Ashley Partridge

This year’s Lincoln Cathedral Flower Festival begins on Thursday, August 16, and more than 5,000 tickets for the event have sold out already.

Sixty coach parties from across the country are booked to bring in visitors to the event, with the opening gala taking place on Wednesday evening from 7.30pm (ticket booking required).

Keeping the spirit of the Olympic Games alive is the theme of this year’s show, which has been called Dreams of Gold. It is being overseen by Jenny Whitton, the joint-chairperson for the event.

Visitors will be able to see a total of 117 displays at the festival. So, what kind of skills does it take to set this up?

For the past two years Jenny Whitton has planned and organised the celebration of all things floral

“You need to have some natural talent and a creative eye but experience and practice count for a lot,” Jenny Whitton said.

Experience is something that Jenny has a lot of. She has spent her career arranging flowers professionally and even taken part in the Chelsea Flower Show. Her involvement in the Cathedral’s exhibition spans three decades.

Her job as the joint-chairperson for this year’s festival involved getting in touch with 26 different floral clubs. They are the people who create all the displays and it takes hundreds of volunteers to put them together.

The clubs need to be told what they have to make, what colours to use and how their displays will fit into the Cathedral itself. Sizes have to be worked out and everything needs to be put into place.

However, things can always go wrong for a festival of this size.

“The flowers can arrive a different size or colour from your original plans. You have to think on your feet and work with what you’ve got,” Jenny explained.

Richard Sweeney putting together four life-sized horse sculptures, created using sheets of A1 paper

The organising committee has also secured the talents of sculptor Richard Sweeney. The young artist has already had his work displayed around the world, including New York and France. He even featured in London’s DKNY and Selfridges stores.

He was born in Huddersfield and the majority of his work uses paper to create dynamic shapes. For the Cathedral Flower Festival, he has crafted four life-size horses that will grace the centre of the Nave.

The festival takes place every six years and this year’s event is only the seventh time it has happened. Jenny Whitton puts the long wait down to the amount of preparation that is involved.

“There’s a lot to do but we have an army of volunteers who have worked hard and know what they are doing, a fantastic location and many of us have been here before,” she said.

Tickets cost £10 for adults, £8 for concessions and under 16s get in free. Groups of eight or more pay £7.20 per person.

On Friday, August 17th, a special Musical Meander evening will take place. From 7.30pm to 9.30pm, visitors can walk around the exhibition as music is played. It costs £20 per person and the price includes wine and refreshments.

Advance bookings can be made by calling 01522 561 644 or at the Cathedral’s website. More ticket info an opening times on our event listing.

Timelapse video of the preparations from Epix Media

Revamping Lincoln Castle (L-R): Mary Powell, Lord Cormack, Dr Jonathan Clark, Helen Bates and Andrew Arrol

Archaeologists digging at Lincoln Castle have worked with Channel 4’s Time Team to discover what the city was like 2,000 years ago.

Dr Jonathan Clark spoke to The Lincolnite on Wednesday, as part of an afternoon of public presentations on the renovation work being done at the castle.

The event took place at The Lawn, and he was one of the guest speakers.

Channel 4 has been filming his team’s work in the Eastern Courtyard of the grounds.

Researchers have been excavating as part of preparations for a new building to house the city’s copy of the Magna Carta.

“We’ve got to go down roughly four metres in depth and that provides a complete slice through the 2,000-year history of Lincoln. From the Romans, right up to the Victorians and the current day,” Dr Clark said.

Various digs have been taking place around the castle, and they have discovered the remains of a number of buildings.

Evidence of a great hall has been found, along with other fragments of information.

The plan is to map out everything that has been found, so visitors can see exactly what was hidden behind the curtain walls.

Work is also being done to improve the walkways along the walls. Architect Andrew Arrol, another guest speaker, said: “Getting access for people of all abilities, people with prams and little children up onto the walls for the first time will be a significant improvement.”

Historical researcher Helen Bates and Tourism and Development Manager for Lincoln County Council, Mary Powell, also gave presentations at the free event.

Visitors were treated to 3D images of what the castle should look like when the construction work is complete.

As previously reported, a special underground vault will be built by 2015, to show off the Magna Carta. It will mark the 800th anniversary of the document and will sit alongside the 1217 Charter of the Forest.

Chairman of the Lincoln Historic Trust, Lord Cormack, gave a short speech at the presentation. He said: “I want 2015 to go down as one of the biggest year’s in Lincoln’s history.”