SKEGNESS

'Skegness' is a seaside town and civil parish within the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Located along the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, it is east of the city of Lincoln, and has a total resident population of 18,910.^[1]
Skegness is perhaps best known as the location of the first Butlins holiday resort, built in 1936, which remains within the area to this day, and in this capacity, remains one of the most famous seaside resorts in the United Kingdom.

Contents

Geography

History

Etymology

Early history

Resort town and Butlins

Present day

Tourist Industry

Local politics

Transport

Airfield

Railway

Roads

Education

Media

Health

References

External links

Geography

Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lincolnshire from a very early time, for governance, the parish of Skegness was in the Marsh division of the ancient Candleshoe Wapentake in the Parts of Lindsey.

History

Etymology

The name indicates that Skegness has its origin in the Danish period of settlement in England. Although it has been suggested that it looks like a foot, a hypothetical Viking responsible for establishing the earliest settlement on this location, it is much more likely to have derived from words which appear in modern Danish as ''skæg'', beard and ''næs'', nose or in geographical terms, headland.

Early history

Longshore drift carries particles of sediment southwards along the Lincolnshire coast but at Skegness, the sand settles out in banks (tombolos) which run at a slight angle to the coast forming the beard. The slightly elevated dune land sheltered the small natural harbour which the Danes found behind the banks. The finer sediment drifts on to find a home in the mud of The Wash, beyond Gibraltar Point.
In August 1642, a consignment of arms and money, probably raised by Queen Henrietta Maria, in the Netherlands for the support of King Charles I's campaign in the Civil War, was forced into Skegness by the ships of the Parliamentarian Earl of Warwick.^[2]
Skegness was primarily a fishing village and small port until the arrival of the railway in 1875.

Resort town and Butlins

The land was part of the Earl of Scarborough's estate and he, or his agent H.V.Tippet^[3] saw that the extensive sandy beach could be made attractive to holidaymakers from the industrial towns of the English Midlands, a clientele already developed by Thomas Cook. He planned the town as a resort from 1877 and it expanded rapidly, but along with many other UK resorts, especially those on the cold North Sea, it lost out to the cheap package holiday boom which opened up Spain (in particular) to the average holidaymaker after World War II currency restrictions were lifted and travellers could leave the UK with more than 50 pounds.
Ingoldmells, the parish to the north of Skegness, was the site of the UK's first Holiday Camp, started by Billy Butlin in 1936. Butlin's is still there today, in modern dress, at the north end of the town, on the road to Ingoldmells.
Skegness had a 1843 foot (562 metre) long pier which was opened on Whit Monday 1881, at that time it was the fourth longest in England. Steamboat trips ran from the pier to The Wash and Hunstanton in Norfolk from 1882 until 1910. In 1919, it was damaged by a drifting ship and it took twenty years to raise the money to fully repair it. Again in 1978, the pier was badly damaged and considerably shortened; this time by severe gales.^[4] The pier has since undergone major refurbishment and is now once again a thriving tourist attraction, although it no longer extends far seaward of the high tide line.

Present day

In March 2005, Skegness took the top spot in a survey by ''Yours'' magazine, looking at the best retirement places in the UK. ''Yours'' researchers visited sixty likely towns, and factors involved in judging included house prices, hospital waiting lists, the crime rate, council tax rates, activities and attractions, weather patterns and ease of transport. It has also been described by Lonely Planet's Great Britain guide as "everything you could want" in a seaside resort.

Tourist Industry

Today the town's tourist industry mainly caters for working-class holiday-makers and day-trippers from Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and other areas of the East Midlands. Skegness has been dubbed "the Blackpool of the East Coast" or "Nottingham by the Sea", and has a famous mascot, the Jolly Fisherman (designed by John Hassall in 1908 for the Great Northern Railway), and a slogan - 'Skegness is ''so'' bracing' - a reference to the chilly prevailing north-easterly winds that can and frequently do blow off the North Sea. The town is popularly known as ''Skeg'', ''Skeggy'' or Skegvegas. Further up the coast are the other holiday resorts of Mablethorpe, Sutton-on-Sea, Ingoldmells and Chapel St Leonards.

The seafront teems with a variety of ways for visiting tourists to spend their money. The main strip of road along the beach is a kaleidoscope of neon and flashing lights advertising arcade machines, slot machines, fairground rides, crazy golf, fish-and-chip shops and various bars such as 'Whisky Ago Go' (a great place for live entertainment). There are also seasonal shops selling cheap ways to entertain oneself, such as kites and buckets-and-spades - such quieter pleasures can be enjoyed on the long wide award-winning beach, which in summer features a fine herd of donkeys for riding. The town is also a major centre for bowls, and is the home to the world's premier Meccano exhibition, annually staged in the Embassy Theatre, on the Grand Parade by the seafront. Behind the Embassy is Botton's Pleasure Beach, featuring roller coasters, mini merry-go-round (the Gallopers), dodgems and many traditional and modern rides, as well as the annual spectacular end-of-season firework display.
There are large Morrisons and Tesco supermarkets in the centre of the town near the railway station, and a Co-op in the Hildreds Centre shopping area. ''Lumley Road'' is the main shopping area, with plenty of fish and chip shops and pubs. To the south of the town is Gibraltar Point, a nature reserve on the northern limit of The Wash.
On 2007-08-16, a huge fire hit an entertainment complex on the Skegness front. No one was injured. The fire swept through ''The Parade'', ''Lucky Strike Arcade'' and ''Buster's Fun Pub''.^[5]

Local politics

On the southern foreshore sits a popular family attraction, the Fairy Dell paddling pool. Closed by the district council because of health and safety fears in 2004, the pool soon became the centre of controversy as people from Skegness, elsewhere in the country and as far afield as Australia voiced their dismay at the loss of such a time-honoured free facility. Taxpayers and town councillors joined forces with the local press to campaign for the Fairy Dell to be reopened, and the district council gave way to public pressure and promised to have it back in operation by summer 2006.

On 22nd May 2006, the Fairy Dell re-opened following a major refurbishment during which many improvements were made to the pool such as clean-filtered water and extra water features. [1]
In October 2005, the East Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust closed the Scarborough Ward at Skegness Hospital as part of a package of money-saving measures. Locals were outraged by the decision, because the ward represented about a third of the hospital's entire capacity and also provided palliative care. Campaigners marched through the streets and held up the traffic, then later called for the resignations of the PCT board members after they turned down a £100,000 donation offered by East Lindsey District Council to enable the ward to remain open through the winter. The PCT said the donation would "impinge" on its duties, and could be considered "unlawful" if accepted.

Transport

Airfield

Fine beaches link the coastal towns, and there are many large caravan parks in the surrounding countryside. One caravan park a short distance to the north of the town has its own airfield, with a 755 metre grass runway. Visiting pilots can call the airfield on 132.425 MHz, although PPR (Prior Permission Required) is stated for landing. A number of years ago, pleasure flights used to operate from the aerodrome.

Railway

The town is served by Skegness railway station, which is the terminus for the Grantham to Skegness Line. Trains run the full lengh of this and the Nottingham to Grantham Line to give direct fast conveniant connections to the East Midlands.
Nottingham, Grantham, Boston and Sleaford have direct connections, while popular places such as Leicester, Derby, Lincoln and Kettering are only one change.

Roads

The A52 passes through the town from Boston to Mablethorpe and the A158 takes people from Lincoln to Skegness.

Education

Skegness is also the home to the schools for most of the surrounding area's secondary education. Two schools cater for the 11–18 age range, St Clement's College (formerly known as the Earl of Scarborough High School) is a secondary modern on ''Burgh Road'', and Skegness Grammar School on ''Vernon Road''.

Media

The resort is served primarily by three local newspapers - the ''Skegness Standard'', ''Skegness Citizen'' and ''Skegness Target''.

Health

Skegness Hospital is on Dorothy Avenue. The town also has two large GP practices, a mental health team and a PCT health centre. The latter being on Cecil Avenue.

References

1. Skegness (Parish) United Kingdom Census 2001
2. Thompson, P. ''The History and Antiquities of Boston and the Hundred of Skirbeck'' (1856) facsimile edn. (1987) ISBN 0-948639-20-2 See also external link
3. Robinson, D.N. ''The Book of the Lincolnshire Seaside'' (1983) p.66.
4. Robinson, D.N. ''The Book of the Lincolnshire Seaside'' (1983) pp.98-109.
5. Coastal arcade destroyed by fire

External links

★ Embassy Theatre - Programme and information

★ Complete Online Guide to Skegness

★ Skegness Town Council

★ Photos of Skegness, Mablethorpe, Chapel St Leonards from the past to present day

★ History of Butlin's

★ Skegness news, history, information, old postcards

★ The Fun Coast

★ Skegness, GENUKI article.

★ Photographic images of old Skegness newspaper articles

★ The Great Fire of Skegness August 2007 video and photos