Visit to Woodland Spa

Before I start, I have to note that the next posts in my list of posts to write are actually Films of the Month posts for September and October. But I'm quite far behind with blogging - not so much on here, but definitely on my book blog - and I think I will just skip over those posts. I just don't have it in me to write them right now. I've had a rough few weeks. My health has been very up and down and I am getting more tests and will hopefully have some diagnoses soon. I've been working more which I find difficult, and I've given up one client because my health has been hard. I've been watching far fewer films partly because I've started watching Emmerdale again and it takes forever to keep up with it. My writing has also suffered because of working and ill health and so on. It's been rough around here. So those posts can just disappear, they don't really matter right now. I am going to think hard about whether I carry on doing those posts in 2026. We'll see... 

Anyway! I do have a few proper posts to write and I really want to get the ones on this blog done and then I can get the book reviews all done (I have eleven to do as of today, and of course as I keep reading books, there are always more to be done) before Christmas, which of course brings about more blogging too. Life, man! Keeps happening!

I can't believe we're nearly into 2026. Life goes fast. 

For my birthday Lee bought me a voucher to Woodland Spa in Burnley. We have been before, we went on Lee's birthday in 2024. It is the best spa I have ever been to and I am looking forward to going again at some point. It was a surprise present and I was absolutely thrilled. The spa isn't cheap so it was nice of him to get it. We talked all year about when to use the voucher and finally decided to go at the beginning of November. There are outdoor parts to the spa but we reckoned they would be warm enough in November. And they were! 

One of the great things about this spa is that you can arrive from about 10am and you don't have to leave until the spa shuts at 9.30pm! So it's good value for money! I don't like it when you've spent a lot but only get a few hours. The package we had bought included dining, which was a main course and pudding, and a glass of wine, and it's all lovely food and worth the money. But there are also two other bars where there are plenty of drinks to choose from and some small nibble type dishes, so you won't go hungry at all. As we had so much time and as we live over an hour away, we waited until after rush hour and arrived at the spa at around 10.30am. We went and got changed and went into the old spa bit, which is really lovely also. There's a big warm pool in the middle with loads of different jets and so on. It is surrounded by heated loungers, and there are the steps which lead into the pool that goes outside. 

I was keen to get into the water so immediately got into this pool. It was so warm and lovely. Lee was on the edge but he did join me. We then went into the outside bar and had a hot drink each and sat by the firepit keeping ourselves warm. By the time we had done that, we weren't far away from being dry, so we decided to not go back in the water because we had lunch booked at 12.30 I think. So we went into the relaxation area which is on the mezzanine of the new main spa area. I laid in a pod seat thing all by myself and read my book for a bit. 

When we went before, the restaurant was up on the rooftop but they were working on the restaurant on the first floor, and now it's open. Anyone can use it, not just from the spa, but the spa guests are sort of at one side I guess because they might be wet. I had a goats cheese sandwich and Lee had fish and chips. Then I had brownie with Baileys ice cream and honeycomb crunch and other delicious things. 

We went upstairs to the rooftop hot tub and then we went into the main huge spa area, and then we went into the quiet pool which is salty so you can float in it, and then we went in to the siwmming pool which was actually warm enough to swim in, and then we went into the outdoor hot tubs, and then we had another hot drink, and then we went back in the main one, and so on and so on, we just kept moving around. We were relaxing lots and each doing what we wanted for certain bits. I read quite a lot of my book. 

Again due to traffic we waited until a bit later to leave. I washed my hair with really lovely supplies in the shower. I think it was about 6.30 when we set off home. We stopped off at the Tesco in Hyde on the way home. We will be back! 

Blogger does this annoying thing where it uploads my photos in reverse number order, and usually I sort them first to last, but I can't be bothered doing that today. So these photos will somewhat speak for themselves... 

Lee and I towards the end when I was in a hot tub and Lee was just sitting on the side

Me in the hot tub, that pool is just so warm and gorgeous

Looking at the setting sun over the outside bar area

Me in one of the outdoor hot tubs

The main inside spa area - this is what was new in the refurbishment and it is so new and so amazing 

In the old bit, which is no less lovely and warm and inviting

Outside, I was relaxing on a lounger and it wasn't too cold to do that

Outdoor hot tub

Looking at the pool and the new restaurant area

The quiet area and pool

The loungers on the rooftop part

The rooftop hot tub

Pudding

Lee in the restaurant

Looking down on the main pool area 

The mezzanine area relaxation space

The outdoor pool

Coffee first thing

And finally the old hydrotherapy pool area, just before I got in in the morning when it really looks like no one else was there!

Tea Out with Roslyn

Towards the end of October I met up with my friend Ros for tea. She works in a school so half term is the best time to catch her, so we had made plans for the Tuesday evening. I drove to her house and she drove us into Sheffield. She has a blue badge which meant we could park right near City Hall. We had decided to go to Pho because we both like it. So we got there and it wasn't too busy, but it wasn't too empty either, which was nice. 

I had the veggie summer rolls with peanut sauce, and I had the spicy tofu curry for a change instead of the ordinary one. I've had it before and it's sometimes too spicy for me, but this time it was lovely and I really enjoyed it. 

When we had finished it still wasn't very late so I said to Ros that we should go somewhere else for coffee or something, because her kids would still be awake at home and if she went home she would just end up putting them to bed and she was supposed to be having a break. She suggested we went to the Chocolate Bar which is near to Cambridge Street Collective. I've been past it but haven't been in, but I've heard it's great. So we walked over there. It's very cute inside, although it doesn't have a lot of seats. You choose the percentage of chocolate that you want. I think I had 60% and I ordered a humongous slice of chocolate cake too. I only ate half the cake and took the rest of it home for Lee and I to share later. 

We had a good chat and it was nice to spend some time with one of my oldest friends. We went back to hers but by the time we got there it was about 8.50 so I just came home. When I got home Lee was about to get in the bath so I made him take my photo before I got changed. I was wearing my galaxy print dress from Topsy Curvy, with red marl tights that are excellent winter tights, and my purple and green checked cardigan. I pulled out some of my favourite boots for the first time in the season. They're from Pavers or something I think, and they're very comfy. I love the patent black of them and the detailing on the front. 

Summer rolls and peanut sauce, as is tradition. I had some kind of dragonfruit drink, which was delicious

Spicy tofu curry

My slab of chocolate cake, I only ate the bottom third

Ros and I outside the Chocolate Bar 

My galazy print dress and cardigan

And my boots and tights!

Night Away at Thorpe Park Hotel

For my birthday in January Sam, Jacqui and Jodie bought me a spabreaks.com voucher, which was a great present as I love going to a spa. I decided to leave it until after we had moved house, and then I booked myself a night at Thorpe Park Hotel near Leeds. I went once for a meal for a friend's hen party back in 2012, but I had never been to the spa or stayed over. A lot of people rave about it, so I was looking forward to trying it. I booked a night with a food allowance, plus access to the spa, by myself. Lee wanted me to take him but no, I wanted to be by myself! 

I had high expectations and sadly the hotel didn't meet them. There were a few reasons why. I was in touch with them before my arrival and was told my spa access was only from 3pm when it was check in, which was a bit disappointing because I would have liked to go earlier for a longer time. I ordered some chocolates for myself for the room in the emails, too. I set off about 2.15pm after I'd had brunch with Lee and Sam, and got there about 3pm. 

There was the first problem - there were tons of people checking in at that time and the queue was really long and there was one member of staff. I had to stand in a queue for ages, which is very painful for me. I finally got up to the room at about 3.25. This of course cut into my spa time even more, which was annoying. 

The room was lovely - the bathroom had a lovely shower and lovely products in it, and the room had a huge bed and a sofa area. The wardrobes had a dressing gown and a sleep kit in which were both nice touches. There was a fridge and a coffee machine and a kettle for tea. I couldn't work the coffee machine which was annoying, but they did have decaf coffee. But they didn't have my chocolates! So I phoned down for them and someone brought them straight away which was good, but I was a bit annoyed that they weren't there when I checked in.

I put my swimming costume on and went down to the spa in the dressing gown (which was nice and big!) about 3.35 and went in. There's a pool which isn't huge but is nice and warm, and it's big enough to swim in. At one edge there's a big quiet room, which looked lovely but I didn't go in it. At another edge there is a sauna and a steam room and a shower. On the third edge is another relaxation area and a hot tub. The hot tub is quite big but I didn't feel it was big enough for the number of people in the spa. There were people in the hotel in there of course, but it's also a place you can belong to to use, so there were a lot of people around even for a Sunday evening. It took me a while to actually get into the hot tub because it was so busy. 

I swapped between the pool, the hot tub, and the steam room, and it was nice. I sat and read my book for a bit too. But it maybe wasn't the amazingly relaxed time I had envisioned. There was a bit of a fracas between a man and a woman and her children. They didn't know each other and I'm not entirely sure what the man thought the woman and her children were doing but he was quite rude to her, it was weird. 

I got out of the spa at about 6.30 and went back up to my room. I couldn't work the TV which was annoying - it turned out there were two remote controls - so I had a shower before I went down to the restaurant. I had booked my table for 7.30 so got down just before then. I knew I would be sitting by myself and it was fine - I had gone prepared with my book. The restaurant is nice but the service was sloooow. I had French onion soup and halloumi curry which was bizarre, I should have gone for something else. Alongside I had a lovely glass of red wine. I might have ordered some pudding but no one came to ask me, and I got fed up, so I just excused myself to the staff and went back up to my room. I had some biscuits in there anyway. But again, it's just something else I was bothered by. 

I got the TV working and watched some rubbish TV while I got into bed and relaxed. I ended up going to sleep really late because I was finishing my book! 

In the morning I got up and got packed up and everything and headed down to breakfast at about 9.30 I think. I wasn't that impressed with the breakfast. It was a buffet and there wasn't a lot of veggie options and there were no pastries left. There was also no decaf coffee which is extremely annoying in such a hotel! I ordered some veggie sausages which took ages to come, and I got some bits from the buffet and took a seat. Someone brought some more pastries out so I grabbed a couple. It was fine, but again just not as good as I was expecting.

I went and packed all my things up and checked out early because I wanted to go to craft club for the last hour or something, so I left about 10am even though check out wasn't until eleven. I then ran into the final problem. As I said, I had a meal allowance of £30 included in the booking I had made, and I had spent about that, plus my glass of wine, so I knew I had to pay for the wine. However the girl on reception said the bill was about £40 and I was just like ....nope. I pulled up my email and she did try to argue with me about it. But I paid for the wine and left!

I really think that as it's a four star hotel it should just be better than it is! The service just wasn't what I would expect! But hey, I did have a good time and enjoyed my little trip by myself. 

In a rose print dress on my way out to the hotel

My room which was really lovely and well equipped

There were lots of nice touches to the room

The pool in the spa, I didn't take many photos because there were a lot of people and kids around

The chocolates when I finally got them

French onion soup, it was delicious 

The curry wasn't quite as good, though. It was very sweet

But I did enjoy the glass of decent red!