A NEW tourist trail celebrating the life of one of the world's most famous writers was launched yesterday (Tuesday).
Horncastle is one of the 12 places pinpointed on the 130 mile Tennyson Trail set up to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of poet Alfred Lord Tennyson.
Also featured on the trail are Louth, Mablethorpe and Somersby, Tennyson's birthplace and the location for yesterday's launch.
Alison Macdonald, business development manager for East Lindsey District Council, said it will be a positive move for market towns like Horncastle.
"This is the story of Tennyson and we will be using this as a hook to bring people into the area," she said.
"We are trying to encourage more visitors but more importantly it is about educating local people about Tennyson."
Coun Michael Clarke who attended the launch said he thinks this trail is good news.
"Tennyson will be the leading the town forward. Anything relating to heritage is good as this is a growth industry."
Do you think the trail will bring more visitors to the area? Are you a Tennyson fan? Are there other famous people from the area who could be celebrated in this way? Email us CLICK HERE
Tennyson used to attend dances in Horncastle, where he met his wife Emily Sellwood. His older brother Charles married Emily's younger sister Louisa in 1836 and she married Alfred in 1850 – the year he was appointed Poet Laureate to Queen Victoria. It took 14 years before they were engaged because Emily's father would not allow it at first because Tennyson was too poor.
Emily was one of three children of Horncastle solicitor Henry Sellwood who was married to Sarah Franklin the sister of John Franklin, the famous artic explorer.
Their family home, Sellwood House, used to stand in the Market Place where the former Woolworths store now stands.
Tennyson is the second most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare. Here are some of Tennyson's best known phrases:
'nature, red in tooth and claw'
'better to have loved and lost'
'Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die'
'My strength is as the strength of ten, Because my heart is pure'
More Tennyson events coming up this year…
May 8, Tennyson in Words and Music at Lincoln Book Festival
May 16 to 31, Tennyson themed walk, Lincolnshire Walking Festival
June 6, Tennyson Evening song, Lincoln Cathedral
June 7, Open Gardens at Tennyson's birthplace, Somersby Rectory
For more information CLICK 