Our second post lockdown trip took us back to Lincolnshire. The company we bought this motorhome from, Becks in Norfolk, ceased trading. This was a massive shock and a great shame as they were a lovely firm to deal with. With Becks no longer playing, the warranty and maintenance tasks has now fallen to Camper UK in Lincoln and we had arranged to see them to discuss a few bits. Accordingly we made a weekend of it and stopped for a few nights in the Woodhall Spa Camping and Caravanning Club Site.
The journey was uneventful and we travelled down some very pretty roads through Lincolnshire. There ain't much around these parts and we were getting a bit desperate for fuel by the time we arrived, but we did find a nice garage in Horncastle, filled up, and then arrived at the site and pitched up and sat in the sunshine for a while, albeit the wind was pretty chilly. It is a very nice site, miles from anywhere and therefore very quiet, apart from the distant roar of jets at RAF Coningsby. We had a little walk through the adjacent nature reserve and enjoyed the absolute peace and tranquillity of this lovely spot.
On Friday we walked 3 miles into Woodhall Spa, an attractive little town with some lovely little shops. We stopped to admire the wonderful Dambusters memorial, shaped like a broken dam, and the more modern memorial to 617 Squadron. The sun was shining, the pubs were open, so we had an al fresco lunch in the Inn at Woodhall Spa and the food from the Lancaster Brasserie was absolutely delicious. What made it was having a Spitfire do a low flypast over us. St George's day, Spitfire, sunshine, English Pub and no lockdown - it was perfect. Our first proper meal out for ages. Stuffed, we waddled back to the van and then relaxed.
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| 617 Squadron post 1945 Memorial |
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| A little bit of sanitiser on that? |
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| 617 (Dambusters) Sqn Memorial |
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| Memorial to the men who left Woodhall Spa to fight at Arnhem |
The following day, after watching Harlequins beat those dirty gits of London Irish in a niggly, frustrating game, we took to the bikes to cycle along the Spa trail to Horncastle. It was a pretty ride and Horncastle is quite a nice little town. It was a joy to watch cricket being played on the green.
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| St Mary's Church Horncastle |
Sunday we took to the bikes again, this time cycling 15 miles along the disused railway line alongside the River Witham. It was dry but very cold and, strangely enough, we managed to find a pub (The Riverside Inn at Southrey) and enjoyed another pint in the great outdoors.
On Monday we decided to have restful day after all that exercise and drove the van to the viewing point at RAF Coningsby to watch some Typhoons taking off. They were working nights that week and kept up the flying until the very early hours. Typhoons are very noisy.
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| Top Turret viewing |
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| RAF Coningsby |
Tuesday was an early start to drive to Camper UK for the assessment and whilst there they fitted another battery and a new solar regulator to ensure that the vehicle battery remains charged with solar power. We should be equipped for longer off grid now. Despite the rain, we walked into Lincoln. It was deserted. We did have a very nice pint in the Morning Star in Greetwell Gate - a lovely little pub - we must go back. After a call from Camper UK telling us that the van was finished, we headed back and then drove south to home, stopping off at Boundary Mills for a bit of retail therapy on the way.
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| Exchequer Gate |
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| Lincoln Cathedral |
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| The Roman Newport Arch |
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| Steep Hill |
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