Moortown

Moortown is not a hotel destination in its own right — this is a hamlet of a pub, a campsite and a handful of houses at a rural crossroads — but its position makes it a sensible base for exploring the western edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds without the tourist crush of the coast. Nearby Caistor and Market Rasen both offer pub accommodation and small hotels within easy striking distance, typically a five to ten minute drive, so you can combine a countryside stay with proper meals and a bit of local life in the evenings. Market Rasen in particular has a reputation as a friendly Wolds-edge town, with its racecourse adding a bit of extra buzz on race days throughout the year.

Further afield, Brigg to the north-west and the larger town of Grimsby to the east widen the choice considerably, with a range of chain and independent hotels to suit different budgets. Travelling a little further into the Wolds themselves opens up characterful inns and farmhouse B&Bs set among the chalk hills, which many visitors find preferable to staying directly in Moortown given how limited its own amenities are.

Wherever you base yourself, the appeal of this corner of Lincolnshire is the same: quiet roads, gentle hills, and market towns that have not been over-run by tourism. Booking ahead is sensible around race meetings at Market Rasen, and during the summer months when the Wolds draw walkers and cyclists in greater numbers than the rest of the year.

Moortown itself is a stopping point rather than a destination, but it is well placed for exploring the Lincolnshire Wolds and the market towns on their western fringe.

• Lincolnshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty — a belt of chalk hills, hidden valleys and quiet lanes beginning just east of Caistor, ideal for walking and cycling away from the crowds.
• Caistor — a handsome market town three miles away with a Saturday market, independent shops, and the parish church of St Peter and St Paul, parts of which date back to Saxon times.
• Market Rasen — the hamlet's post town, home to Market Rasen Racecourse, one of the country's most attractive National Hunt courses, set in woodland on the edge of the Wolds.
• Viking Way — the long-distance footpath through Lincolnshire passes within easy reach, offering a taste of the Wolds landscape on foot.
• Brigg — a riverside market town on the Ancholme, seven miles north-west, with a Thursday market and the Brigg Farmers Market held regularly in the town centre.

The Skipworth Arms is Moortown's own pub, standing opposite the site of the old railway station and serving as the natural focal point of the hamlet. For a wider choice of pubs, cafés and restaurants, Caistor and Market Rasen are both close by and worth the short drive.

Moortown has its own small campsite next to the Skipworth Arms, making it one of the more straightforward places to pitch up on the western fringe of the Lincolnshire Wolds. As with anywhere in England, wild camping without the landowner's permission is not legal, so sticking to established sites such as this — or others scattered through the Wolds villages nearby — is the sensible approach here as elsewhere.

The terrain around Moortown itself is flat, low-lying farmland, easy going for arrival and pitching, but head just a few miles east and the ground rises into the chalk hills of the Lincolnshire Wolds AONB, where the camping and glamping options multiply among steep little valleys, hidden dells and long views back towards the Humber. That contrast — flat, quiet crossroads on one side, rolling hidden countryside on the other — is part of what makes this stretch of Lincolnshire worth exploring by tent rather than just passing through by car.

Late spring to early autumn is the best window for camping here, as with most of inland Lincolnshire: the ground is drier, days are longer, and the Wolds lanes are at their best for walking and cycling between pitches. Winter camping is possible but exposed, particularly on the flatter land around Moortown itself where there is little shelter from the wind coming off the surrounding fields.

For those who prefer a roof over their heads without giving up the outdoor feel, glamping options — shepherd's huts, pods and small camping barns — have become more common across the Wolds villages in recent years, offering a comfortable alternative within a short drive of Moortown. Combined with the area's quiet lanes and the nearby market towns of Caistor and Market Rasen for supplies and a decent meal, it makes for an easy, unpretentious camping base away from Lincolnshire's busier coastal sites.