The Lincolnshire Wolds (in a county with no motorway)
Lincolnshire is a county in the East Midlands, with sandy beaches. The Wolds run 216 miles (low hills running along the North Sea coast). Here you’ll find walking routes, with flourishing wildlife amid ancient woodlands and hedgerows, with buzzard and red kites soaring overhead.
If out walking, always follow the Countryside Code to keep all creatures safe. If at the coast, read about how to keep dogs safe by the seaside.
The Viking Way runs for 147 miles, with some of its best parts winding through this area. You’ll pass old hedgerows, and winding streams. Villages like Tealby and Binbrook invite lazy afternoons with stunning views.
Hidden in quiet Fenland, Heckington is the only eight-sailed windmill left in England. Restored by local enthusiasts, the mill acts as a living museum.
Known as having the highest concentration of deserted medieval villages in England, the chalk streams are home to endangered water voles (and otters) and is a prime habitat for ground-nesting birds.
In spring, the landscape here turns bright yellow to rapeseed flowers, which of course are made into cooking oil (more local than olive oil, and makes for great roast potatoes, no goose fat required).
One person born in the Wolds was poet Lord Alfred Tennyson. Even if you’re not familiar with the verse of this bard, you’ll know his phrase ’tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all’.
Born in 1809, he wrote a 6000 line epic poem when he was just 12 years old, and wrote ever since after that. The favourite poet of Queen Victoria, he was not rich, having lost his savings in a wood-carving business that went bankrupt.
