WOODHALL SPA. A well-kept secret

The Lincolnshire Wolds are lovely.

There seems to be only one or two roads to get there.
But as there was no petrol on sale, there were few cars today and we sailed fully tanked up past the
queues and were rewarded with the wide open vistas on all sides.
It’s all a well-kept secret and with its broad lanes and sudden views over to the sea in the distance
was made even better by being almost entirely empty. We stopped by the road in the sunshine.
Then we saw a sign saying Woodhall Spa and so had to pass by, and were directed to the Lido. Yes it
was open! And yes it was 28C. Warm enough to boil a potato!

My thermometer said it was just 24C. We were told this was “impossible” by the life guard.
“One degree less and they will all complain. Can’t be 24C, it’s 28,” she said, looking over at the
kiddies pool with its gigantic coloured tap, pouring water down onto the heads of screaming two year olds and
their mums.
The cute pool and gardens are all a local charity and neat and tidy as can be. There’s a spacious quiet
little area for campers. Its all set in a park. We parked right outside the entrance where a lady took
our £7 and we jumped in the sunny pool where only the one lane was devoted to lane-churners. All
the rest were families teaching their kids to swim and people chatting and children just loving it.
Groups of families were seated on the perfect lawns with boxes of tended flowers, in their chairs and balloons making a day of it, or sunbathing around the grounds or under the long wooden arbour. Over at one side was the best café in the world where for £9 we ate big slices of rainbow cake, and carrot cake with two cappuccinos on top.
“Waffles with squirty cream and maple syrup £3” the menu declared.

“Hello! I saw your Bude Sea Pool teeshirt!” A lady came up to us. She too was ticking off pools to
swim in, and so we compared notes.
“London lido?”
“Yes!”
“Margate sea pool?”
“No”.
“Wetsuit?”
“Can’t find one to fit me… Look!”
We overheard two women agreeing that they would home school if given the chance..and we broke
in and had a spirited conversation about teaching in Lincs. Everyone we met talked and afterwards
we strolled round the park outside. It was all too perfect. A crocquet green was open and a bandstand
had a little girl twirling as her mum sat on the steps. We walked past the tennis courts and explored
the sensory garden where people said good morning to us.
There’s a cinema in the woodland over the road, with a theatre organist who introduces the shows,
£7. And the feel of the place is lovely, peaceful and polite.
We said that we would spend the night next summer here and bring friends and let them into the
secret.