Writing, fatshion, me: 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...