Old Leake

Old Leake is a small working Fenland village, so it has no hotels of its own — visitors typically base themselves in nearby Boston, around nine miles away, which offers a range of pubs with rooms, guesthouses and small independent hotels. Boston's central position makes it an easy base for reaching Old Leake, the Wash coast reserves at Frampton Marsh and Freiston Shore, and the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at East Kirkby, while still being close enough for a quiet Fenland drive out to see the windmills at Maud Foster and Sibsey.

Staying in or around Boston also puts you within reach of the town's own attractions, including the towering St Botolph's Church and the Guildhall Museum, as well as good transport links via Boston railway station on the line towards Skegness and Grantham. For those wanting a quieter stay, smaller villages around Old Leake such as Wrangle, Leverton and Sibsey offer rural guesthouses and B&Bs set among the drained Fen farmland, with wide skies and easy access to the coast. Whichever option you choose, this part of Lincolnshire rewards a slower pace, with flat, easy cycling and walking routes along the old drains and sea banks.

Old Leake itself is a small village, so most days out involve a short drive into Boston or along the coast towards the Wash. Highlights nearby include:

• St Botolph's Church, Boston (the "Boston Stump") — one of the largest parish churches in England, its 272ft tower dominates the flat Fenland skyline and can be seen for miles around; climb it for views across the Wash on a clear day.
• Maud Foster Windmill, Boston — a working five-sailed windmill built in 1819, one of the tallest working windmills in the country, with a mill shop and tea room.
• Sibsey Trader Mill — a Grade I listed six-sailed windmill built in 1877, a short drive from Old Leake and one of the last of its kind still standing in the UK.
• RSPB Frampton Marsh — a wetland reserve on the edge of the Wash with reed beds, saltmarsh and hides, renowned for wading birds, wildfowl and, in season, huge flocks of migrating waders.
• Boston Guildhall Museum — a fifteenth-century guildhall in the town centre with cells once used to hold the Pilgrim Fathers, telling the story of Boston's long trading and maritime history.
• Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirkby — a former RAF Bomber Command airfield with a restored Lancaster bomber and wartime buildings, a poignant reminder of the county's wartime aviation past.

The village has two pubs, the White Hart on Church Road and the Bricklayer's Arms on Wainfleet Road, both serving as the social heart of the community. For a wider choice of cafes, restaurants and traditional pubs, Boston town centre is the nearest option, with its historic market place and riverside setting along the Haven.

Camping in and around Old Leake means embracing proper Fenland scenery: flat, open farmland criss-crossed by drainage dykes, huge skies, and a coastline at the Wash that feels genuinely remote. As with the rest of England, wild camping is not permitted here without the landowner's explicit permission — this is intensively farmed arable land and the Wash reserves are protected nature sites, so campers should stick to established campsites and caravan parks in the area rather than pitching informally on farmland, sea banks or nature reserves.

The terrain is famously flat and low-lying, reclaimed from the East Fen through centuries of drainage, which makes it excellent for easy cycling and dog walking around a pitch, though it also means little natural shelter from wind coming off the North Sea. Sites around Boston, Wrangle and the Wash coast tend to be a mix of touring caravan parks and small rural campsites, often on working farms, with some also offering glamping options such as static caravans, pods or shepherd's huts for those who want the Fenland views without bringing a tent.

Late spring through to early autumn is the most comfortable window for camping here, when the Fens are at their greenest and the Wash reserves at Frampton Marsh and Freiston Shore are busy with breeding and passage birds. Serious birdwatchers may still prefer a winter visit despite the cold, as the coastal marshes fill with wintering geese and wading birds in huge numbers. Whatever the season, pack for wind — this landscape offers little in the way of trees or hills to break it — and take advantage of the quiet, dark skies that make stargazing a real bonus of camping out in this part of rural Lincolnshire.