. gb.balmain.com

6. Double-Knit Jacquard Blazer, £349. www.ralphlauren.co.uk >>

Faille Trim Tuxedo Blazer, £240 www.jigsaw-online.com

1. Seraph Double Breasted Satin Blazer, £250. www.tedbaker.com

2. Linen-Blend Herringbone Blazer, £459. www.ralphlauren.co.uk

3. Lylah Single Breasted Tie Front Blazer, £278. www.reiss.com

4. Astral Jewel Blazer, £2,390. www.alexandermcqueen.com

5. Stretch Wool Blazer, £405. gb.weekendmaxmara.com

Fairfax & Favor

Signature navy umbrella, £45, www.fairfaxandfavor.com.

Wrendale Designs

Wrendale giraffe umbrella, £24, www.wrendaledesigns.co.uk.

JOLLY GOOD BROLLIES

Joules

The traditional umbrella re-imagined, £80, www.joules.com.

Burberry

Chevron check print umbrella, £420, uk.burberry.com.

Barbour

Tartan walker umbrella, £39.95, www.barbour.com.

Sophie Allport

Poppy Meadow umbrella in navy blue, £31, www.sophieallport.com.

Wrendale Designs

Bee and hydrangea umbrella, £24, www.wrendaledesigns.co.uk.

Design-led umbrellas from some of our favourite names to prove that there’s no such thing as bad weather... just the wrong brolly!

Where You’re a Face, Not a Case FAITH WILLIAMS LAW, LINCOLN

From family law to conveyancing, your experience of the legal profession will be dramatically different when seeking advice with Faith Williams Law where clients are a face, not a case...

IT’S

TEN MINUTES TO THE HOUR

and Kizzy is preparing to meet her next client in the offices of Lincoln’s Faith Williams Law. She’s not a lawyer, paralegal or even one of the management and admin team, but her role is just as important to many clients.

As office dog, Chow Kizzy is able to put clients at ease and helps to underwrite Faith Williams’ determination that the company should be the antithesis to large corporate law firms.

Instead the company is a place where clients don’t feel like a number, a place where the service is more personal and the company is successful, but still sufficiently small to ensure your circumstances are known and understood, a place where you work with the same legal professional during each consultation, one who gets to know your needs.

“We wanted to take away the ‘office’ feel to the business and offer a bit more of a personal touch,” says Alister Williams, younger brother of founder Faith and the firm’s Office Manager.

“Faith has over 15 years in the legal profession and has worked in larger, Legal 500 firms as well as smaller practices.”

“Having been raised in the city of Lincoln and after qualifying at the University of Lincoln, then spending a number of years working in a couple of other firms, she established her own practice in 2015 with a vision that there was a more user-friendly way to provide good legal advice to clients.”

Eight years on, the company is providing family law services, litigation and an increasing volume of conveyancing work courtesy of Paul Parkes, who joined the company in September 2021 to bring the same, more attentive approach to property transactions.

“The last thing a client wants to feel like is simply one of a number of clients, and so we make a concerted effort to bring the ethos of a small, personal law firm to the conveyancing profession,” says Paul.

“As a client, you’re a person, not a number, and clients like the fact that they deal with a consistent contact who provides advice and guidance throughout the largest and most important transaction of their financial lives.”

“Another characteristic of our size is the ability to remain adaptable, and that’s why we’ve been able to implement our online conveyancing portal.”

“Replacing many of the envelopes, postal delays and lengthy forms, clients can complete their details – some do so the same day, or the following day – and thus expedite their conveyancing transaction with the new online system, and they benefit from integrated verification of ID too.”

“The benefit is a faster, smoother process which identifies potential problems so they can be corrected immediately. Eventually the same system will enable clients to track their conveyancing online at every stage, and above all it will result in a faster, smoother and more efficient process.”

“Of course we’re still available too, which means clients benefit from lower costs and greater efficiency but without sacrificing the personal and friendly service they’ve come to expect from our practice.”

“There’s a trend in the legal profession, certainly in Lincolnshire, for practices to become larger and larger,” says Faith, as she considers the growth of the Lincoln office and the establishment of a second office on the south coast last year.”

“The area has some really good firms with professionals who really care about their clients, but often it can be an intimidating experience to seek legal advice.”

“Glass towers with huge corporate-looking offices don’t do anything to counter that. Neither does the jargon and the sometimes incomprehensible processes that remain in the profession. To an outsider it can be a difficult experience, especially if you’re seeking advice at a time of difficulty in your life such as in the family law field.”

“To compound a client’s distress by creating a difficult or unintuitive experience when they’re seeking help and advice seems very wrong.”

“All of us – Kizzy included – see our role as working with client to provide flexible, friendly and professional advice or litigation to help ease a client’s worries, find a better resolution and to make the profession friendlier and more accessible.” n

Find Out More: Faith Williams Law offers free initial consultations across many different legal disciplines including family law, conveyancing, litigation, wills and probate. The practice is based at 165-167 Newport, Lincoln IN1 3DZ. Call 01522 262130 or see www.faithwilliamslaw.co.uk.

To advertise here call our friendly team on 01529 469977.