A brief history of Skegness

From time to time we are asked for a little information relating to Skegness of the past, for example, how did the resort develop? Why is Skegness so popular today? What was it like to take a holiday here 60 years ago? Who really is the Jolly Fisherman?

Surprisingly, before the development of the railway system in the late 1800's, Skegness was little more than an insignificant coastal village. Wainfleet, some 5 miles inland, had a far more coloured history than its current larger neighbor to its east. Events really began to take off at the turn of the century with the development of the railway networks and, for the first time, ordinary working people from the midlands could economically visit the coast, and enjoy the miles of golden beaches and fresh air. Thus early tourism was born. The town was possibly at the height of its popularity in the 1920's and 1930's, prior to the mass ownership of motor cars following World War 2.

This section is in development and will be updated as more information becomes available. We would be very pleased to hear from any person who may wish to add or publish information that may be of use to others.

We hope that this section will provide useful information of life in Skegness of the past for the benefit of generations to come and for non-commercial usage may be copied at will. We do request that commercial operators contact us prior to distributing or reselling our work, and to this effect the publication is protected by copyright.

The publication will be fragmented into modules, which we hope will be easy to navigate.

Personal thanks to the late Harold Fainlight MBE, JP. for encouragement and invaluable information that has enabled this section to be published.

We hope the links below will be helpful:

A brief history of tourism 1875 - Current.
Skegness - 1930 to 1939
Recollections of an evacuee from London - Skegness 1942
The Morris School - Skegness 1956 - 1986