Lincoln; Urban Ramble, part 1

This urban rambles tales us to the beautiful medieval city of Lincoln. Next day was the occasion of my uncle's 80th birthday bash in nearby Woodhall Spa and we decided to make a weekend of it.

After checking in at the hotel, we proceeded to Brayford Pool, a natural lake formed from a widening of the River Witham; the north side is very modern, but behind it on a hill is the magnificent cathedral. The south side of the pool is the home of the University of Lincoln.

We walked west along the Foss Dyke, possibly the oldest canal in England, and then cut up north along the expanse of West Common which was the site of the old Lincoln horse racing track as well as being used to test aircraft in WW1.

We walked to the top of the hill (Lincoln Edge) to see Ellis's Windmill, the last one that remains of five there originally. From here we went to visit The Strugglers Inn (a magnificent real ale pub), The Lawn (a Greek revival building), Lincoln Castle (built by William the Conqueror) and Lincoln Cathedral (nearly a thousand years old).

We proceeded past the Bishops' Palace (closed at the time) and down to the Lincoln Arboreum, a Victorian park to the east of the cathedral; this was funded by property speculation for the large Victorian houses on the north edge of the park!

We walked down to the River Witham, seeing the old Ruston & Hornby site, part of Lincoln's engineering heritage and now under the ownership of Siemens, before ending up at the High Street. The 16th century House on High Bridge is one of only three bridges in the UK with shops on them. We went underneath, down and through the Glory Hole passage, before finishing where we started. Another excellent walk - and still more to see in Lincoln....Read more