ON THE BEACH

Skegness has always been special to us. We love the whole of the east coast from Cleethorpes to Great Yarmouth , but I think we would both agree that Skeggy has some of our most enduring memories.

For my wife , Loraine , it meant long summers with her grandma , helping her in her long standing job at Butlins. It also meant the fun and games of the beach missions.

She remembers  learning to swim in the old outdoor pool at The Embassy Centre , and spending old pennies on the slot machines at the end of the day. Often there would be odd coins dropped or left behind in the machine trays. Loraine would collect these until she had enough to buy Grandma a bar of Bourneville chocolate. Her favourite.

My own early memories are of annual caravan holidays at Ingoldmells in the early seventies.

Back then it was already “caravan city” , but Fantasy Island didn’t yet exist , and Sea Lane to the point was largely undeveloped. You could still have a quiet stroll along the sea wall and feel the force of the waves crashing in.

There used to be a cinema opposite Fantasy Island. It’s a supermarket now , but I remember seeing a film there about “ Alfred The Great” . It was a fairly moody piece with grey saxon skies which seemed to be still recognisable in the quiet dunes.

All different now , of course. White Knuckle rides, and rock music at the beach bar.

I’m not complaining though. Skegness was always a draw for the lights and the razzamatazz. As I got older , I loved the cabaret bars , and saw many famous names at the end of the pier … the long one before it was destroyed by a storm. Tommy Cooper , Ray Alan with Lord Charles , Mike & Bernie Winters...all supported by a full variety show of singers , dancers etc… and all the while you could hear the waves crashing against the creaking structure… I loved it.

Loraine and I  had our first holiday together in Ingoldmells , in a rented caravan. It only had gas lights and cooking , so no telly … just a crackly little radio which reminded me of those early holidays. To make it worse , we had booked a week before the Butlins camp opened for the season , which in those days meant Skeggy was still tucked up for winter…

There was very little open in Ingoldmells itself , which was still a quiet village, separate from all the noise .It had one cafe called The Copper Kettle , which was later reborn as an amusement arcade.

Sadly , on our most recent visit , this appears to have gone for good , along with the outdoor market. Bus services were infrequent so we had to walk everywhere , particularly along the sea wall into Skegness itself.

A few years later we returned to Skegness for our honeymoon . Money was a little tight so we swapped accommodation with Grandma. She had a week at our home in South Yorkshire , catching up with family and friends , and we had the run of her flat , which was

just off the sea front.

It was May again. The weather was fine , but we were just ahead of the season, again...

We were both into keep fit at the time and decided one morning to put on our track suits and run along the front to the clock tower ,then down the road to the beach , where we knew for sure that there was a baked potato stall and a waffle kiosk.

When we got there, of course , there was no sign of life , just evaporating morning mist and a couple of quizzical seagulls ...but we loved it and have been coming back regularly ever since.

This article was first published in SHORELINE magazine in June 2019.

It introduces the ON THE BEACH series of cartoons. The magazine is available free of charge from various outlets in Skegness and surrounding area.