Witham Rest

Witham Rest's local settlement of Woodhall Spa is a Fairtrade village, full of independent shops selling everything from clothes to cakes to pampering for pets. It's also famed for its National Golf Centre, two courses and an academy on a landscape that's been voted among the top 25 courses in the world, and for its Kinema in the Woods, the only cinema in the UK to still use back projection. Kinema is open every day of the year apart from 25 December. As this is Fenland, long-distance walks are easily accessed from the village, like the Viking Way, passing through Woodhall Spa on its 147-mile route from the Humber Bridge in north Lincolnshire to Oakham in Rutland; the Spa Way, a traffic-free footpath for 3.3 miles between Woodhall Spa and Horncastle, and the Water Rail Way, a 25-mile path along the banks of the River Witham. The Witham Rest crew also reckons that the Lincolnshire Fens are one of the best-kept holiday secrets in the UK, especially for history buffs and those who like wide open spaces around which to tramp. Dating back to the times of World War II, the area is known these days too for its planes and RAF memorabilia, particularly via the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight based at RAF Coningsby, home to a Lancaster bomber, Spitfires and Hurricanes, all of which can regularly be seen over the campsite. The Petwood Hotel in Woodhall Spa is where the 612 Dam Busters squadron was based during World War II. Other options are the antique shops and local produce market of market town Horncastle, a few miles from base on the River Bain; Lincoln with its castle, museums and cathedral, within a 20-mile drive, and the sandy beaches and lively nightlife of Skegness, 24 miles away and suitable for families as well as party peeps.