Skegness - Sun, sea and rescue

Fingers crossed Summer 2010 will prove that the "staycation" trend is still with us, signalling a bumper boost for the Lincolnshire area.

Words: Glynis Fox Photographs: Mick Fox

Skegness Town Centre Manager Stefan Krause reports that East Lindsey's coastal hoteliers and guest house owners are in positive mood and tourism experts say there is plenty to tempt local people and tourists - but it could still be a challenging year.

However, they believe that Lincolnshire's great British seaside attractions have got what it takes and that they will prove to be a real magnet, encouraging people to flock to a part of the UK which is benefiting from ongoing investment.

When you break it down, people are spoilt for choice. There's bracing seafront walks, Blue Flag beaches at Skegness, Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea, fantastic amusements, great donkey rides for the chidren, shopping and a rolling programme of entertainments.

The whole aim is for everyone to have a great time and to stay safe - and it's reassuring to know that Skegness also has its own lifeboat station and RNLI all-weather and inshore lifeboats on the seafront.

Eastertime saw the holiday season get off to a flying start. Now things are starting to hot up, so why not reach for your sun hat and shades and get ready to let the good times roll?

Visit Lincolnshire revealed that about sixteen million visitors made a beeline for the county last year and many of those found a daytrip or longer break at the coast, irresistible. The challenge now is to find ways to extend the traditional Summer holiday season, so that people can enjoy our coastal attractions all-year-round.

Visit Lincolnshire Head of Marketing Emma Tatlow said: "Last year was such an opportune time for the tourism industry. Never before had the media spotlight shone so brightly on the UK as a place to holiday. It opened people's eyes to things to do and places to see in England.

"Visitors realised they didn't have to spend hours in an airport departure lounge and hundreds of pounds on overseas accommodation to have a great holiday. "Staycation" soon became the buzz word - and thanks to the media it spread across the country. This year may be more challenging."

However, the Discover Lincolnshire Weekend - launched by Visit Lincolnshire and run in March - has helped to encourage local people, as well as visitors from away, to find out what is so great about the county and its coastline.

"This weekend and other marketing activity showed people what they could visit and participate in along a fifty mile stretch of beach. It also gave them an insight into two very different seaside experiences - the first being the thrills and spills of Skegness, Ingoldmells and Cleethorpes and the second our stunning natural coastline, including Gibraltar Point, Anderby Creek and Saltfleet," said Miss Tatlow.

Skegness was, and still is, one of the UK's most renowned coastal seaside resorts in the UK. It began as a small coastal village and soon became a Victorian seaside retreat, before the railway's arrival sparked a tourism boom in 1873.

Over 100 years later, after Billy Butlin launched his first resort, the town remains a seaside favourite, thanks to its beach, seaside attractions, illuminations and entertainment.

"Skegness in the twenty-first century has so much to offer, from adventure trails and Britain's Best Seaside Donkey rides, to a state-of-the-art splash pool and a larger-than-life event called the SO Festival. It takes place from 22nd to 25th July and involves the whole family in events like comedy, cabaret and theatre on the beach," said Miss Tatlow.

The finale is a breathtaking fireworks display! You can find out more by clicking onto www.skegnessinternational.com

Another attraction of Lincolnshire's coast is the annual Bathing Beauties Festival (17th to 19th September), where the beach around Mablethorpe plays host to the UK's only beach hut festival.

People can also hop on board an open-top vintage bus that runs south from Mablethorpe to Sutton-on-Sea, via Trusthorpe, and discover the quaint, old-fashioned atmosphere of two Victorian seaside gems. Although quieter than their sister resorts, they offer people a great opportunity to enjoy the simple pleasure of a family holiday, said Visit Lincolnshire.

"The greatest thing about the Lincolnshire coast is the sheer volume of things to do throughout the whole year! And people of any age can certainly find something that they enjoy," said Miss Tatlow.

"The fun coast is ideal for families because it offers a wide range of activities that will keep children entertained for the whole day. If it's an adrenaline adventure people are looking for Skegness may seem like the obvious choice, but they could go further north to Ingoldmells for a fantasy world of entertainment and amusements. Cleethorpes is also renowned for its big rides and family entertainment.

"Attractions such as Natureland in Skegness offer the opportunity to experience close encounters with seals and other animals and this is a great visit for families and couples."

Discovering Lincolnshire's coastal strip's history can also be fun. Ideas to try include a trip to Bateman's Visitor Centre, which is based in old Victorian brewery houses, at Wainfleet. The centre boasts one of the largest collections of bottled beer in the world.

Families wanting to find out more about what life was like for many of Grimsby's former fishermen, could choose to visit the town's National Fishing Heritage Centre.

"Quieter coastal villages, like Chapel St Leonards, are ideal for nostalgic getaways and coastal walks all year round. Coach trips and group organisers especially like Skegness Pier because it allows them to step back in time with the penny slot machines," said Miss Tatlow.

"Mablethorpe is the ideal place to go for ice-cream eating and sandcastle-creating. Or, on colder days, people can give themselves a warming treat by eating fish and chips straight from the paper, whilst walking along the seafront."

"Naturelovers are also catered for and they are likely to revel in losing themselves along the gently sloping sand dunes and marshes that create a "hidden coast" around Saltfleet and the Gibraltar Point nature reserve. The Humberston Fitties is one of my favourite areas - and the beaches there are just breathtaking.

"This part of the coast is a place for nature lovers and birdwatchers. People can unwind and relax, soak up the coastal charm and the sense of comfort and freedom that you can only achieve beside the sea," added Miss Tatlow.

Skegness Town Centre Manager Stefan Krause added that the resort is undergoing a major transformation, with fresh investments creating exciting new attractions and facilities for people to enjoy.

And members of the Skegness, East Coast & Wolds Hospitality Association are also in positive mood, with many also reporting that holiday bookings are already up on last year.

Stefan's view
Skegness Town Centre Manager Stefan Krause only ‘arrived' in the resort six months ago, but he believes this seaside favourite has the power to supercharge Lincolnshire's coastal economy.

"If we can attract more people to the town, they will also visit the wider area. Skegness aims to be a real magnet for visitors and to move forward with this in mind. Tourism is worth £400 million to the local economy."

Employed by East Lindsey District Council, Mr Krause, who formerly worked in town management in Inverness, is enthusiastic about a string of new and planned investments, which are designed to help Skegness to pull in more day and staying tourists.

Members of the Town Centre Partnership have now set their sights on the creation of a Business Improvement District (BID) - something which Mr Krause masterminded in his old job.

BIDs involve traders based in a defined area in paying a levy (separate from their rates), which is used to make their area more welcoming, cleaner and safer for visitors and, ultimately more commercially successful. BIDs can also apply for European cash aid.

"A BID for Skegness could generate £1m a year locally, but ultimately signal a boost for for the local economy, because it has the power to attract third party funding," added Mr Krause.

He is delighted that Skegness offers everything from traditional seaside attractions and entertainments to a great deal for eco-tourists. Natureland is based on The Promenade and the Gibraltar Point nature reserve, open countryside and the Coastal Grazing Marshes are all on the town's doorstep.

Recent and promised investments are also creating new jobs and new wealth.

"Last autumn saw the opening of the new Lucky Strike complex, which was built on the site of the previous Lucky Strike entertainment centre at a cost of £5m. In the early summer another leisure complex is also due to launch on the site of the old Whisky-a-Go-Go bar," said Mr Krause.

"East Lindsey planners have also given the go-ahead for the £7m Sky Tower, to be built by the Bola Brothers on land between Lucky Strike and the town's Ex-Servicemen's Club."

Skegness, which managed to get a Casino licence, is also looking for a development partner to bring this project to fruition. It would pull in 100,000 extra visitors, create 350 new jobs and provide a £10m economic boost.

Mr Krause added that other investment included upgrading work at the town's Westgate department store in Lumley Road, extra funding ploughed into the town's illuminations, and the launch of the Waterways, with twelve watertaxis, which ferry people for rides from the Tower Esplanade to Natureland.

Hoteliers
Accommodation specialists are pulling out all-the-stops to ensure that this year's holidaymakers keep returning to the Lincolnshire coast time-and-time again.

The Skegnesss, East Coast & Wolds Hospitality Association (SECWHA) now boasts 120 members, who are hoteliers or owners of guesthouses, self-catering accommodation and caravan sites in the East Lindsey area.

All are hoping for a good summer season, whether people choose to stay in the highest grade hotel, a boutique guest house or the crowd-pulling holiday camp, Butlin's.

Chairman Nigel Tett, who has been welcoming guests to the Palm Court Hotel for the past fifteen years and fellow hotelier Colin Foran, from the nearby Clarence House Hotel, said they first spotted the signs of the recession, which has dogged the UK, two to three years ago.

However, they are in upbeat mood about the coming season, and they have already been revisited by old customers.

The Palm Court Hotel, has thirteen en-suite bedrooms. Mr Tett and his wife have upgraded it over the years and created more car parking space. They live on site in their own apartment.

"We tend to attract a more mature clientele, and we have been building-up customer loyalty over the years. Everyone who stayed with us for Easter had been here before.

Last year turned out to be our best ever and this year we are already ahead with bookings for the summer," said Mr Tett.

SECWHA members' establishments are all inspected and quality-rated and the Association even has its own annual inspection scheme. Mr Tett said about ninety per cent of its members had benefited from this. Some had also used it as a ‘stepping stone' towards achieving national accreditations.

SECWHA secretary Colin Foran, has run the Clarence House Hotel, which is just doors away from the Palm Court, for the past nine years. The Clarence has eight en-suite rooms.

"We tend to get families and more mature visitors staying with us. We are now welcoming the grown-up children of couples who first stayed with us, who are now bringing their own youngsters to stay," said Mr Foran.

"Guests book in for anything from a single night to two to three weeks. People's holiday breaks have got shorter and, in many cases, that means more work for us. But it is all down to what money is available.

"Some people enjoy a short break, go back to work to earn some more money and then come back to us again. On a positive note, this trend means that we are seeing more people and taking ourselves to a wider market."

Mr Foran believes Skegness has great appeal because it offers so much variety and is easy to get around, which means that it is also ideal for people with mobility problems.

Jolly Fisherman
It's almost impossible to think of Skegness without the famous Jolly Fisherman coming to mind.

But did you know that Jolly is now 102 years old?

The character came to life in the form of an advertisement poster drawn by John Hassall in 1908. The piece, which includes the slogan "Skegness is So Bracing" was commissioned by the Great Northern Railway. Mr Hassall was paid twelve guineas for the job.

British Rail gave the original to Skegness in 1966.

SO Festival
Skegness is gearing itself up for its biggest arts festival this century with four fantastic days of free large-scale outdoor events. From Thursday to Sunday, 22nd to 25th July, the Switch On Festival will transform the town into an international arts venue, bringing a colourful carnival of dance, visual art, street theatre, music, world class performances and more.

Organised by East Lindsey District Council, with £250,000 of support from the Arts Council England, this year's festival promises to make this summer in Lincolnshire the best ever. The programme of events is being put together by the festival director and producer, Robin Morley of Magnetic Events.

Mr Morley has produced some of the country's most memorable outdoor art events, including (recently) ‘Odin's Glow' on a North York Moors peak, the award-winning ‘Enchanted Parks' in Gateshead, plus previous national events for the Manchester Commonwealth Games UK-wide Cultural Festival and an Anglo-French festival in Folkestone, Kent for the Inauguration of the Channel Tunnel by HM the Queen and President Mitterrand.

"We are putting together an amazing and spectacular programme for Skegness with international artists, some of whom will be making their only UK appearance this year in the town," said Mr Morley.

"People will be able to see suspended musicians performing mid-air concerts and we plan to transform part of the seafront into a visual artwork and bring a major French company's promenade performances to Grand Parade.

"We have also managed to commission some incredible visual art installations that local people can really get involved in creating, within what promises to be a mesmerising transformation of the resort's streets and seafront."

And there will be a chance for aspiring young musicians to feature in the BBC Introducing programme - a battle of the bands competition which will be broadcast on local BBC radio stations.

East Lindsey District Council leader councillor Doreen Stephenson said: "Last year's SO Festival was such a huge success that we were thrilled to be able to make this year's event even bigger and better.

"Skegness is a wonderful, traditional British seaside resort, but we know that it has so much more to offer visitors and holidaymakers. The SO Festival is a great way to show people that Skegness really can offer them something different, and put the resort on the map as an ambitious place to visit and invest."

In addition to the Festival, people will be able to enjoy all the traditional things that families like to do on the beach and along the foreshore during the day.

East Lindsey claims to have already seen a change in the way that visitors are spending their time, with people looking for more exciting things to do a little closer to home. Families and young people are said to be increasingly looking for alternatives to the usual European city breaks and are taking a second look at the British seaside resort. Skegness claims to be at the forefront of that national trend.

"People tell us that, while they still want that nostalgic British seaside experience, they also want something more exciting. This is why the SO Festival is so thrilling. It's bold and optimistic and fun and reminds people what coming to the seaside is all about."

The SO Festival 2010 will mark the start of the Cultural Olympiad in the East Midlands, which is part of the build-up to London 2012.

Meet lifeboatman Dave "Wiggy" Sellers
In everyday life Dave Sellers is a self-employed joiner, who also helps wife Roni to run her fast food venture on Skegness beach - but he is also one of the East Coast's slick lifesavers.

Dave, who prefers to be called "Wiggy", is part of RNLI Skegness Lifeboat Station's thirty-strong crew who are prepared to risk danger to rescue holidaymakers and seafarers every day, year-round.

When Wiggy's pager goes off, whatever he is doing is put on hold. Nothing else matters except getting to the lifeboat station as swiftly as possible. Skegness has two rescue vessels, the all-weather Lincolnshire Poacher - for which he is second assistant mechanic - and the inshore vessel, the Tom Broom.

Wiggy is part of a crew which is complemented by RNLI lifeguards during summer season.

He joined the lifeboat crew in 1993 and loves every minute he spends with the service, which is entirely funded by voluntary donations.

"I always wanted to do something like this. This is a volunteer organisation and people choose to work on the lifeboats because they want to. I have also known of people lost at sea, and I think it is a very worthwhile job," said Wiggy.

"The boats and the other equipment that we use, and the training that we get (at the RNLI's Poole headquarters and our own station) is absolutely first class. Being a crew member involves total commitment 24/7, but the teamwork and camaraderie is fantastic.

"When your pager goes off you drop everything. Most people are self-employed or work for businesses which are able to release them. At Skegness we work an area stretching from the beach many miles out to sea."

But while Wiggy is passionate about his voluntary job, he and his mates would much rather they never had to turn out at all to save lives. And a little forethought by holidaymakers could result in fewer emergencies.

"We want people to be aware of the dangers of the sea and its currents. People come to the coast who often normally use inland reservoirs and lakes. Then they use inflatables offshore, the winds and currents blow them out to sea and they can end up in life-threatening situations," said Wiggy.

"Last year, Skegness was the second busiest lifeboat station in the North and its crew responded to eighty-two call-outs."

The RNLI has 235 lifeboat stations across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. It supported them to the tune of £138.5 million in 2008.

Published May 2010