Josh Francis

Lawrence Edmonds had a taste of Lincoln Cathedral on a damp day this summer

A licking enthusiast who recently visited Lincoln Cathedral to get a taste of it has admitted it’s not all about the taste sensation.

Lawrence Edmonds, a 27-year-old English Heritage worker, says he does have an interest in the buildings too.

He was challenged by a friend to put his tongue on all 64 cathedrals in the country, with each quest documented on his cathedral licking diary.

“I am actually interested in these cathedrals and do take the time to explore them. It’s not all about the licking!” he told The Lincolnite.

Lawrence visited Lincoln Cathedral back in July but unfortunately the weather impeded the flavour.

“It was a wet day when I visited Lincoln so all I can really remember is that it tasted very damp. Cathedrals don’t usually taste great!”

The heritage worker said Lichfield Cathedral tasted best, while Wakefield tasted “revolting”, and Perth was “a little gritty”.

When it comes to planning, Lawrence explained that there are a lot of factors to consider, from where he has his photo taken, to actually getting there.

“There isn’t always a specific lick-spot, it depends on the cathedral. For the bet I need photographic proof obviously, so I’ll get a spot near an official sign or recognizable feature of the building.”

However Lawrence does get help along the way: “There is a huge amount of planning involved.

“Last month I was in Northern Ireland with my girlfriend’s brother, who drove me to all 8 Anglican cathedrals there. We had been planning the trip for months!”

Sometimes though Lawerence has to rely on less conventional travel methods: “Afterwards I went to Scotland and made my own way around on trains, buses and by hitchhiking.

“I did the same for many of the English and Welsh ones, but got a few lifts from friends and family too. It’s a lot of planning but it’s been well worth it.”

Lawerence mentioned where he plans to go next: “My next destination will be North Wales, where I will complete the challenge with licks at Bangor and St. Asaph.”

Gear and gizmos were on the agenda this weekend at the University of Lincoln, as the computer society held their annual Robo Jam.

Participants got together over two days to build and program robots.

The equipment used is called Lego Mindstorm, a programmable robot using computers and extensions created with Lego pieces.

Games Computing Science student Peter Anderson, president of the computer society, said: “It’s basically a brick with motors on either side with wheels attached and one on the back for stability.

Peter did admit however their were a few snags along the way.

“We had a few problems like a hitch with the software as something hadn’t installed properly. We did plan to have an extra competition event but we decided to people more time to perfect their machines.”

The competition at the end of the weekend consisted of an obstacle course made out of boxes, designed to challenge the robots sensors.

Each competitor was given three time trials and their best time was selected out of those. The winner’s time was 1:12.

Peter added: “The event went really and even had a lot of fun, we had a few hitches but overall fun.”