Welcome to this month’s Lincolnshire Pride, and to a month where we meet 1960s pop sensation Lulu, in the county this month to celebrate a very special birthday.

Also this month, we name the finalists in a competition to find the best small market town in Lincolnshire as part of a county-wide competition organised by the Community Lincs Charity.

High summer means barbecue season so we’ve a selection of recipes designed to exploit the best Lincolnshire ingredients from the county’s independent butchers and growers. We’ve also a selection of our local chefs’ favourite dishes, and a formidable eating out recommendation near Lincoln.

Elsewhere, the RSPB is organising the UK’s largest bird watching event near Stamford so we talk to its ornithologists to find out how the avian life of Lincolnshire offers a wealth of interests to seasoned and inexperienced bird watchers alike.

With a round-up of the season’s new motors, an interview with comedian Joe Pasquale and photographs from the 2011 Lincolnshire Show too, we offer our very best wishes for a wonderful month.