Christmas in Lincoln

The 2006 market was open for four days starting on Thursday 7th December from 4pm to 9.30pm. On the Friday and Saturday the market was open from 10am until 9.30pm and on the final Sunday from 10am until 9.30pm. The Lincoln organising body claims that over 150,00 people visit Lincoln at this time of year so you can imagine the scene throughout the streets of 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:

Check out the city’s website (I just typed in Lincoln Christmas Market into Google) and that will give you the flavour of Lincoln’s market. They certainly suggest that if you’re travelling by car you should tune into to BBC Radio Lincolnshire 94.9 FM, 104.7 FM or 1368 AM for all the latest travel and traffic news as you approach the city. Lincoln is always a bit of a nightmare to get into and we could only imagine how bad it would be a peak time.

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:

As you can imagine with thousands of visitors to the city parking is a real nightmare and you’d be ill advised to use anything other than the approved well-signed park and ride. They haven’t been overpriced and if you’ll have the advantage of getting on the bus that will transport you to the edge of the market. The only way to get round the market is on foot and the organiser’s have tried to make this straightforward. They enforce a one-way system with officials clad in bright yellow florescent garments shouting directions and sometimes overstepping the mark by telling people not to dawdle. I resisted telling that that was one of the points in coming to the market, but resisted the temptation with a defiant look as I walked the wrong way up a one-way street in search of my wife!

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).

Although you need to be selective on the market when buying – it really doesn’t lend itself to browsing because the hoards of people make it very, very difficult - there are plenty of quality (not cheap) goods to choose from. But first let me tell you about one of my favourite shops just outside of the market area at 87 Bailgate (telephone: 01522-537834). Lincoln has a first rate whiskey shop. It’s small and on busy days (like the Christmas market) they do try and limit the number of people in the shop at any one time and is a must if you have any whiskey aficionado in your family. They have more than 250 malt whiskeys in stock so I’ll defy you not to find one that will entice you to part with your cash. Additionally they have a wide range of gifts relating, of course to the fine art of tasting, and some interesting miniature branded samples (many people collect these just for the bottles). Of passing interest is the world’s smallest whiskey bottle (verified by Guinness Book of records). The shop also stocks some fine wines, a range of liquors, and, if your in to smoking, high-quality Havana cigars. Even if you don’t drink the shop is worth checking out – it’s got an old world charm about it!

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.

In recent years the Christmas market has seen a significant growth in fun fair attractions. Now I’m not talking about rides of terror or huge roller coasters, but the kind of sedate ride that you would expect youngsters to enjoy. Traders don’t miss a trick and throughout the market area there’s the odd "hook a duck" (cleverly adapted for the festive season into "hook a snowman" or "hook a reindeer"). Most people will win a prize, but don’t hold your breath because most of the gifts will be cheap and tacky and there will be no real sense of pleasure in "winning".

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 Lincoln market celebrated its 25th Anniversary in real style and it now proudly acclaims its status as Europe’s largest Christmas Market. The first one was a paltry affair with fourteen stalls set in the Castle Square but it soon gathered momentum and when we first visited (I think about 20 years ago) it covered the square, a section near to the cathedral and part of the castle grounds. We thought there were hoards there, and I think it was a wee bit frightening for our youngest son, who was dwarfed by the pressing crowds. Indeed back in the 1980’s visiting Lincoln Market was much more chaotic that it is today, because there was no real sense of organisation.

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.

The organisers know that people will be a bit peckish as they trek around the market and unsurprisingly there are loads of stalls selling food and drink. Some is just standard fast food dressed up with a Lincolnshire spin - so hot dogs will be billed as "spicy Lincolnshire sausages" in a country roll and beef burgers are transformed into locally reared hot beef in a crusty cob. There are mulled wine stalls in abundance with the aromatic spices hanging heavy on the chilled air of the December evening. These were being run by various charitable organisations like the Lions, Round Table and Rotary with proceeds helping local good causes. Of course, going back to the roots of the market, the twinned town of Neustadt is represented with a German wine tent serving, of course the ubiquitous mulled wine but here it’s called Gluhwein (a spicy, hot mulled wine) and sold as the perfect accompaniment to a Bratwurst (a classic German sausage). German biscuits and cakes are also widely available.

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.