Woodhall Spa

Tuesday 15th June 2021

We made up a days delay yesterday so we will not tarry today. We reversed out of our mooring and set off North back towards Lincoln. As we passed Antons Gowt again we met a group of women ‘wild swimming’ – it must be good for you because we could hear the chatter and laughter well before we got to them, about seven in total all closely followed by a fluorescent orange inflatable float.

We stopped at Langrick bridge again and filled up with 135 litres of diesel at 92ppl. Brenda would like to say that her one pound sunglasses from Primark and her Aussie leather hat rescued from a skip have served her very well this trip.

We arrived at Kirkstead bridge hoping to moor for the night but it was full. The gent on the last boat offered to move up a bit to let us in so we moored Jannock’s stern to the pontoon and put out a mud weight on the bow rope to keep the bows into the bank.

 

After a rest to let the weather cool down a bit, we walked up to Woodhall Spa, it looked an interesting place in Nicholsons. Turns out that it’s a small but expanding village with a very large history. It was indeed a Spa in the 1800s when an attempt to sink a coal mine shaft flooded with mineral rich water. It became home to 4-5 thousand servicemen & women during WW2. Many left for the front by train from the station, now a private house, next to the river. The Royal Square Gardens used to be a hotel which billeted troops but was destroyed by a ‘marker bomb’ presumably destined for the nearby bomber airfield – luckily no-one was in that night so no casualties.

 

The gardens now have a ‘Dambusters’ memorial as well as another dedicated to all members of 617 Sqn who have lost their lives in action since 1945. We enjoyed seeing the re-use of a telephone box to house an ATM as well as a phone.

 

Returning to Jannock we ate sat in the shade on the pontoon listening to the Typhoons from RAF Coningsby who are practicing take-offs, landings and formation flying above us.

G&B