Christmas in Lincoln

As a Lincolnian it’s an amazing sight with hoards of visitors tramping up the trail from the City Centre to castle Square and the heart of the Christmas Market. I guess many will be getting a taste of this beautiful city for the first time and will want to return at a later stage when the streets are less crowded and more compatible for a detailed exploration of this medieval town.

There are loads stalls that have allegedly been carefully selected to extol the spirit of Christmas and provide visitors with a chance to buy anything from hand painted glass decorations, locally forged ironwork, hand-made sweets, jewellery, leather work, crafts and a range of novelty items including the candle driven toy boat, something I’ve never seen before and if I had grandchildren would have been tempted to buy.

Street entertainers strut their stuff through the streets playing to the hoards of children that gaze open mouthed at the whole spectacle. Although parts of the market (particularly the castle square) are crowded and somewhat bewildering for young children there are parts of the market that are less crowded and are brightly lit and full of lively entertainment.

Christmas shopping completed on a recent holiday we were free to enjoy the stroll around family streets of our birth city and watching the amazement on the faces of the children.

Some stall holders dress up in traditional Victorian costumes and alongside their stall decoration attempt to win the coveted Best Stall prize. It certainly adds to the fun and sets the ambiance of the market.

Quick Tips:

Of course you’ll need to hang on to your possessions – there’s so much jostling around the market that it must be a pickpockets dream. I’d say travel light and put wallets in inside pockets "zip up" outer garments. Ladies hang on to those handbags as if your very life depended on it and make sure you’re not distracted when taking those all important photographs – that’s the time you’re probably most vulnerable from the preying thief. I don’t want to scare monger, as generally the town is safe and there’s a great atmosphere around the City, but sensibly you’ll know that villains are attracted to this kind of event. Easy and rich pickings!

Some general advice that’s offered by the market’s governing body is that as most of the market is outdoors and December is a cold and damp month is to "wrap up well" – layers are always a good idea. They also advise that you take regular warm drinks and food - this is especially important if diabetic (but I presume diabetics would know that anyway). If you’re a little bit tottery on your legs I think you’ll struggle at Lincoln Market. It’s hard walking with the majority being on cobbled pavements or temporary decking laid over the Castle lawns, although real efforts have been made to make it "disabled friendly." There really isn’t a quiet time so I can’t even suggest that you visit "off peak".

Best Way To Get Around:

Dogs (except guide/hearing dogs) are not allowed in the market area and the organisers would strongly dissuade you from taking prams, buggies, wheelchairs and trolleys. There are two reasons for this – firstly the crowds are horrendous and they would be difficult and often dangerous to manoeuvre and secondly the quaint cobbled streets really do not lend themselves to wheeled transport. I did see the odd child in a buggy and I have to say the poor children looked terrified and other visitors did not take kindly to being rammed on the heel as they toured the busy streets.

As I’ve said the walk between the Market area and the city centre is up the appropriately named Steep Hill and if you’re feeling unfit I’d suggest that you catch one of the shuttle buses that runs between the two.

We opted to walk up through the recently refurbished arboretum with its pink band stand (apparently this was the original Victorian colour) and to admire the newly working fountains. This walk brought back many a memory - it's just a shame tha the city council felt that they needed to remove the majority of the shubbery so they could more effectively police the area and chase out paedophiles and drug users (a sad reflection, I'm afraid of the times we live in).

Curtis of Lincoln has been around since 1828 and is a "purveyor of fine meats". They are renown for their Authentic Lincolnshire Sausages (nicely spiced and with some interesting specials including Pork and Tomato, Pork and Chive, Pork and Apple and the festive Pork and Chestnut); Pork Pies with a beautiful crispy pastry case; Speciality Cooked Meats including Stuffed chine, pressed tongue and haslet. They also bake a superb Plum-bread (a traditional fruit loaf) and probably some of the best seasonal mince pies in Lincolnshire. I’m a bit prejudiced because this is where, as a child, we used to shop for our meats and weekend cake treats for our afternoon tea.

Of course down from the market, on what is appropriately named Steep Hill, this street is a true test of your fitness and even if you believe that you’re fir enough to walk the length of the street you will surely be tempted to stop and look in many of the fine antique shops that have been established here for more years than I can remember. If you have an interest in books then Steep Hill is well worth loitering on. By far the best to browse in and take in the scent of old books is "Readers Rest" (13-14, Steep Hill) which has several rooms crammed with old and antiquarian. Close to this, at 20-22, is the Harlequin Gallery, which has some fine antique maps but really isn’t a place to browse.

So whilst at the market make sure that you have sufficient time to enjoy the window displays in the many specialist shops as you make your way to the bustling market.

I reckon the most innovative change to the standard fairground game was the "roll a ball" Grand National. This is the game where the movement of the horses along a race track are prompted by the speed that you can roll a ball and the luck of how many "points you can rack up" without entering into a blind panic. Here the stallholder had "tastefully" substituted the racehorses with reindeers and all the assistants were tastefully attired in seasonal garb. They were still after your money, but at least they’d made a real effort! Some, however, had made no effort and that was a real shame because those stall just looked out of place.

The fairground rides were basic, but the youngsters seemed to be enjoying them. I particularly noted that there were a lot of "sedate rides" that were aimed at younger children. There’s nothing wrong with that because if the children have suffered and survived the fight through the Castle grounds, being overshadowed by hoards of adults, I reckon they deserve to have a bit of parental cash spent on them.

As we walked around the market we were treated to small lighting shows bouncing lights off the castle walls and reflecting giant snowflakes up the water tower turret. The greenery in the grounds of the Lawn restaurant and craft centre (an ex-psychiatric hospital) was lit with festive colours and gave an eerie appearance to the shrubbery.

A Santa’s Grotto was well placed near to the funfair and it was certainly enticing families to pay a visit. It was actually on the site of St-Paul-in-the-Bail, one of Britain’s earliest churches that was built over the headquarters of an early Roman Fortress. The Fortress was replaced by the city forum in the mid-late 1st century A.D. and the building of churches on this site started in the early 4th century. A church was on this site right up until 1971 (I remember it well) and to commemorate its historical and archaeological importance the site was set out as a garden – a peaceful and restful haven in the midst of the City’s upper quarter. I was a bit surprised to see the Grotto there, but it’s totally in keeping with the Church’s pledge to be at the centre of its community.

The first event, held in 1982, was inspired by a visit by Lincoln officials visiting the twin town of Neustadt and there was a real strong presence, in those early days, of German stalls. Despite the smallest of the market, in those early days there was a real atmosphere to the area and the organisers have been faithful to the original intention to ensure that the market gave a good atmospheric start to the Christmas festivities. But it was just a small market with a variety of Christmas themed stalls. In recent years there’s been a rapid growth in the number of stalls and the Christmas Market has taken over most of the Cathedral Quarter of Lincoln and there are now well over 300 stalls and makes a real effort to herald Christmas.

Indeed in 2006 we were serenaded by piped music as we walked through the streets, treated to a fall of fake snow (although somewhat meagre in its output) as we entered the castle courtyard. There’s a full itinerary of bands performing on stage outside the Crown Court Building, but true to form when we got to the stage they were "between performances". Lincoln Market is renown for setting an atmosphere (perhaps our knowledge of the town makes it a little less mystical. Still it does set me in the Christmas spirit as I mentally prepare myself for my stint as Santa on the Rotary Christmas Float back home in Nottingham. A group of school children are singing well rehearsed Christmas Carols the atmosphere only spoilt by a town official barking out instructions to "keep moving" and "keep to the right" -my usually placid wife was heard to mutter "I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t ‘decked’ by the end of the night" (and she didn’t mean it in the Christmas "deck the halls with boughs of holly" sense!"

No matter how busy they are all the stall holders have a cheery smile and it does feel like they are there to enjoy the occasion as well as peddling their wares.

This market is truly a family affair and it is absolutely hassle free. A great night out and if you fancy it make a long weekend out of it.

In contrast to the typical German food, in front of the castle entrance a pile of sacks full of chestnuts were stacked at the side of the hot chestnut stall – a true sign of the optimism of the stall holder – and the smell of roasting chestnuts perfectly complimented the aroma of hot mince pies. This is the stereotypical Victorian Christmas scene that we are all keen to replicate.

Of course if you don’t fancy eating out on the stalls there are other options. Fancy a mince pie and a cup of hot tea or coffee then you can pop into the Methodist Church on Bailgate (they used to make there own pies but demand became so high that they now buy them from Curtis’) or the cathedral school (near to Lord Tennyson’s statue). Alternatively there are plenty of teahouses or restaurants in up-hill Lincoln. Too many to recommend in this journal, but I’m sure none of them would disappoint the peckish visitor to the Christmas Market. A better deal might be to call in at one of Lincoln’s upper quarter hostelries – most of them now serve "real ale" and I can almost certainly guarantee that the meals on offer will be excellent value for money – they certainly won’t break the bank and my guess is you’ll struggle to clear your plate.