Radical Routes
Radical Routes is an online publication that brings together culture, art, and heritage by highlighting projects across Lincolnshire and the East Midlands.
It features a diverse range of contributions from artists, writers, historians, and Lincolnshire residents, shared through articles, interviews, photo stories, food stories and recipes, audio tales, and poems.
Read the latest fifth edition
A recurring theme linking the previous concept of each publication is ‘water’, and that’s what we focus on here in our latest issue. It’s no surprise that water features so prominently in the work of Lincolnshire-based artists, creatives, and historians. With its ancient fenlands, historic ports, globally significant conservation sites, and famous seaside resorts, water is paramount to the history and geography of Lincolnshire.
This edition of Radical Routes has been produced as part of the Spalding Reconnected: Historic Town & Riverside project.
The project was developed in partnership between South Holland District Council, Heritage Lincolnshire, Transported, East Mercia Rivers Trust, and Lincolnshire County Council, and made possible thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players.
RADICAL ROUTES is an online publication that brings together culture, art, and heritage by highlighting projects across Lincolnshire and the East Midlands. It features a diverse range of contributions from artists, writers, historians, and Lincolnshire residents, shared through articles, interviews, photo stories, food stories and recipes, audio tales, and poems.
Originally created as part of West Lindsey District Council’s PilgrimAGE season to commemorate the 2020 Mayflower anniversary, Radical Routes has since grown into a broader platform. Five editions have been produced in collaboration with leading regional arts programmes—including Transported—exploring varied and often overlooked aspects of Lincolnshire’s rich cultural and historical landscape.
Initially conceived as a newspaper-style publication, Radical Routes transitioned to an online format due to the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. This change enabled it to be shared more widely, both within Lincolnshire and beyond.
The first edition was a partnership between West Lindsey District Council’s Mayflower 400 cultural programme, the University of Lincoln’s Transported initiative—which brings the arts to communities in Boston Borough and South Holland—and Bassetlaw’s The Few to the Many project. These lead projects, all supported by Arts Council England, sought to reflect on the Mayflower legacy: its myths and realities, and how its narratives might be reinterpreted in light of contemporary ideas around freedom, migration, and tolerance.
Henderson Mullin, Chief Executive of Writing East Midlands and editor of the first four editions, commissioned new writing that gave voice to these themes.
In 2024 and 2025, the Radical Routes series expanded through Transported’s growing portfolio of heritage-based projects. Following the Spalding Reconnected programme, a fifth edition was developed to delve deeper into the artistic processes and histories behind the Riverwalk Arts Trail. This edition was edited by Adam Fleming, Transported Programme Assistant and an experienced writer.
You can read all editions for free below
Radical Routes: Issue #1 (spring 2020)
In our first edition, we explored the theme of journeys, examining what they mean to people seeking safety, security, or freedom.
Radical Routes: Issue #2 (autumn 2020)
Building on the first theme, the second edition broadened the idea of journeys to include more personal paths of self-discovery and expression.
RADICAL ROUTES: ISSUE #3 (SUMMER 2021)
This edition explored liminal spaces—those strange and evocative places where land meets sea.
RADICAL ROUTES: ISSUE #4 (SUMMER 2022)
Under the theme Tide and Time, we reflected on what changes—and what stays the same.
RADICAL ROUTES: ISSUE #5 (SPRING 2025)
A recurring thread through all previous issues has been water—as metaphor, memory, and matter. In this latest edition, we focus explicitly on water as a shaping force in our lives, landscapes, and artistic expressions.
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