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Lincolnshire is renowned for its green spaces, and there are ten parks in the county considered amongst the best in the UK, including Lincoln, Grantham and Scunthorpe.

First introduced in 1996, Green Flag Awards are handed out annually, promoting standards of good management and caring for the green space sector, whether it be publicly accessible parks or open spaces.

Owners of spaces that want Green Flag accreditation pay a fee to be assessed by volunteer judges on an annual basis, who will inspect maintenance, security, heritage and other aspects before awarding or rejecting the application.

There are over 2,000 parks with Green Flag status in the United Kingdom, ten of which are in Lincolnshire, spanning from Lincoln to Grantham to Scunthorpe.

The ten parks are:

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Boultham Park – Lincoln

Boultham Park in Lincoln is on a roll at the moment, having first achieved Green Flag status in 2019, and it has not looked back since. This is the third year in a row the park has been awarded for its well maintained space.

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Hartsholme Country Park – Lincoln

Hartsholme Country Park first won this award in 2008, and has been a stable member of the Green Flag status list each year since. It is one of the three Lincoln parks to be recognised this year.

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Lincoln Arboretum

After becoming the first place in Lincolnshire to win Green Flag status when it was renovated in 2003, Lincoln Arboretum has been a consistent winner of the award, so it will come as no surprise that it has again been recognised for 2021.

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Queen Elizabeth Park – Grantham

Covering around 23 acres in area, Queen Elizabeth Park was named after the Queen Mother and opened in 1980 to mark her 80th birthday. This year was the first time the park was awarded Green Flag status.

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Wyndham Park – Grantham

Boasting tennis courts, play areas, a model boat lake and even a sensory garden, Wyndham Park in Grantham covers all the bases you need to be an all-inclusive open space worthy of Green Flag status.

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Baysgarth Park – Barton-upon-Humber

Green Flag describes Baysgarth Park as “a safe environment for families and visitors of all ages” with open green spaces for playing games or settling down for a picnic. There are football goals, walking routes and a wildflower area to soak in.

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Central Park Scunthorpe

While it may share a name with perhaps the most iconic park on the planet, Scunthorpe’s Central Park has plenty to shout about, and is often awarded Green Flag status each year. The centrepiece of the park is a large water fountain, which attracts plenty of visitors.

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Kingsway Gardens – Scunthorpe

Kingsway Gardens in Scunthorpe has been prolific in winning Green Flag Awards, with 2021’s nod meaning it has been recognised fourteen years in a row.

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Sheffield Park – Scunthorpe

After undergoing an 18-month transformation, Scunthorpe’s Sheffield Park was given Green Flag status in 2021 thanks to its new play equipment, skate park, additional trees and developing wildflower corridors.

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Woodlands Memorial Park and Crematorium – Scunthorpe

The Woodlands Memorial Park and Crematorium, found on Brumby Wood Lane in Scunthorpe, is another previous winner of the award that has done a great job maintaining the high standards required for Green Flag status.

Massingberd-Mundy Distillery in Lincolnshire produced just 150 bottles of their Mulled Winter Berry Gin, making this a very special present for gin-lovers this Christmas.

The Mulled Winter Berry Gin is infused with fresh figs, blackberries and locally grown elderberries as well as a perfect blend of mulling spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and dried orange.

The limited edition Mulled Winter Berry Gin is a festive twist on the distillery’s Marie-Jeanne’s Pink Gin, which has won five awards including Gold in the 2021 World Gin Awards and Best Flavoured Gin in The Gin Guide Awards.

Created by master distiller Tristan Jørgensen, each bottle of Mulled Winter Berry Gin is numbered by hand, making each one a truly unique gift.

It comes at the end of a spectacular year for the distillery which has won a series of prestigious awards for its artisan gins, including accolades from the World Gin Awards, IWSC, The Gin Guide and Lincolnshire Life’s Taste of Excellence Food & Drink Awards.

Distilled using locally-sourced ingredients and hand-bottled on the South Ormsby Estate, each spirit from Massingberd-Mundy Distillery represents outstanding quality, inspired by the history and landscape of the Lincolnshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Massingberd-Mundy Distillery’s head distiller, Tristan Jørgensen said: “I love absolutely everything about Christmas and I’ve been working on this gin for months to capture the smells, tastes and the overall feeling of that perfect Christmas Day.

“On the nose, you are greeted with cinnamon, cloves and winter jam berries, and to the taste, your palette is hit with an intense burst of strewed fruits with warming cinnamon & cloves.

“The finish of this luxurious festive gin is fairly lengthy and intensely moreish, leaving you wanting your next sip. It’s brilliant with just tonic, or enjoyed neat, but I recommend serving it with a light tonic, garnished with fresh blackberries and either a cinnamon stick or a fresh fig to finish.

“My father was from Denmark and they have a word ‘hygge’ which describes the warm, cozy, and contented feeling you get from being snug, comfortable and happy on a winter’s day.

“For me, this Mulled Winter Berry Gin is hygge in a bottle and I hope it brings everyone who drinks it a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year.”

Mulled Winter Berry Gin from Massingberd-Mundy Distillery will be available from £39 from 1st December 2021 from specially-selected retailers and from the South Ormsby Estate website while stocks last. Visit www.southormsbyestate.co.uk.

Each gin from Massingberd-Mundy Distillery is available as part of a selection of hampers and they are also available for corporate gifting, along with a range of luxurious local produce from the South Ormsby Estate.

With a 25% discount on large orders, the estate offers a range of gifts which are perfect for organisations to share with colleagues, clients or contacts. For information on corporate gifting, visit www.southormsbyestate.co.uk/corporate-gifting.

A 20-year-old showjumper from Skegness born with a spinal condition has won a landmark legal case against her mother’s GP, after claiming she should never have been born due to a lack of advice from the doctor.

Evie Toombes, 20, was born with a condition known as spina bifida, which sees a baby’s spine and spinal cord fail to develop in the womb, causing a gap in the skeleton.

Her condition has resulted in Evie, from Skegness, sometimes having to be connected to tubes 24-hours-a-day, and it prompted her to sue Dr Philip Mitchell, her mum’s GP.

Despite having spina bifida, Evie has managed to compete at a high level as a show jumper, both in disabled and able-bodied fields.

The lawsuit stated that Dr Mitchell failed to correctly advise Evie’s mother Caroline, 50, to take vital supplements before getting pregnant with Evie, something which the GP categorically denied throughout.

Evie claimed that had the doctor told Caroline she needed to take medication to minimise the risk of spina bifida affecting her child, it would have put her off getting pregnant at all.

This prompted Evie to suggest that she should never have been born in the first place, as if her mother had taken the supplements she would have had a child that is genetically different to Evie.

A landmark High Court ruling in London on Wednesday, December 1, backed Evie’s case and gave her the right to a large compensation payout worth millions of pounds.

The financial aid Evie is entitled to could now allow her to be properly supported for the rest of her life, thanks to winning this legal battle.

During the trial, Evie’s mother Caroline said she’d gone to see Dr Mitchell in February 2001, at Hawthorn Medical Practice in Skegness, to discuss plans to have her first baby.

Mrs Toombes insisted that despite discussions of supplements, she was never advised by Dr Mitchell that they could prevent spina bifida in a baby.