Driving up the A1 is the closest I’ve been to exploring Lincolnshire, until last week. I packed up our long-term Sprite and took myself off to visit two of our 2013 Top 100 Sites finalists to see what their particular areas had to offer.
My first stop was the immaculate Petwood Caravan Park in Woodhall Spa, about 30 minutes’ drive from Lincoln. Woodhall Spa has a few curiousities that are worth investigating including the Petwood Hotel, the former officers’ mess of the Dambusters squadron, and the Kinema in the Woods, which unfortunately wasn’t showing anything I wanted to see. The deli on Broadway is definitely worth a visit.
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Dambusters Bar, Petwood Hotel
Lincoln is gorgeous. The cathedral doubled for Westminster Abbey in the film The Da Vinci Code, and it is magnificent. It also holds a facsimile of one of four copies of the Magna Carta. Lincoln’s Magna Carta is actually housed in the castle along with the Charter of the Forest, an important document that, as I understand it, recently played a part in preventing the selling off of England’s forests.
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Lincoln Cathedral’s interior is stunning
Closer to Petwood, just 20 minutes, is the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, where you can actually book a taxi ride around the airfield in a Lancaster Bomber. According to one customer it was incredibly noisy but a marvellous experience. The smell from the nearby chicken farm was a bit offputting but it makes a fascinating visit – the heritage centre not the chicken farm.
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Crews quarters at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Museum
The pretty and spotless Delph Bank in Fleet Hargate was my next pitch stop for two nights. This is an adults-only site with very pretty gardens and a pristine washblock with good-sized showers. It’s in the heart of market garden country, which is flat, flat, flat. It’s close to the nature reserves that surround the Wash, making the site a favourite with bird watchers. I used it as a base to visit Sandringham, Burghley House and the town of Stamford, all wonderful places to while away a few hours and see how the other half live. If you do visit Stamford, treat yourself to tea in the George Hotel, the garden room there is a picture and ladies, do check out the Ladies loos, too.
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Take tea with the well-to-do in the George Hotel Stamford
