by The eight nurses were kneeling in the Salon Elizabeth – at least it seems – they left a tower of stools, cows and three-legged stools under the ornate painted ceiling. Next door, seven sculptural swans float through an elaborate silver centerpiece above a large banquet table, while six full-sized geese have laid Fabergé-style eggs in sparkling nests of mud.
Charlotte Lloyd Webber, who decorates Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, and Castle Howard, North Yorkshire, has created a spectacular 12 Days of Christmas theater here at Belvoir Castle (pronounced “beaver”). The display features more than 100 trees and thousands of baubles; The five gold rings take the form of a large kinetic sculpture, spinning above Belvoir’s stunning art collection (from £10/£19 children/adults, belvoircastle.com).
Even without its seasonal bling, Belvoir is dripping in gold and brocade. Peacock motifs are everywhere: on carpets, carvings and gilded stucco. Part of the owners’ family crest, peacocks reappear in the Aviary’s Tea Room, where the festive tea is a multi-tiered delight that includes gold and purple macarons and smoked cheddar sandwiches with homemade spiced pear jam (£70 for two one, plus entrance, Castle of Belgium. .com).
I’m here for car-free seasonal cheer, bracing walks, medieval churches and a pint 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 its honey stone walls. It’s specially designed for the winter break, with towns and villages that can feel like a Christmas set from an imaginary Disney version of England. Grantham also has regular fast trains, so I’m here for car-free seasonal cheer, bracing walks, medieval churches and a pint by the fire.
This morning’s train ran from Peterborough to Grantham in 20 minutes. Getting from the station to Belvoir without a car is more difficult. I booked a minibus to meet the demand through Callconnect, which connects villages without buses in Lincolnshire. The service is rolling out an app, but I had to call the busy helpline to find a slot. Once booked, the journey can be tracked and fares are capped at £2, as on normal buses.
I could use this service to get back from Belvoir, but the golden winter sun makes me want to walk the few miles to Woolsthorpe le Belvoir and catch the 9 bus instead. The walk is spectacular, offering fairytale views over the sheep-cliffed Capability Brown parkland to the hilltop castle. After enjoying a ginger beer in the Checkers Inn, I wait at the stop and notice that the bus is going very well from the tracking map on the bustimes.org website. Eventually I hit a lift with a passing van.
Back in Grantham, there is just time to admire the tall church of St Wulfram with its dramatic blue-and-gold interior before I catch my 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 the winter break, with towns and villages that can feel like a Christmas set from an imaginary Disney version of England.
Bus 201 from Peterborough to Stamford stops in Barnack, where the village church has a Romanesque statue and a Saxon tower, and the recently restored Millstone pub has a log fire and garnet menu. A few minutes’ walk from here, you’ll find the Hills and Holes nature reserve, 20 hectares (50 acres) of humous, biodiverse land that was once a medieval quarry. Upper limestone, called Barnack chert, was dug here and was used to build Cambridge colleges, as well as Ely and Peterborough cathedrals; stone blocks were hauled to the river to be transported on a barge. Now there are rare plants in the grassy hollows, including orchids and purple cypress flowers that bloom around Easter. In November, there are autumn carrion among the cut grass, hare bells blowing in the wind, and burnt leaves cascading on tall silver birches.
I am staying at the William Cecil Stamford hotel. It is named after the treasurer of Elizabeth I, who built nearby Burghley House. The hotel has two dozen luxurious rooms off a labyrinth of corridors and grand wooden staircases (doubles from around £120 B&B, thewilliamcecil.co.uk). Burghley Park is on the doorstep, with new walking paths being developed. The next morning, I walk past ancient trees and elegant neoclassical bridges. Another Brown Ability creation, the snake loch and artfully naturalized deer park surrounds the impressive Elizabethan mansion (deer park is free, burghley.co.uk).
This year, for the first time, Burghley is opening the gardens on a winter weekend. They are bright with berry bushes, bold dahlias and lipstick-pink cyclamen under a copper oak. The Garden of Wonders is a great center for a cheering walk; fun bubble water features among the yellow rice cups and delicate metal leaf twists. There’s also a mirror maze, a misty cave and interactive obelisks that represent the elements (gardens £7.50/£9 children/adults, burghley.co.uk).
Medieval Stamford was one of the wealthiest towns in England, and the streets are lined with fine old limestone buildings. Escaping heavy industry and wartime bombing, Stamford has preserved its coach houses and Georgian houses.
The winter sun after a stormy night draws me out into the countryside again. Callconnect offers transport to the lovely village of Easton on the Hill, but on my last day, I choose to go there on the six-mile Four Counties walk from Stamford, passing through Lincolnshire, Rutland, Northants and Cambridgeshire.
The paths are muddy and the A1 noisy at times, but there are views of Stamford’s tinned skyline. The rush of yellow hedgerows is alarming, and riverbanks are thick with sculptural seed heads: reed, burdock and cow parsley. I walk through Stamford’s Waterfurlong gardens, a utopian area of allotments. There are 55 species of apple trees in the traditional orchard including varieties such as Barnack Beauty, Lady’s Delight and Codlin Nelson. Notices near the entrance announce Secret Garden yoga, healing foraging and strawberry plant swapping.
Up a spiral stone staircase in the small 15th-century Easton Parsonage (free, nationaltrust.org.uk), I find a museum of village life. Items on display include a neolithic tool and a millennium candle. There is a stuffed striped bag, a pig’s litter, a pickaxe, a pair of wooden skates. In All Saints’ church, around the corner, I learn that the rector Edward Percy Hooson once skated from Cambridge to Ely and back (30 odd miles) in an evening.
Later, on the train from Stamford to Cambridge, I have a glimpse of the River Cam, which last froze in 1997. In one field, between Márta and Manea, there is a flock of more than 50 swans gathered in a smooth field. Soon after, there is a view of Ely Cathedral above the boats in the marina, in front of a misty water meadow full of cows.
Cross Country provided transport (single before Cambridge to Stamford from £10.50crosscountrytrains.co.uk) and LNER (single advance Grantham to Peterborough from £7.60, lner.co.uk). William Cecil, Stamford provided accommodation (doubles from about £120 B&B, thewilliamcecil.co.uk) and Vale House Belvoir (doubles from £95 one room, belvoirestateholidays.com).
