Fifty great things to do in our area in 2016

If you’re you’re looking for new ideas of what to do in 2016, then look no further.

Kate Chapman has come up with a load of activities and experiences and you can do them all without travelling great distances. Here are 50 things to do in our area. How many have you ticked off already?

1. Enjoy fish and chips on the seafront at Skegness.

2. Admire the view from the balcony around Moulton Mill.

3. Scare yourself silly on a Ghost Tour of Burghley House, in Stamford.

4. Travel a little differently and ride the water taxi from Spalding to Springfields Outlet Shopping Centre.

5. Take a dip in one of the county’s outdoor pools at Bourne, Heckington or Woodhall Spa.

6. Take a tour of Bateman’s Brewery, Wainfleet St Mary, and finish off by sampling some of the goods.

7. Have a flutter at the racecourse in Market Rasen.

8. Salute the servicemen and women who have served our country with a drink in the Dambuster’s Bar at The Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa.

9. Enjoy a movie old-style at the Kinema in the Woods, Woodhall Spa.

10. Walk the walls at Lincoln Castle, and make sure you go and see one of only four surviving copies of the Magna Carta while you’re there.

11. Play a game of Poohsticks on the bridge at Bourne Eau. It was recently named as one of the top beauty spots to enjoy the game in a national survey.

12. Enjoy some of the county’s best countryside by completing the Sir Peter Scott Walk, which runs from Sutton Bridge into neighbouring Norfolk.

13. Spoil yourself with afternoon tea at The George, Stamford.

14. Savour the view from the top of Boston Stump.

15. Watch the world’s top horse riders in action at the Burghley Horse Trials, Stamford.

16. Eat your way around the Lincolnshire Sausage Festival.

17. Marvel at the gravity defying antics of the county’s Red Arrows display team.

18. Enjoy a traditional day out at the Lincolnshire Show.

19. Try your hand at Cabbage Hurling or Egg Throwing – Lincolnshire hosts world championships for both.

20. Pay a visit to the traditional Stamford Market.

21. Visit Sir Isaac Newton’s birthplace Woolsthorpe Manor and see the apple tree which inspired his thoughts on gravity.

22. Carve a pumpkin and show off your handiwork at Spalding’s annual Pumpkin Parade.

23. Complete the Maze in Maize at Whaplode – without using the cheat sheet.

24. Coo over the baby seals at Donna Nook Nature Reserve - every November and December, the seals give birth to their pups near the sand dunes.

25. Pick Your Own fruit and veg at one of the many county farms offering the service, or...

26. Take advantage of Lincolnshire’s fabulous silt soils and have a bash at growing your own.

27. Get back to nature with a walk through Bourne Woods.

28. Enjoy some racing action at Cadwell Park circuit Louth, nicknamed the mini Nürburgring.

29. Whet your whistle at the oldest thatched pub in Lincolnshire – the King’s Head at Tealby.

30. Go glamping at Tattershall Lakes and camp out in style under the stars.

31. Treat yourself to some pampering at the Grange Spa.

32. Unleash your inner daredevil and complete one of the county’s biggest rope courses at High Ropes Adventure, near Market Rasen.

33. Or if you’re feeling even braver you could take the plunge with a skydive at Hibaldstow, in North Lincolnshire.

34. Get back to nature by watching the birds feed on the mudflats at RSPB Frampton Marsh, near Boston - a haven for wildlife all year round.

35. There’s lots to do at Rutland Water - walk or cycle around the shore, have a go at mini-golf, say hello to a creepy crawly at Bugtopia or even catch a glimpse of an Osprey.

36. Have a ride in a quirky car at the Bubble Car Museum, near Boston.

37. Feed the animals at Rushmoor County Park, Louth.

38. Explore the 13th century ruins at Bolingbroke Castle, Bolingbroke, the birthplace of Henry IV.

39. Take in a performance by the Stamford Shakespeare Company at Tolethorpe in Rutland.

40. Try the lost art of blacksmithing at Chain Bridge Forge, Spalding.

41. Visit the owls at Baytree Nurseries Garden Centre, Weston.

42. Walk around the beautiful Barnsdale Gardens created by Geoff Hamilton.

43. Sample some samphire freshly harvested from the county’s coastline.

44. Pay a visit to Oakham Castle, when it reopens in the Spring, to see some of the horseshoes left by Royal visitors to Rutland.

45. Take a trip across some of the county’s most beautiful countryside on the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway.

46. Treat yourself with an unusually flavoured ice-cream at Laddies, Holbeach; if Apple Pie or Turkish Delight don’t tickle your taste buds, there are plenty more traditional ones to choose from.

47. Mix your own Lincolnshire cocktails – add half a bottle of Percy’s Lemon and Lime Vodka Tea, with a dash of vodka, top it up with cola and garnish with a lemon to make your own delicious Long Island Ice Tea.

48. You don’t have to head out of the county to enjoy great music and a festival atmosphere – several are held each year at venues including Butlin’s, Skegness, while the Alchemy Festival is held on a nature reserve near Woodhall Spa.

49. Have a traditional family seaside holiday at Butlin’s Skegness resort.

50. Launch a treasure hunt to find King John’s lost jewels in The Wash after they fell overboard while he was crossing the marshes in around 1216.