We are very pleased to announce that today we have been awarded our Cycle Lincolnshire Accreditation as a Cycle Friendly location in the county. With our dedicated secure cycle storage and facilities alongside our Cycle And Go packages, the Petwood is the perfect place for exploring Bomber County on two wheels.
It never ceases to amaze us here at the Petwood when pieces of hotel history somehow make their way back to the hotel. In the case of the latest item to cross our hotel marketing executives’ desk, that history is over 100 years old and a unique record of a key moment in Petwood history.
Thomas Burkitt was born in January 1892 in Calcethorpe, a small hamlet 5 miles outside of Louth, Lincolnshire to Thomas Burkitt senior, a Farm Labourer. Young Thomas didn’t appear to want to work in the fields as his father had done and by the time of the 1911 census at the age of 19, he was working at Petwood as a Gardener alongside his brother Harry aged 25.
There can be few women in the history of Petwood who have made as much impact on the building and its history than its former owner, Lady Grace Blundell Maple.
It is now over 75 years since the audacious efforts of Squadron 617, aka the Dam Busters, made history in WW2. Many of us will have heard about their bravery and perhaps seen the classic movie. But what was the experience really like for the squadron? How did their plans come to fruition and what was the true significance of the famous “Operation Chastise”?
For anyone who loves the elegance of a classic English garden, Lincolnshire has some of the most historic and beautiful outdoor spaces to visit in the UK. Designed and tended by some of the most famous gardeners and landscape designers over the centuries, “Bomber County” has everything from walled gardens to wild meadows and stately homes.
I was recently reminded of a film called “Per Purum Tonantes”, made by a former student of mine at the Lincoln School of Media, George Horne. It’s an abridged version of a film he made about the night of the 18th February 1943, when Lancaster Bomber W4270 crashed in a farmer’s field during a training mission, resulting in the deaths of all seven of its crew. Lincolnshire historical researcher Di Ablewhite tells the story of how the film came to be made.
It never ceases to amaze us here at the Petwood when pieces of hotel history somehow make their way back to the hotel. In the case of the latest item to cross our hotel marketing executives’ desk, that history is over 100 years old and a unique record of a key moment in Petwood history.