East Midlands

Lincoln Castle has a one-thousand-year history. Built by William the Conqueror, initially in wood and later in stone, allegedly using recycled Roman blocks, the castle has been the site of conflict, as well as a prison. It was fought over during the 12th century Anarchy and withstood a 40-day siege in the early 12th century. Just a few years later, it featured in the Battle of Lincoln in 1217, when royalist forces defeated an invading French army; had they not prevailed, England would almost certainly have come under French rule. It was besieged again during the English Civil when, in 1644, defending Royalists were overwhelmed by Parliamentary forces. Later, it became a prison. During the Second World War, Civil Defence Volunteers perched on the castle’s walls scanned the skies overhead for enemy aircraft.

Courts have been held at Lincoln Castle for centuries. Today, there is a 19th century courthouse on the site, still used for criminal trials.

Little remains of the medieval castle. Visitors can tour the Victorian prison block and view one of the four surviving original copies of Magna Carta. This is one of Lincoln’s treasures. Apart from the prison and the courthouse, the bailey area of the old castle is just an open space, freely open to the public when the castle is open. However, the highlight of a visit is to walk around the castle walls, taking in various towers along the way, and with spectacular views of the cathedral and city. The wall walk was part of a multi-million-pound restoration project between 2010 and 2015; and it has been done extremely well.

The National Holocaust Centre is dedicated to providing an understanding of discrimination and prejudice and is the only museum of its kind in the UK. It was founded by the Smith family, in their home, following a visit in 1991 to Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust museum. There are both temporary and permanent exhibitions - 'The Journey' is mainly aimed at children of primary school age and 'The Holocaust' tells the full story of European Jews, the rise of the Nazis, the 'final solution' and its aftermath. Many survivors tell their stories to the museum and its visitors. There is also an acre of memorial garden. As of 2017, something like 20,000 school children will visit the National Holocaust Centre.

Normanton church is what you might class as Instagram fodder. Surrounded on three sides by Rutland Water, in the right light it hardly looks English at all. Sometimes, it almost seems to float. Once upon a time, there was a medieval parish church, dedicated to St Matthew, serving the village of Normanton. In the early 18th century, nasty local aristocrats, the Heathcotes, demolished part of the village to make their estate nicer and took over the church as their private chapel and mausoleum. In the 1760s, the church was given a classical-style makeover. When Rutland Water was planned, it seemed obvious that the church would meet a watery doom. However, thanks to local efforts, it was eventually decided to fill the lower level of the church with rubble and finished with a concrete floor about 2 feet (60cms) above the water level. A causeway was built out to connect the church with dry land defensive works built around it. As well as being an eye-catching watermark, Normanton Church is used as a wedding venue and at one time had a small museum in it, telling the story of Rutland Water from prehistoric times. Access free to view the exterior of the church.

The Peak District National Park was Britain’s first, in 1951.  It sits surrounded by major conurbations, broadly between Manchester and Sheffield, mainly in Derbyshire, but also partly in Staffordshire, Cheshire and South and West Yorkshire.  The Park covers an area of 555 square miles (1437 square kilometres) and the highest point is Kinder Scout in the north of the region at 2087 feet (636 metres).

The development of national parks has often seen conflict between landowners and the public.  Kinder was the scene of a mass trespass undertaken by ramblers in 1932, to raise awareness of the fact that the public was denied access to open country.  Some believe this act of civil disobedience, which amazingly resulted in some arrests, was instrumental in producing national parks legislation in 1949.

The Peak District is a park of two halves.  In the north, the ‘Dark Peak’ is characterised by millstone grit pokes through areas of moorland, whereas the central and southern areas, known as ‘White Peak’ are largely limestone country.  Neolithic man was here and the Romans used to export lead mined from the limestone areas, and admire the unique semi-precious Blue John stone found near Castleton.

Like most of Britain’s national parks, the Peak district is favoured by walkers, climbers, campers, cyclists – and so on. Beneath the ground, cavers enjoy exploring the natural caverns and old mine workings.

Villages in the Peak District are renowned for the tradition of well dressing in spring and summer.

The principal settlements within the National Park are Bakewell and Tideswell, though Buxton, just outside the park authority, is an important town, famed for its spring water since Roman times.

450 acres of nature reserve, featuring waymarked walks and, possibly, an ancestor of Robin Hood's legendary greenwood tree, the Major Oak.  There is also a visitor centre and cafe.