Sleaford Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

Sleaford has a population of around 17,700 (2011). In the town centre stands Money's Mill, a 1796 windmill. It no longer has sails, and for several years served as Sleaford's tourist information centre.

• Visitor Information

Sleaford Railway Station serves destinations of Lincoln, Peterborough, Doncaster, Grantham, Skegness and Nottingham.

Via Nottingham there are connections to Cardiff (via Birmingham), Liverpool, Leicester, Derby and Worksop.

Via Grantham or Peterborough there are connections to London Kings Cross, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Aberdeen

Stagecoach run a bus service from the Railway Station to Lincoln via Ruskington and Metheringham.

The best way to get around Sleaford is walking. At rush hour the High Street gets heavy traffic making it quicker to walk.

• 52.999722-0.4088891 St. Denys. Parish church forms the eastern side of the town's market place.  
• 52.998679-0.4073562 The Hub National Centre for Craft & Design.  
• 53.001687-0.4001873 Cogglesford Mill (on the banks of the River Slea). It dates from the 17th century. It is Lincolnshire's last working water mill and is possibly the last working Sheriff's Mill in England (making it of national importance). It is probably on the site of an earlier Mercian estate mill. The adjacent house where the mill worker would have lived is now a restaurant.  
• 52.977059-0.295214 Heckington Windmill. In the village of Heckington, near Sleaford is the only surviving eight sailed windmill in the country. It has a museum and tearooms, as well as a shop selling produce. Open 7 days a week from mid-July to mid-September, at weekends from mid-September to the end of October and from Easter to mid-July, and on Sundays only from November to Easter.  

Other town landmarks include the Handley Monument, the semi-derelict Bass Maltings, the ruins of Sleaford Castle, and the Picturedrome (once a cinema and a Snooker hall, now unoccupied).

Since 1912, an annual charity raft race has taken place on the River Slea. It is coupled with the Water Festival local music event.

Sleaford holds a market in the town on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Subway on Southgate

Greggs on Southgate (although there is no restaurant)

Weatherspoons on Northgate

Sleaford's Bull & Dog pub, formerly the Black Bull, dates from 1689 (according to a date-stone set in its front wall) and is said to have the oldest surviving bull-baiting pub sign in England.

• Travelodge Hotel - Sleaford, A17 / A15 Sleaford Bypass, Holdingham, ☏ +44 871 984 6104. 
• Carre Arms Hotel & Conference Centre, 1 Mareham Lane, ☏ +44 1529 303156. 

Sleaford and its approach roads have 4G from all UK carriers. As of Nov 2022, there is 5G from O2 in town centre.

Close to Sleaford is Lincoln, Grantham, Ruskington, Digby, Dorrington, Metheringham, Spalding, Skegness, Cranwell and Waddington.

Reasonably close to Sleaford is Grimsby, Scunthorpe, Cleethorpes, Nottingham and Kingston upon Hull.

Lincoln ←	N  S	→ Bourne → Peterborough
Newark-on-Trent ←	W  E	→ Boston → King's Lynn