This past year had been another busy one, with a very full calendar of talks, walks and events, which continued to attract both locals and visitors wanting to explore Horncastle’s history.

In March last year we opened a new exhibition at the Joseph Banks Centre, marking 100 years since the dedication of the War Memorial Hospital as Horncastle’s official war memorial. We were fortunate to have many items of medical equipment and uniforms loaned to us and even a model of one of the wards. The exhibition brought back memories for many visitors, and for those who only arrived after it had closed, helped us realise just what we have lost. It was inspiring to read how hard local people had fought to save it, and when that failed, to give it a new lease of life as the War Memorial Centre, where it continues to provide NHS services to this day. We held a special even at the Hospital in the summer, attended by many former staff, and the Secretary of State for Health, Victoria Atkins who still had a couple of days in post prior to the election.

In May we supported Horncastle Library taking part in Local History Month, with a talk on Roman Horncastle, the Heritage Trail guided tour and displays from our archive, including video footage from the Horncastle to Skegness Walking Race. The same month volunteers represented the Society at the Woodhall Spa Show, and we were thrilled to win the award for the best display in the Heritage Tent.

August saw the return for the second year of the revived Horncastle Horse Fair as an arts and heritage celebration. This time the Mane Event on Saturday was even bigger and better, with performances and activities in the grounds of Banovallum House, and the Community Centre, as well as the Teenage Market filling the Market Place. The Society led two guided tours, and a display about the fair’s history, and we republished a lost poem about the fair from our Archive first printed in 1846. Sessions Arts visited the town’s schools and care homes with Harri the puppet horse and local actor Joseph Richardson. With the help of volunteers we decorated over 40 horseshoes and hid them around town, and local groups and artists decorated 10 painted wooden horses to create a Horse Fair Trail in shop windows.

Between July and September we worked with the Joseph Banks Society on a joint exhibition on flooding in Horncastle and around the world. This was part of the Horncastle Riverscape Project, led by East Mercia Rivers which many of our members also support as volunteers.

In September the Society took part in Heritage Open Days, with a display and a guided walk about Horncastle’s Inns and the carriers carts that once linked them to surrounding villages.

October saw the installation of 18 interpretation boards spread across town along the Heritage Trail. This is the culmination of many years of work by members of the Society, working with Horncastle Walkers Are Welcome, the Town Council and ELDC. Special thanks go to Kate Giffen at ELDC who was responsible for arranging all the permissions. In March the final 2 boards were installed in St Mary’s Churchyard after they received permission from the Diocese and all 20 are now in place and are already proving popular.

It was also in October that our packed programme of talks broke all records with an astounding turnout for to hear the talk on the Battle of Winceby by Dr Johnathan Fitzgibbon, attracting over 100 people. There was standing room only and despite using every available chair we had to turn some people away as there simply was not enough to space. Several talks since have been almost as popular and I’m pleased to say that many attendees decided to join the Society, with membership now at record levels.

In November we were concerned, but not surprised, to hear that Historic England had added Horncastle’s Conservation Area to their Heritage At Risk Register. Although some businesses look after their premises it has been clear for some time that others are being left to rot. We have expressed our concerns to ELDC many times but unfortunately it appears that our pleas to do something is still falling on deaf ears.  They have ignored our repeated requests for a meeting. There have been announcements about funding for repairs in the future, but six months later nothing has happened. It has been a relatively quiet year in terms of planning applications, which the Society is consulted on, but we have continued to provide comments to encourage good design and to report derelict buildings.

Winter also saw the Rivers Trust install a series of new wooden sculptures along the riverbank and in Millenium Woods as part of the Riverscape project. There is also a metal dragonfly sculpture near the Victoria Mill weir, which forms part of a new Flyway Trail linking greenspaces in the Wolds and nature reserves around the Wash. The Society has also helped the Trust with a new Horncastle Riverscape Walk celebrating the nature and history of the town’s rivers, with new waymarkers just starting to go up.

In December we held another popular Christmas Party at the Horncastle Freemasons premises on Banks Street. At the Joseph Banks Centre we took part in Horncastle Window Wanderland with local artist Joanna Pass designing a winter window inspired by the town’s rivers. On another window I projected William Lindley’s HorseFair animated film originally commissioned for the 75^th anniversary of the last fair in 2023.

The start of 2025 saw lots of effort developing a bid to a new ELDC grant scheme for a project to create a sculpture of a pair of Lincoln Red Cattle on the old Cattle Market at the Wong. This idea came from one of our members and has been on the backburner for several years, but with the backing of the Town Council who own the land we decided to grasp the opportunity before it was too late. Unfortunately, we heard in April that our bid was not successful so we’ll have to wait for another pot to come along.

Finally in March another project we had talked about for years did become a reality, with the ghost sign on the old Cross Key’s pub restored back to its former glory. This was kindly funded with a contribution from Batemans Brewery and made possible by the permission of the building’s current owners who run the town’s Boots opticians.

IM finished by saying that all of this has only been possible because of our members and hard-working volunteers. The range of things they do is immense, from caring for planters around town, to baking cakes, washing up and stacking chairs, leading guided walks, welcoming visitors at the Joseph Banks Centre, representing the Society at events, organising projects, as well as looking after our archive and creating exhibitions.