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Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county on the eastern side of England, below the more famous Yorkshire, and above Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. To the south-west is Leicestershire, and to the west Nottinghamshire. Lincolnshire is the fourth-largest English county, with a land area of 2,272 sq mi (5,885 sq km). Lincolnshire is known for the flatness of the countryside (although considerable areas are anything but flat) and the long sandy coastline where the low lying land meets the North Sea in a wave of golden sand dunes. The climate is moderate, but is subject to strong winds especially along the coast. Average annual rainfall is in the region of 25-30 in (35-760 mm). Lincolnshire, and particularly Louth grew prosperous in the Middle Ages through the wool trade, but is mainly supported through agriculture and tourism today.
Being so flat, the region was from earliest times open to invasion from the continent. Place names bear witness to early Viking and Norse settlements, and much of the architecture reflects the Dutch influence - indeed the extensive bulb fields around Spalding are known as "little Holland". Full of bustling compact market towns, peaceful villages and hundreds of churches, mills, and other historical buildings built from the famous Ancaster building stone, which was often transported by barge to be sold in Norfolk and Suffolk. The main land use is predominantly agricultural, whether bulbs and vegetables to the south, or grain, wheat and livestock to the north. This large agricultural expanse means that Lincolnshire has a large and varied wildlife population. Wildfowl and birds are common along the coast, and there are nature reserves at Saltfleetby and Gibraltar Point. A seal sanctuary is at Skegness, where one of the captive Harbour seals gave birth in 2003(picture of Mum on archive page). Mablethorpe's Animal Gardens feature Lincolnshire wildlife, past and present, along visitors from warmer parts of the world.
Henry VIII called Lincolnshire "one of the most brutal and beestlie of the whole realm". Things have changed a little since his time!
Lincoln is the principal city of the area, and the cathedral, described by the 19th-century writer and critic John Ruskin as "the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles", is an imposing site as you approach the city, especially from the south when it looms above on the hill, next to the ruins of the castle. The original Norman west front remains, and the glorious 13th-century Angel Choir, built to house the shrine of St Hugh the 12th-century bishop of Lincoln. Lincoln also contains Newport Arch, one of the most complete Roman remains in the UK, and the 12th-century Jew's House, one of the oldest domestic buildings in England. Lincoln was founded in 47 AD by the Romans, at the junction of the Fosse Way and Ermine Street, the Roman road from London to York via Lincoln.
In the south of the county are The Fens. These have long been drained and reclaimed as fertile farmland (some from as early as the from the 17th century). A windy and almost treeless region, it is crossed by drains, known as dykes. Sir Joseph Banks engineered the draining of the fens. Famous for his travels to Australia, he brought back many exotic species of plant. The Banks glasshouse, home to some of the species of plants he brought back, is situated at the Lawn in Lincoln. To the west are the gentle rises of the Lincolnshire Edge, and to the east are the rolling chalk Lincolnshire Wolds, where Louth is located. The Wolds are over 500 ft (150 m) tall.
Near to Louth, the seaside resorts of Skegness and Mablethorpe provide a fun day out, with fun fairs, penny arcades (many sporting old style machines much more fun than their modern counterparts) and of course the beaches . Nearby Woodhall Spa is named for its natural springs, and also has a traditional cinema, a splendid golf course, and a lot of memorabilia over it's wartime links with the famous Dambusters Squadron. A few miles away Horncastle, which was an old Roman, walled settlement, is full of wonderful antique shops for those who like to root out bargains.
The medieval keep of Tattershall Castle( National Trust) is well worth a visit. To the south is Woolsthorpe Manor, birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton, where he is reputed to have discovered gravity. (a descendant of the apple tree responsible is still in the garden).
The poet Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) was born at Somersby, and attended King Edward VI school in Louth (although in common with many schoolboys he is thought not to have enjoyed it). Another famous old boy of the school was the explorer John Smith (c. 1579-1631). He was one of the members of the expedition that established the first permanent English settlement in America - Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. He is also the explorer who according to his own account was saved from execution at the hands of the native American chief Powhatan by his daughter Pocahontas. In 1606 a group of 35 Puritans set sail from the nearby port of Boston, for Holland, where they joined up with other Protestants at Plymouth, and sailed for America in the Mayflower. Another famous resident is the former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who was born at Grantham in 1925.
There are many other well known yellowbellies (Lincolnshire born) such as Abfab star, Jennifer Saunders, Jim Broadbent, golfer, Tony Jacklin, and my distant relation, Dame Sybil Thorndyke, star of stage and classic films such as Major Barbara (with Rex Harrison).