retiredmartin

April 2026. Mareham-le-Fen. Lincolnshire.

A productive weekend in rural Lincs leaves me with just the one tick to finish the county, but as that’s in bucolic Skegness I’m saving it for a special occasion.

Mareham-le-Fen is another small (pop. 944) village on way to t’coast, but no chippy for the bikers this time. This is East Lindsey, with the antique shops of Horncastle and RAF legacy of Coningsby nearby to draw in the gentlefolk.

Handson’s Butcher is long closed, the tower windmill awaits conversion to a micropub,

and overgrown walls hide their Alice in Wonderland treasures.

The local Community Centre let you park on their field facing the church for £9,

and then a short walk to the gorgeous Royal Oak. Can’t be many pubs with that name in the Fens.

Oooh, a polite notice.

It’s a good job pubs are taking measures to keep prices down, as a pint of Bateman XB cost £5.95, which comes as a shock when you’re used to Sheffield prices. As someone who’s had to insure a thatched property for my parents I can only imagine how much of that pint cost is “thatch insurance and replacement fund“.

It’s a good pint (NBSS 3+), but all the trade is coffee and “Cruz” in a pub I note as female friendly without comment. All very Rutland, I thought.

Gorgeous wood finishes, the New Radicals your soundtrack, tasteful touches.

The sign said “MIND YOUR HEAD !”. But what did I do ?