Nettleton is a village and civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the West Lindsey

West Lindsey

West Lindsey is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England.-History:The district was formed on 1 April 1974, from the urban districts of Gainsborough, Market Rasen, along with Caistor Rural District, Gainsborough Rural District and Welton Rural District...

 district of Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

, England, close to the town of Caistor

Caistor

See Caistor St Edmund for the Roman settlement in Norfolk or Caister-on-Sea for the town in NorfolkCaistor is a town and civil parish situated in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. As its name implies, it was originally a Roman castrum or fortress...

. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 579.

In the village is a post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

 and village shop, a primary school, a Methodist Church and several public house

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

s. Nettleton's only public house is the Salutation Inn, just a short walk from the Roman Town of Caistor.

Nearby is the Woodland Trust

Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom concerned with the protection and sympathetic management of native woodland heritage.-History:...

's Nettleton Wood, and a caravan park.

On Boxing Day

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...

, shoemakers would traditionally "beat the lapstone" at the house of any "water drinkers" (i.e. teetotaller), to mock them. This refers to a story from the 18th century in which a Nettleton resident called Thomas Stickler, who had stayed off alcohol for twenty years, got tipsy after half a pint of ale

Ale

Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste...

 at his shoemaker's on Christmas Day. When questioned by his wife, he replied that he was not drunk but had simply fallen "over the lapstone". Hence, the day after every Christmas, shoemakers would carry out the above practical joke

Practical joke

A practical joke is a mischievous trick played on someone, typically causing the victim to experience embarrassment, indignity, or discomfort. Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being fooled into handing over money or...

.