The year draws to a close with Lincoln Cathedral staff and volunteers bending but not broken, as John Campbell, the Deans Verger, likes to put it. It rather gives a lie to the old joke, ‘Vicar, what do you do on the other six days of the week?’
My abiding memory from my first full year as Chapter Clerk and Chief Executive of this astonishing institution will surely be of busyness. It no longer surprises me that the Cathedral has a significant positive impact on the local and wider economy. I just have to think back to August and that period between the end of the Olympics and the start of the Paralympics when we were all at loss for what to watch on TV. In Lincoln it was more than punctuated by the Flower Festival, Dreams of Gold. It was lovely to see the Cathedral Quarter buzzing with life, with shops and cafes full. The Cathedral itself welcomed no fewer than 14,000 visitors.
Three months later we joined with Lincoln Castle in running a Celebration of Food and Farming alongside the famous Sausage Festival and welcomed 5,000 people into the nave. Over the Christmas Market we welcomed another 22,000 or so. This ability to attract and welcome so many people may well be part of the key to dealing with our never ending money struggles but also, working with Visit Lincoln and Lincoln Castle, the development of Lincoln into the top visitor destination it so clearly deserves to be.
At the heart of what we do remains the daily round of prayer where every aspect of life is brought before God. This combines six days a week with music that is truly world class. Again, two high points: in March the Cathedral choir performed the St John Passion, but then in November Handel’s Messiah and, it is still happening, I still tingle as I write. It was an outstanding performance. I truly hope that the choir will find time in its very busy schedule for more performances of that scale and quality.
None of this would be possible were we not working hard at the challenge that English Heritage has set us by placing the building on their ‘at risk’ register. We have to find and then spend £1.6 million a year on restoring the building. The standing of our works department was underlined by their presence at the end of September at the International Preservation Trades Network conference in Charleston, USA.
Looking ahead to 2013 we have an astonishing event in June where for the first time in probably eight centuries we will have 150 or so masons on the East Green as they gather for the European Stone Festival.
More generally in 2013, we have set ourselves the challenge of engaging more people in what we are doing and encouraging them to give regularly to enable us to continue our work.
— Phil Hamlyn Williams is the Chapter Clerk and Chief Executive at Lincoln Cathedral
Phil Hamlyn Williams is a writer and Chair of Trustees at Lincoln Drill Hall and the Lincoln Book Festival. He was Chief Executive of Lincoln Cathedral. He spent twenty five years in the accounting profession with ten years as a partner in Price Waterhouse. He then worked in management and finance in the charity sector.
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Have I Got News For You star Paul Merton will perform his show ‘Impro Chums’ on stage at the New Theatre Royal Lincoln later this month.
Merton, Richard Vranch, Suki Webster, Mike McShane, and accompanist Kirsty Newton are back on the road, with Lincoln among the stops on the tour for an evening of improvisation.
Tickets are on sale priced at £25 for the show at 7.30pm on Tuesday, May 31 – buy your tickets here.
Merton is a writer, actor, comedian and radio and television present, who is known for his improvisation skill and deadpan humour. He is a founder member of The Comedy Store Players and still appears at the Comedy Store in London most Sundays.
The 64-year-old is also a resident guest on BBC Radio 4’s Just A Minute and his travel series on Channel Five called Paul Merton’s Adventures covered India, China and Europe. Last summer he co-stared with Suki Website in Motorhoming with Paul Merton as part of a six-part travel documentary for Channel 5.
His autobiography ‘Only When I Laugh’ reached the Sunday Times bestseller Top 10.
A 22-year-old man who died in a motorbike crash in Lincoln will be given a final send off with a rip-roaring procession on the way to his funeral.
Connor Peters, 22, tragically died in a crash on the B1190 Lincoln Road on Monday, May 9, as his black Lexmoto motorcycle collided with a white Isuzu van.
He unfortunately died at the scene, and a fundraiser was set up for the “cheeky, loveable rogue” to have the send off “he deserves”. At the time of reporting there is a remarkable £5,000 on the GoFundMe page, which you can visit here.
Connor Peters, pictured here with his mum, tragically died in a crash on Monday, May 9. | Photo: GoFundMe
Now, plans have been made for a motorbike procession to join the hearse taking Connor to his funeral service. The event, titled Connor Peters’ Last Ride, has been organised by his brother Josh.
It will take place at 11.50am on Monday, June 13, starting from Larne Road in Lincoln.
Josh says on the event’s Facebook page: “As a family, we are wanting a full motorcycle procession behind the funeral car, we want as many bikes, trikes, mopeds anything. We want so much noise remove all baffles removed, pops and bangs enough so he can hear from up there.
“Connor was a 22 year old lad that was full of life and was loved by so many, he loved his little 125cc, he thought that he had finally hit the big time but due to a awful turn of events he lost his life doing something he loved.
“For many of us bikers we can understand the love and passion he had for that short period of time. A biker fallen hits us all but we all club together to make an effort to remember those we lost.”
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