by The eight milkmaids have taken to their knees in the Elizabeth Room (at least it seems so), leaving a tower of pastel-colored buckets, cows, and three-legged stools beneath the ornately painted ceiling. Next door, seven statuesque swans swim across an elaborate silver centerpiece atop a large banquet table, while six life-size geese have laid Fabergé-style eggs in bright reed-surrounded nests.
Charlotte Lloyd Webber, who decorates Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland and Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, has created a splendid and theatrical 12 Days of Christmas here at Belvoir Castle (pronounced “beaver”). The exhibit features more than 100 trees and thousands of ornaments; the five gold rings take the form of a large kinetic sculpture, rotating over Belvoir’s remarkable art collection (from £10/£19 for children/adults, belvoircastle.com).
Even without its seasonal sparkle, Belvoir is filled with gold and brocade. There are peacock motifs everywhere: in carpets, carvings and gilded stuccoes. As part of the owners’ family crest, peacocks appear again in the Aviary Tearoom, where the festive tea is a multi-layered spectacle including gold and purple macarons and smoked cheddar cheese sandwiches with homemade spiced pear chutney (£ 70 for two, plus entry, belvoircastle .com).
I’m here to enjoy the joy of the car-free season, invigorating walks, medieval churches and beers by the fire.
As the Norman-French name suggests, the jewel in Belvoir’s crown is the expansive view from its windows. On a clear day, you can make out the towers of Lincoln Cathedral on the horizon. South Kesteven is the corner of Lincolnshire that includes nearby Grantham and Stamford with their honey-coloured stone walls. It’s tailor-made for a winter holiday, with cities and towns that may look like a Christmas setting straight out of an imaginary Disney version of England. Grantham also has fast and frequent trains, so I’m here to enjoy the joy of the car-free season, invigorating walks, medieval churches and ales by the fire.
This morning’s train traveled from Peterborough to Grantham in 20 minutes. Getting from the station to Belvoir without a car is more complicated. I booked a demand response minibus through Callconnect, which connects busless towns in Lincolnshire. The service is launching an app, but I had to call the helpline to find a space. Once booked, the journey is trackable and fares are capped, like regular buses, at £2.
I could have used this service to return from Belvoir, but the golden winter sun tempts me to walk a couple of miles to Woolsthorpe via Belvoir and catch the 9 bus. The walk is idyllic and offers fairytale views across Capability Park Brown sheep dotted up to the castle at the top of the hill. After enjoying a ginger beer at the Checkers Inn, I wait at the stop and notice the bus ominously disappear from the tracking map on the bustimes.org website. In the end I hitchhiked with a passing van.
Back in Grantham, there is just time to admire the imposing St Wulfram’s Church with its spectacular blue and gold interior before catching the train. At Peterborough Cathedral, with its beautiful vaulted ceiling, light artists Luxmuralis are installing a seasonal son-et-lumière (£8/£6.50 adults/children, peterborough-cathedral.org.uk).
This corner of Lincolnshire is tailor-made for a winter holiday, with towns and villages that may look like a Christmas setting straight out of an imaginary Disney version of England.
The 201 bus from Peterborough to Stamford stops at Barnack, where the village church has a Romanesque sculpture and Saxon tower, and the recently renovated Millstone pub has a log fire and a gourmet menu. Just a couple of minutes’ walk from here, you’ll find the Hills and Holes Nature Reserve, 50 acres (20 hectares) of hilly, biodiverse land that was a medieval quarry. Creamy limestone, known as Barnack rag, was unearthed here and used to build the universities of Cambridge, as well as the cathedrals of Ely and Peterborough; Blocks of stone were dragged to the river to be transported on barges. Now the grassy hollows are home to rare plants, including orchids and purple pasqueflowers that bloom at Easter. In November, there are autumn gentians among the cut grass, bluebells swaying in the wind, and burnished leaves cascading over tall silver birches.
I’ll stay at the William Cecil Hotel in Stamford. It is named after Elizabeth I’s treasurer, who built Burghley House nearby. The hotel has two dozen luxurious rooms set in a maze of corridors and a grand wooden staircase (doubles from about £120 B&B, thewilliamcecil.co.uk). Burghley Park is just around the corner and new walking trails are being developed. The next morning, I wander among ancient trees and elegant neoclassical bridges. Another Capability Brown creation, the meandering lake and cleverly naturalized deer park surround a stunning Elizabethan mansion (the deer park is free, burghley.co.uk).
This year, for the first time, Burghley opens the gardens on winter weekends. They are brilliant with berry bushes, heavy-headed dahlias and lipstick pink cyclamen under copper oaks. The Garden of Surprises is an ideal centerpiece for a joyful walk; Fun water games bubble between yellow cups and spin delicate metal leaves. There’s also a mirror maze, a misty grotto and interactive obelisks representing the elements (gardens £7.50/£9 for children and adults, burghley.co.uk).
Medieval Stamford was one of the richest cities in England and its streets are lined with beautiful old limestone buildings. Escaping heavy industry and wartime bombing, Stamford has retained its Georgian inns and houses.
The winter sun after a stormy night drags me back to the countryside. Callconnect offers transport to the charming village of Easton on the Hill, but on my final day I choose to head there on the six-mile Four Counties Walk from Stamford, passing through Lincolnshire, Rutland, Northants and Cambridgeshire.
The roads are muddy and the A1 is sometimes noisy, but there are views of Stamford’s steeple-studded skyline. Red-winged maples tower above the yellow maples, and the riverbanks are filled with sculptural seeds: cardoons, burdock, and cow parsley. I walk through Stamford’s Waterfurlong Gardens, a utopian area of orchards. The traditional orchard is home to 55 species of apple trees, including rarities such as Barnack Beauty, Lady’s Delight and Nelson’s Codlin. Signs near the entrance advertise yoga in the Secret Garden, foraging for medicinal food, and swapping strawberry plants.
Climbing a stone spiral staircase in Easton’s small 15th-century Priest’s House (free, nationaltrust.org.uk), I find a museum of village life. Among the items on display are a Neolithic tool and an ancient candle. There is a striped gleaning bag, a hog bristle scraper, a slate pick and a pair of wooden skates. At All Saints’ Church, around the corner, I discover that the Edwardian rector Percy Hooson once skated from Cambridge to Ely and back (30-odd miles) in an afternoon.
Later, on the train from Stamford to Cambridge, I catch a glimpse of the River Cam, which last froze in 1997. In a field, between March and Manea, a flock of more than 50 swans has gathered in a flat field of stalks . Soon after, there is a view of Ely Cathedral over the boats in the marina, set against meadows of misty water filled with cows.
Transport was provided by Cross Country (single advance from Cambridge to Stamford from £10.50crosscountrytrains.co.uk) and LNER (single Grantham to Peterborough from €7.60, lner.co.uk). Accommodation was provided by William Cecil, Stamford (doubles from approx £120 B&B, thewilliamcecil.co.uk) and Vale House Belvoir (dubbed from £95 Accommodation only, belvoirestateholidays.com).
