Woodhall Spa poster – Andrew Johnson – 1924

Poster: Woodhall Spa poster – Andrew Johnson – 1924

This is a vintage Woodhall Spa poster  produced by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) to encourage rail passengers to the Lincolnshire spa town. The poster shows a woman with a tennis raquet in her hand talking to a gentleman on a horse to show some of the activities available in the area. The couple are chatting in front of the Woodhall Spa Pump Room, which can be seen in the background.

The vintage travel poster was one in a series of posters created under the ongoing It;s Quicker by Rail advertising campaign. This Woodhall Spa poster reads: It’s quicker by rail. Bromo-iodine waters. First class golf. Booklet from Secretary Information Bureau or any LNER office or agency.

Most spa towns have been built on the sites of spa’s that have been in existance for centuries or even longer. However, according to Wikipedia, the Woodhall Spa came about quite by accident. A gentleman named John Parkinson made several attempts to find coal in the town. On one attempt after spending thousands of pounds and sinking a shaft in to a 1000 feet deep hole, he discovered there wasn’t any coal and abandoned the project.  However, the hole that was made was  filling with water from a new rising spring.

Twenty three years later, in 1834, the then Lord of the Manor, Thomas Hotchkin had the water analysed and ascertained that the water was, in fact, iodine-rich and had healing qualities. Hotchkin spent nearly £30,000 sinking a well and erecting the Spa Baths, as well as building the Victoria Hotel.

Unfortunately the hotel burned down in 1920 and was never rebuilt. And, whilst they lasted quite a bit longer, the Spa Baths finally closed when the well collapsed in 1983.

Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears, or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as a fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints.

The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £12. So you can bag a bargain of print and poster for just £22.