< Previous60 LINCOLNSHIRETODAYWEDDINGS - VENUESnothing worse than bumping intoanother bride during the receptionwhen a number of weddings are beingheld at the same time – so making useof an intimate venue will allow youexclusive use of the premises.One issue that many couples ponderbefore the big day can often be highlysensitive – whether children areinvited. For some couples, the issuemay not even be considered – whywouldn’t they be invited? It can oftenseem the most natural thing in theworld to bring together the wholefamily. If you are planning to invitelots of children, however, it’s probablyworth thinking about setting spaceaside for them to play later in theevening, and maybe even hiring somekids’ entertainers to keep themoccupied.OK, you’re not organising achildren’s party but the otheralternative is a bunch of hyperactivechildren running around thedancefloor all night, which some ofyour guests may not appreciate. This isalso an occasion where offering – or atleast recommending – someaccommodation can be useful as itmeans adults can continue the partywhile their youngest kids are safelytucked up in bed. If it’s going to be aparticularly kid-friendly affair then itmay also be worth setting aside spacewhere the older guests can relax if themusic and entertainment becomes abit too raucous for their liking.Others, however, may have secondthoughts regarding inviting the veryyoungest guests. Some may think theidea of not inviting children couldcome across as cold, but if only a fewof the guests have children, thechances are that they could getextremely bored during proceedings,62 PHOTO: C&G PHOTOGRAPHY54-63:Layout 1 10/8/12 11:56 Page 7LINCOLNSHIRETODAY6154-63:Layout 1 10/8/12 11:56 Page 862 LINCOLNSHIRETODAYWEDDINGS - VENUESyour big day – for example, if you’reforegoing the traditional weddingbreakfast in favour of canapés orinformal snacks, it’s worth making itclear so guests don’t arrive expecting aslap-up feast and spend the rest of theday with rumbling stomachs. Ofcourse, it’s entirely your day toorganise as you see fit, but it’s worthletting your guests know what’s goingto happen in case they’re expectingsomething very different.Across Lincolnshire, the venueoperators and wedding specialists canensure that your big day is exactly asyou’ve envisaged it. Although thehappy couple are the obvious starattraction, making it an extra specialexperience for your guests will ensurethe event sticks in the memory.spending a day done up in an itchysuit and sat on an uncomfortable chairwith nobody of their own age to playwith – which could prove to be just asinconvenient for their parents. Inaddition you could well be limited onthe number of people you’re able toinvite.In any case, if you’ve decidedchildren won’t be attending it’s wiseto make this explicit to guests well inadvance to avoid disappointment orconfusion. That’s also the case if you’replanning anything out of the norm on54-63:Layout 1 10/8/12 11:56 Page 9LINCOLNSHIRETODAY63Cave Castle Hotel & Country ClubThe perfect setting for aFairy Tale WeddingLicensed to perform Civil CeremoniesChoice of three reception roomsComplimentary four poster Bridal Suite70 en-suite BedroomsHair Salon & Spa with Bridal Packages availableThe Cave Castle Hotel & Country Club, South Cave, East Yorkshire HU15 2EUTel: 0844 686 2239www.cavecastlehotel.comCave Castle Hotel & Country ClubOnly 10 minutes from Humber BridgeTel:01777 706 333 Fax:01777 709 951www.westretfordhotel.co.ukLicensed for civil ceremonies & civil partnership ceremonies We can cater from small intimate weddings to large weddings for up to 180 people A variety of menus to choose from Beautiful landscaped gardens, licensed to hold ceremonies All tailored to suit the happy coupleSPECIAL OFFER ALL INCLUSIVE PACKAGES FROM £269554-63:Layout 1 10/8/12 11:57 Page 1064 LINCOLNSHIRETODAYWEDDINGS - STAG AND HENIt may seem odd but these daysmost couples have lived togetherfor some time so the idea of thelast night of freedom isn’t perhapsas important as it once was, and ifyou’ve got a stack of mutual friendsthe idea of a big pre-weddingcelebration could certainly appeal.Many of the county’s top venues,meanwhile, can offer something thatsuits both parties – you could mix andmatch an afternoon of karting orpaintballing with a night out in asought-after nightclub, or a pamperingsession with a delightful meal in a toprestaurant. That kind of agenda islikely to appeal to both the bride andthe groom, even if the two parties endup enjoying them at different timesover the course of the weekend.Of course, the hen and stag partiesare somewhat unusual in that they’reone of the few parts of the weddingthat aren’t the responsibility of thehappy couple themselves – and thatusually includes paying for the event.Usually the best man and chiefbridesmaid are in charge, but no doubtyou’ll want to offer them a few helpfulhints to make sure you don’t end updoing something you can’t stand.The guest list will also probablyhave some kind of bearing on the kindof event you end up with. If you’reintending to invite parents or workcolleagues, more raucous events maygo out of the window – whether fortheir suitably to the age of theparticipants or simply out of sheerembarrassment. The guests are usuallyexpected to make some sort ofcontribution to funding the event –and they’ll have to take time out toattend – so it’s worth checking outwhat’s convenient for them before anyfantastical plans.One thing’s for certain – the old ideaof the party being held the nightbefore the wedding has gone for good.The hangover is the obvious problembut in addition you don’t want todisappear during the frantic last-minute build-up to the big day. It’srecommended that the stag and henparties are now held no later than twoweeks before the wedding itself – andusually scheduled at the same time toavoid spending too long away fromthe preparations.Throughout Lincolnshire there areplenty of venues and specialists whocan ensure your parties areremembered for all the right reasons.As the big daybeckons...It may sound likeanathema to some, butstag and hen partieshave become soappealing in recentyears that somecouples actually decideto go on them together!64:Layout 1 10/8/12 10:58 Page 1LINCOLNSHIRETODAY65WEDDINGS - GIFTSThe short answer? There isn’t one…This is one of the only grey areas in wedding etiquette,unless the couple have a list, which throws up a wholedifferent set of nail-biting decisions to make! The traditional giving of household wares such as pots andpans, irons, microwaves and more high-value items such asfurniture seem to be on the wane. Couples now co-habit a lotearlier before they get married, and as a result their homes willmost likely be decorated and furnished to their own highstandards already. However, a gift of this nature obviously lastsa lifetime and could be a welcome surprise. After all, whodoesn’t have parents who refuse to part with a faded piece oftreasured furniture just because Great Aunt Norma got it fortheir wedding day? These days, cash in a congratulatory card will normallysuffice, but how much is up to you. This is a part of thewedding where even experienced planners throw their handsup and say, “There is no standard! Do what you like!”Think about your relationship to the couple - how long haveyou known them? Perhaps more importantly, how often doyou see them? If the answers are ‘not long’ and ‘hardly ever’, anominal amount should be acceptable. If it’s one of yourdearest friends or a close family member, splashing out onsomething meaningful or perhaps increasing the amount tosomething that flatters the couple suitably may be in order.Don’t feel obligated to bankrupt yourself however, after all thecouple have invited you to be a part of their big day, not toget money out of you - unless that’s their plan, and who onearth wants to be friends with these kinds of people?.The important thing to remember here is that you being atthe wedding in the first place is often enough for couples. Ahelping hand with cash for their honeymoon or helping topay for the big day is simply a bonus for many. Use your headwhen deciding on gifts, short of something tasteless orinappropriate, you can’t go far wrong.Have somedecorum!Wedding gifts are one area thecouple can direct to an extent,but what are the expectedsocial norms for those of usgiving a gift to the luckycouple?Have somedecorum!Personalised, bespoke &handmade wedding giftswww.follie.co.uk83 Bailgate, Lincoln, LN1 3ARTel: 01522 57940065:Layout 1 10/8/12 10:59 Page 166 LINCOLNSHIRETODAYLINCOLNSHIRE WILDLIFEGrey squirrels have anunenviable reputation in theBritish Isles, held responsiblefor the decline of the nativeBritish red squirrel, they are termed aninvasive pest and culled by manypeople across the UK. Truthfullythough the introduction of the greysquirrel to Europe in the 19th centuryhas led to a rapid decline in redsquirrels, this is not due to any huntingor malicious behaviour on the part ofthe grey. The simple fact is that thegrey squirrel is a more adaptive andsuccessful animal than the red, able toPHOTO: WWW.FOTOLINCS.COMgather food more efficiently and thusleaving less for the red. The grey, like many other families ofsquirrel, are scatter hoarders. Thismeans they hoard a wide variety ofedible material in small caches, whichthey return to at a later date. Thesecan vary from temporary caches near asudden abundance of food, often thesewill be eaten within a few hours, oreven relocated over time to moresecure locations. They can also makemore lengthy caches, which they canstore for many months. Greys are wellknown for pretending to hide food, ifanother animal is watching. Despite their often anti-socialfeeding habits, grey squirrels are highlysocial and communicative animalswho have a range of different ways tointeract with one another. Their vocalcommunications can range from smallsqueaks to hums and chattering, whilethey can also posture with their tails,and slap them against wood. In termsof mating and reproduction, greysquirrels are able to birth twice a yearwith litters between four and eight.Like most squirrels, their young areeffectively helpless and rely on themother for milk and protection. They display a range of behaviouralpatterns that humans find endearingor entertaining. Their inquisitivenature encourages them to interactwith almost anything they can find,from discarded packaging to statues oreven toys. They will also sample nearlyIn the UK it is currently illegal to release a captured grey squirrel, no matter howit is caught. By law you must immediately kill it in a humane manner. In effortsto make this more acceptable to the public, many celebrity chefs have triedadvising gourmet meals with grey squirrel in them. It hasn’t really caught on. FACT FILEWe take a look at two of the county’s most familiarnative creaturesBeg,BURROWand steal66-67:Layout 1 10/8/12 11:09 Page 1LINCOLNSHIRETODAY67LINCOLNSHIRE WILDLIFEany edible substance they can find,including discarded or spilled alcoholwhich can and will inebriate them.They are considered somewhat of apest to people who enjoy feeding birds,as they will happily steal bird foodfrom feeding stations. Finding grey squirrels in Lincolnshireisn’t a particularly difficult task.Though they are more common inforests and woodland, they are stillfairly common sights in towns andvillages, where they will ofteninvestigate gardens or trees. They arewary of humans, as most animals are,but will approach a person if they staystill, and have often been seen stealingfood crumbs from beneath picnicgoers. Anywhere in Lincolnshire wherethere are trees or bushes that a squirrelcan use to hide in is potential territoryto see one of these animals.Moles are common across all ofBritain, despite that they are rarelyseen by humans. It’s expected thatbefore each breeding season evenbegins, there are over 31 million molesin the UK. They spend most of theirtime underground where they live,breed and feed. They only come aboveground briefly, which forms the singlereason why they are often hated by theBritish Public – molehills. That moles can spend most of theirlives underground is thanks to a bloodadaptation within their bodies, whichallows them to survive on higheramounts of carbon dioxide than manyother mammals. This allows them toreuse the oxygen they take when aboveground, breathing it back in after theybreathe it out. Primarily moles are carnivores, andthey eat insect larvae and grubs as wellas earthworms, though they can alsoeat some nuts and roots. The primaryreason for the long tunnels molesmake beneath the ground, are traps forworms. Moles can sense when anearthworm falls into one of the manytunnels, at which they will run forwardto kill or store it. A mole’s salivacontains a toxin that can paralyseearthworms, allowing moles to storetheir still living prey for later. To thiseffect mole burrows often contain alarge larder cavern, of still livingworms. Moles breed beneath the ground andtheir litters are often around five toseven strong. The parents will build acentral cavern lined with soft dry grassand plants to protect and incubate theyoung, and the mother will sucklethem for five weeks. An average molehas a lifespan of two and a half years,assuming no human interference. Mole’s interactions with humans aregenerally limited and are almostalways initiated by the humansthemselves. Molehills are consideredan agricultural and horticulturaldisturbance in many parts of Europe,with problems arising such asdestroyed grass and flowers, ordisturbed stones getting caught inagricultural machinery. To this endmoles are often killed or controlledthrough various kinds of traps orpoison. Moles are most commonly seen inwoodland and forests in theLincolnshire area, where they livehappily without fear of humans.Despite this many people see their hillsin gardens, this is simply because theystand out more against neatly trimmedlawns. Seeing a live mole is a rareoccurrence. Queen Alexandria, the wife ofEdward VII ordered a mole furgarment which immediatelyboosted the mole from a nationalpest, to a thriving commodity.Mole fur is incredibly soft andvelvety, but the fur trade for thisanimal is almost non-existent now.FACT FILE66-67:Layout 1 10/8/12 11:09 Page 268 LINCOLNSHIRETODAYACTIVE LINCSIn this month’s Active LincolnshireLincolnshire Today visits theNormanby Wold for a spot ofgeo-cachingX marksthe spotX marksthe spot68-69:Layout 1 10/8/12 11:51 Page 1LINCOLNSHIRETODAY69ACTIVE LINCSYou could be forgiven for notknowing the slightest bit aboutthe global phenomenon that isgeo-caching. The activity existsin the hidden parks of the World WideWeb, and even those who take part in itlook to be little more than regularhikers. To put it in simple terms, geo-caching is a lot like the treasure huntsyou used to take part in as a child.Instead of taking part around yourhouse or garden though, the treasure ishidden across the world, including ourfair county.Our first step on this treasure huntwas to find a cache to hunt. A quickvisit to the global geo-caching website,geocaching.com, allowed us to type inour postcode and see what hiddencaches are near our location - hundreds.In Lincolnshire alone there seems to bewell over a thousand differentgeocaches hidden, some on footpathsand public areas, and others deep inforests and fields. The goal seems to beto make the activity accessible toanyone, whether you’re out walking adog, or going into the countryside for along hike. We decided to target NormanbyWold, as it’s an area of outstandingnatural beauty and so it made sense togo somewhere where we couldappreciate the Lincolnshire vista. It’salso full of public paths including theViking Way, and there are two idyllicvillages nearby, Normanby le Wold, andClaxby. All we had to our names was a simplemap of the area, a GPS signal for wherethe cache was hidden, and a simple clueto its final resting place. It didn’t takelong to download an app on asmartphone to allow us to access a GPSsatellite so we could close in on ourprize…or so we thought. There’s nodenying the Wolds is a beautiful part ofthe county, the views were fantastic andthe rolling hills and thick woods arefilled with easy walking paths for themany visitors the area receives. Whatwe forgot was that we would need tostick to these numerous paths andfollow them wherever they went. Thisled to many cases where our GPS wasconfidently telling us to head east,while huge cliffs and private propertywere suggesting we find a differentroute. Our first task was to navigate throughthe large Claxby woods to arrive on itseast side. Claxby woods is a veryovergrown and vibrant wood withplenty of wildlife and plants to workyour way through. Though there’splenty of footpaths to follow, wedecided to get into the treasure huntingspirit and work our way straight throughthe dense undergrowth into theunknown. It was probably this decisionthat led us to exiting on the south sideof the forest, rather than the east… Undeterred we forged ahead, knowingwe now had to focus on a morenortherly route than before. As long aswe had our trusty GPS we knew wewould eventually close in on the cache,so it was a little worrying when thefootpath only seemed concerned withtravelling south and east. As we travelledin a direction we knew to be completelywrong, it was strange that we foundourselves not particularly bothered. Thefootpath took us from high up in theWolds, to a lower point, giving usperfect views of the countryside belowus. We could even see Lincoln Cathedralin the distance! Eventually, though, wecame across a lower part of the VikingWay footpath, the very path our cachewas said to be hidden off.Luckily this path headed back north,and although we had taken the longestand most ill-advised route, we knew wewere now heading in the rightdirection. We started to leave woodsand rivers and finally came to rollingfields. Though the cows were free inmany fields, and with calves, theyseemed unconcerned with us as wetravelled through their fields, simplyraising their heads to watch us andmunch grass in our direction. We were heading back up to highground again which gave us more hope,and since we were sticking to the VikingWay we knew we were on the righttrack. What’s more, our GPS was finallystarting to look a little more like ourtarget one. Our cryptic clue was a codedmessage of gibberish, along with a codebreaker that let us translate it with alittle effort - “Under a stone by the sideof the path.” Thankfully in this case when theysaid stone, they no doubt meantboulder, or we would still be out there!A small investigation revealed a smallfilm camera case, barely two incheslong. We’d found it at last. Unscrewingthe cap revealed a few trinkets and aroll of paper with dozens of names onit. Clearly we’d not been the first tofind this cache, but as we signed ourown names on we knew we wouldn’t bethe last either. We’d spent a little over three hoursout in the wilderness, climbing throughhill, forest and field. As a person whoisn’t crazy about hiking, it was strangeto say that I really did enjoy my timegeo-caching, it didn’t feel like a chore orexercise. It genuinely felt like I was tenyears old again and treasure hunting,but in a much more excitingenvironment. It can’t be said this is a kid’s hobby, asyou wouldn’t let children loose in thewilderness alone, but it does seem to bethe perfect way to get children involvedin walking or hiking. If you regularlylike to explore, but the children aren’tinterested in a boring walk, then itmight be worth giving geo-caching atry. It can take you to places you’venever been to before, while gettingeveryone out of the house and doingsome exercise. 68-69:Layout 1 10/8/12 11:51 Page 2Next >