The history of the George Hotel

The exact date of the George Hotel is uncertain. What is certain however, is that it was named in honour of the Hanovarian Kings. Since the first was a distinctivly unpopular monarch, and it was written of the second that "he has no conspictuouse virtues and, like his father, a propensity for mistresses" the balance of probability favours George III who was popular with everyone, with the possible exception of Margaret Nicholson, who tried to assassinate him with an old desert knife.

The coming of the railways saw the demise of the coaching trader and the Gerorge in turn saw many alterations, from the closure of the Arched Entrance Way, to the addition of a third story sometime in the mid nineteenth century.

Over the years many famous (and some infamous people) have passed through, or stayed, at the George Hotel. T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' in what is now the restaurant, his Brough Superia Motor-cycle being a common sight in the yard of the Hotel.

There are still people in the village who remember running errands, as children, for the Aircraftsmen Shaw as he was then known.

The nearby R.A.F. College has always supplied a steady stream of personalities to the George Hotel.

Douglas R.S Bader was a popular figure at the Hotel both as a cadet in 1928, and after his return to active service in November 1939.

Another regular was the famous aviator Cpt T. Hinchcliffe who, with the Hon. Elsie Mackay, daughter of the Lord Inchcape as co-pilot, made a fatal attempt at the East to West crossing of the Atlantic in a Stinson monoplane, named the ENDEAVOUR. Hinchcliffe was a distinctive figure. He had lost his left eye in a "dog fight" with Manfred Von Richthofen - the famous Red Baron - and habitually wore a black eye patch.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was convinced that the ghost of Hinchcliffe was seen quite sometime after his death and local rumour testifies to a tall figure in a flying suit with a patch over his left eye walking through the George yard on much a twilight March evening.

Since the days of the aviators the George Hotel has been host to politicians and pop-singers, Cranwell cadets and visitors from all over the world.

The service and hospitality has remained the same through the years - simply amongst the best in the country.

In 1970 the Willgoose family transformed the Hotel adding an annex and converting the old stables into a bar and functions suite, adding a restaurant and a Scotch Bar.

The bar stocks over six hundred and eighty whiskies and practically every drink from all over the world from Aquavit to Zytnia.

The menu in the restaurant is mainly English cuisine and the quality of the prime Lincoln Red Beef is justly renowned nationwide.