Sometimes the only cure for a stressful week is to grab a book, set out to a friendly café, and spend the day relaxing with a cup of tea. To help you forget those weekday blues, here are our top five places to grab a good cuppa in Lincoln.
Stokes of Lincoln
First established in 1902, Stokes has had over 100 years of experience brewing delicious blends of coffees and teas. Located in a quaint old 16th century building, it is built upon the Medieval High Bridge, and offers a great view of the river Witham. A pot of tea for one will set you back £1.30, but a range of specialties from Assam to Darjeeling tea are also available, starting at £2.05. With a cozy interior, and pleasant light jazz playing in the background, this is a perfect place to relax and watch the swans float past. A full list of teas and coffees can be found on its website.
Oliver’s
If you can’t bear the thought of trekking up Steep Hill, Oliver’s may be the perfect place for you. Located just before Straits Brasserie Restaurant, the downstairs boasts a bright and cheerful cream interior adorned with French Impressionist paintings, with tables next to the window perfect for people-watching. There is also a more enclosed space upstairs, great for a intimate gathering, as well as for admiring the café’s charming timber-framed architecture. A cup of tea will cost you £1.30, with an extra 10p allowing you to choose from delicious green and lemon varieties.
The Grove
Slightly further uphill (18 Steep Hill), the trip to The Grove is definitely worth it. A small, quiet café, The Grove’s long, narrow shaped interior ensures plenty of nooks and corners to settle into, with a dark green colour scheme that creates an instantly cozy ambiance. Your basic cuppa is £1.90, which is very reasonable considering the generous portions. And that’s not to mention the wide variety of homemade cakes and ice creams on offer. The combination of friendly staff, charming crockery, and walls decorated with work by local artists, make The Grove a winner.
10 Green Bottles
Situated on Clasketgate, this is the most out-in-the-open café on our list. 10 Green Bottles stands right next to the Theatre Royal, allowing customers to flow directly between. Traditional and Earl Grey teas will cost you £1.40, with speciality fruit teas starting at just 20p more. A bright and friendly café, the upstairs is especially well furnished with comfy black and red chairs, and cream walls that really enhance the light and space. Whether you fancy a refreshment during a play’s interval, or you just want to unwind whilst watching Lincoln’s traffic shoot past, 10 Green Bottles does not disappoint. The website can be found here.
Pimento Tea Rooms
Perched at the very top of Steep Hill, Pimento’s selection of teas are supplied by Imperial Teas of Lincoln, just nearby. Prices start at £2.10, and include a huge variety, from Chinese and Taiwanese tea, to herbal and wholefruit infusions. Connoisseur teas are also available at a slightly more expensive £3.30. Despite its large size, the café is spread over a dozen rooms, the narrow corridors and winding stairs providing a homely feel, full of clinking cutlery and buzzing conversation. It’s also located just behind a shop – a perfect place to relax after a spending spree.
Photos: Kelly Moore for The Lincolnite | Main Photo: Narisa Spaulding
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A pair of anti-vaxxers have decided to temporarily stop sharing conspiracy theories on Facebook and stage a protest at a roundabout in Lincoln instead.
The duo were spotted on the Riseholme roundabout on the A15 on Friday afternoon, armed with misinformation signs that appear to suggest England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has an “evil agenda”.
The protest signs appeared to be against child vaccinations, which suggests that the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation were against young people being jabbed, despite a statement in July saying the Pfizer dose had been authorised for use in people aged 12 and over.
They seem to be at loggerheads with Lincolnshire’s own Jonathan Van-Tam, none other than England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, who urged people this week to “trust professionals, not Instagram” as fake propaganda posted on social media is being attributed to vaccine hesitancy.
Another sign held up spouts rhetoric about heart problems from the COVID-19 vaccine, while a third notice shows children with masks on and reads: “Is this the future we want for our kids?”
For reference, in case you cannot make it to the Lincolnshire Showground for your vaccination, there will be a free shuttle bus service to take you to and from the jab site starting next week. Read more here.
Up to 86% of adults in Lincolnshire are double-jabbed, and over 25% of 12-15-year-olds.
A special lights show celebrating Lincolnshire’s plants will take place at Boultham Park on Saturday.
The Lincspirational Lightshow will start at 5.30pm on October 23 after the original event was postponed earlier this month due to the weather forecast.
The free show is the final of event of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trusts’ LoveLincsPlants project.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations and music inspired by nature from Sinfonia Viva. During the event the 30 artworks created by the public will be projected onto a large screen.
There will also be an opportunity to bid on the 130 artworks submitted as part of the exhibition. They will be available via an online action, with the 30 winning pieces starting at £40.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations, and more. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
The money raised from the sale of the artworks will help fund nature’s recovery in Lincolnshire. It will also help the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust create wildflower rich habitats across the county.
Lincolnshire County Council’s Labour Group will call on the Conservative-led authority to rethink its policy of turning off street lights in built-up areas overnight.
The present situation, introduced in 2016, means that most street lights in Lincolnshire are turned off at midnight, as the council said in March this year that lighting has “no impact” on night-time crime levels.
This statement came after a petition signed by over 5,000 people demanded that street lights were kept on overnight following the death of Sarah Everard in London this year.
The response to Sarah Everard’s death was one of concern for women’s safety, to which the council responded by saying “women’s safety is about much more than street lights.”
A memorial for Sarah Everard in Lincoln on university campus. | Photo: The Lincolnite
More than half of Lincolnshire’s street lights were turned off in 2016 as the council looked to save £1.7 million, and despite the petition and concerns raised, just one parish council asked for lights to be switched back on in 12 months, according to the county’s highways chief.
Now Kev Clarke, Labour County Councillor for Boultham Division in Lincoln and member of Lincolnshire County Council Highways Scrutiny Committee, will be raising the issue at the next meeting on Monday, October 25.
He will be calling for a review of LCC’s street lighting policy, and asking for the council to consider the possibility of keeping the lights on overnight.
Councillor Clarke argues: “After recent sad events – attacks on females – a lot of people feel unsafe and anxious when walking home at night when the county is plunged into darkness at midnight.
“Lincoln is being promoted as a university city with young people leaving home for the first time and moving to Lincoln to study here and gain a first class education. Wonder if the parents were told that lights go off, if so they may look at other locations for their children.
“To boost our local economy we want to attract visitors to Lincoln to visit not only as day–trippers, but to stay over for longer periods to enjoy the benefits of the city and county – one of which is not the turning off of the lights.
“Labour County Councillors are not alone in this plea to Lincolnshire County Council to review the current street lighting policy particularly in Lincoln before it’s too late. Students at the University of Lincoln also want to see changes to the current policy.”
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