Celebrate the Diamond Jubilee in the home county of the Queens Champion!

Britains fourth largest county will be joining the rest of the UK in marking the Queens Diamond Jubilee in 2012 but only Lincolnshire offers the chance to celebrate with the Queens Champion! While locals and visitors alike will be enjoying street parties and beacon lighting ceremonies, Lincolnshire offers the chance to mark the Jubilee on the family estate of what must be one of the UKs most unusual of royal connections. Since the days of William the Conqueror an English family has held the office of King's, or Queen's, Champion and to this day the Manor of Scrivelsby in Lincolnshire continues to deliver this ancient and quirky role. Sir John Dymoke was the first to exercise the office at the Coronation of Richard II, but to this day a member of the Dymoke family, who live at Scrivelsby, remains the monarchs champion. While the role may have changed over the centuries, the Queens Champion still plays a part in the Coronation and will be joining in Jubilee celebrations. Originally, the armour-clad Kings Champion rode in to Westminster Hall on a white charger during the Coronation to throw down a gauntlet to challenge any person who denied the sovereign's right to the throne. At Queen Elizabeth IIs Coronation, the current The Honourable Queen's Champion, Lt. Col. John Dymoke, was present but rather than throwing down a gauntlet, he carried the Royal Standard in the ceremonial procession. And In honour of the Queens Diamond Jubilee the Dymoke family is hosting an evening walk around their Lincolnshire estate on Monday 4th June as part of the 2012 Wolds Walking Festival. A stroll through parts of the Scrivelsby Estate not normally open to the public will end with the lighting of the Jubilee Beacon by the current Queens Champion, Lt. Col. John Dymoke. (www.woldswalkingfestival.co.uk) Non-walkers are also invited to come along from 9pm onwards when there will be hot food and a drinks tent, followed by the lighting of the beacon and a firework display. While numbers will be limited for the Scrivelsby Estate walk, there will be plenty more Jubilee celebrations in Lincolnshire. Communities across the county are planning street parties for early June while Lincoln Castle - one of the countrys best examples of a Norman castle will be hosting a special celebration from 3-4 June. 'A Right Royal Weekend' will treat visitors to a medieval re-enactment and family fun (admission charge) before a free evening celebration on Monday 4th that includes the lighting of beacons, part of a huge chain across the country. Although tickets for the Monday evening event will be free, there will only be a limited number available. (www.lincolnshire.gov.uk) In the south of the county, Englands greatest Elizabethan house will be marking Diamond Jubilee year with a summer of celebrations. As the country gears up to mark Elizabeth IIs 60 years as Queen, Burghley House, the ancestral home of

Queen Elizabeth Is most trusted adviser - William Cecil, Lord Burghley - is hosting its own patriotic celebrations. Burghley will host Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh in June as part of their UK tour when up to 10,000 guests, including volunteer groups and schools, are expected to have a picnic with The Queen at an invitation-only summer picnic. A Jubilee Jamboree (2 10 June) will offer summer activities for youngsters at an Alice in Wonderland themed festival, boasting tea parties, sporting events and havea-go fun, including painting your own teacups! For a spectacular afternoon and evening of summer entertainment, the annual Battle Proms at Burghley (7 July 2012) will have its usual mix of mounted cavalry, Spitfire aerial display and soul-stirring orchestral music plus a special Diamond Jubilee Gun Salute provided by the gunners of the English Field Artillery Company. (www.burghley.co.uk) Among other summer celebrations in the county is a three-day festival in the Edwardian Spa town of Woodhall Spa, which also has strong links to aviation history after becoming home to the famous Dambusters squadron in the Second World War. A Street Market on 2 June with local crafts, Tastes of Lincolnshire food and live entertainment will be followed by a Jubilee Street Party (Sunday 3 June) and ends with a Picnic in Jubilee Park on 4 June in partnership with the Petwood Hotel. (www.woodhalljubilee.co.uk) For details of more things to do and places to stay in Lincolnshire, log on to www.visitlincolnshire.com