Woodhall Spa- Lincolnshire.

Thursday 24th August 2023.

We have spent the past two days here at Woodhall Spa, having stopped off en route at Market Deeping a pleasant small town and Sleaford which was a little run down.

Woodhall Spa lies about 15 miles south east of Lincoln, it is noted for its mineral springs, historic cinema and 2nd World War association with the RAF 617 Squadron commonly referred to as the Dambusters.

It seems poignant and the completion of a circle as last year whilst touring in Germany we found ourselves purely by chance at the Mohn Valley Dams that the Dambusters bombed.

During WW2 the hotels and other accommodation was requisitioned for the RAF Woodhall Spa which was built to the south of the village.

Much of the village has a Victorian elegance, but there is now a large amount of modern housing being erected on the outskirts of the town. In 1811 attempts were made to mine coal but the shaft kept filling with water and it was abandoned. About 1834 the Lord Mayor discovered that the water was a spring that flowed from 520ft below the surface and that the water contained iodine and bromine in high quantities. He spent £30,000 sinking a new well, erected a Spa Baths, and a new hotel and the town boomed with tourism. Sadly in 1983 the well collapsed and the Spa closed down.

We spent the morning with Alison and Peter wandering around the village and enjoying its charm, we visited a small museum “The Cottage Museum” which was the home to local photographer John Wield and much of his work is displayed in the museum. The cottage is a cedar wood frame clad with corrugated iron sheeting and came in kit form, delivered to the local railway station!

After lunch Alison and Peter went for a long bike ride along the local river and we walked back into the village and visited three other places of interest.

Jubilee Park which opened in 1937 and has an outdoor heated swimming pool, tennis court, cafe, rose garden, bowling green and two croquet lawns.

There is also a well used tea room in the woodland to the rear of the town, unfortunately it closed at 4pm so we didn’t get to sample its wares.

A few metres past this is the Kinema in the Woods, a cinema that opened in 1922 and has a back projection system as the roof is too low for traditional projection.