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Just my cup of tea

Our writer from the United States has his first taste of the Lincolnshire seaside at Skegness and Mablethorpe

Words: John Hester Photographs: Mike Cowen and John Smith

After I had spent several days contemplating the destination for my next 'Exploration Day' in Lincolnshire, I decided to take the train to the Skegness-Mablethorpe area, my first visit to well-known coastal Lincolnshire. Once aboard the crowded train, I quickly fell into the kind of contagious holiday mood which probably characterised the countless past day-trippers from the midlands after the arrival of the railway in Skegness in 1873 and, undoubtedly, the thousands of Yorkshire and Derbyshire miners and their families in the 1930s, on their way to their week at one of the seaside holiday camps. The gloriously warm, breezy spring day with the fragrant smell of hawthorn wafting from the lush verdant green of rolling fields, had put everyone on the train in a festive mood of chattering anticipation.

Remarkably, even in technological 2004, the appeal of the sea seems undeniable and the lure of Skegness and Mablethorpe still amazingly strong.

Actually, a village named Skegness predates the Domesday Book and was known to the Romans and the Vikings. Parts of the villages of Skegness and Mablethorpe were swept away by the sea in the 1540s but both continued to rebuild and grow until, by the early 1800s, Skegness ranked as a rather exclusive seaside retreat for the wealthy classes. The future of both Skegness and Mablethorpe changed forever with the advent of the railway in Skegness (1873) and Mablethorpe (1877), however. Although Mablethorpe developed piecemeal, Skegness, under the guidance and financial investment of Lord Scarborough, became a proposed 'new town' in 1876. Present-day Skegness almost defies the concept of a 'planned town' because of its vigorous spurts of growth and the intriguing personal and political battles ensuing.

Today, Skegness and Mablethorpe reflect a distinct lack of pretence and yet somehow evoke a curiously nostalgic charm despite the total absence of subtlety. The busy lanes of fish and chips, souvenir, ice cream shops and the like, garishly reach out to the crowds of relaxed, strolling visitors, the whole atmosphere blissfully devoid of the stress and frenetic pace that characterise so much of modern life. The remarkably clean Blue Flag beaches at both resorts, populated by a large number of sunbathers even on this early spring day, attest to the successful campaigns for cleaner water and sand and serve as the perfect backdrop for children to enjoy the traditional donkey rides and to watch their colourful Japanese-style kites streak about the azure sky.

Since the opening of the original Skegness Pier on Whit Monday, 1881, this structure has been a signature symbol of the resort. At the time of its opening, it ranked as the fourth longest pier in England and featured unique continuous seating on either side of its entire length. At one time paddle steamers left from the pier with large loads of day passengers bound for Hunstanton and other destinations on the Norfolk coast, but when the landing stage at the end of the pier became unsafe, the steamboat trips ended around 1910. Most of the pier was destroyed in a storm in 1978 and what remains today, although less elegant than the original, still continues to be one of Skegness' most-visited attractions, one of only fifty piers remaining in the UK. The wide sea-front promenades on the Skegness and Mablethorpe beaches today remain popular for strolling, sunning or merely enjoying the 'bracing' aspects of sea air.

Before the beaches had become commercially developed, the well-known literary figure, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who was born at nearby Somersby, came to Mablethorpe and Skegness, usually staying near the sea bank. The future Poet Laureate loved the sea, especially the North Sea in tempestuous weather. Tennyson walked the sand hills between Skegness and Gibraltar Point, going out onto the mud flats at low tide. He and his brother Charles were taken to Mablethorpe for childhood holidays and loved the sea so much that when their joint poetry volume, 'Poems by Two Brothers', was published in 1827, they hired a carriage and went to Mablethorpe, vigorously reciting their poems at the top of their lungs on the beach "with no other audience than the deaf sand and the sounding waves". Although Tennyson did not return to Somersby after his father's death there in 1837, he continued to visit Mablethorpe until 1843, staying at Marine Villa at the end of the High Street.

While Skegness and Mablethorpe do not abound with ancient historical sites, they do have several worthwhile places to visit. The Skegness Clock Tower, built to honour Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897 but not completed until 1899, remains the gateway to the seashore. The Tower Gardens on Grand Parade have recently been restored to their original Victorian splendour. St Mary's church in Mablethorpe dates from the 1300s but includes extensive modifications. Church Farm Museum, within walking distance of Skegness town centre, seeks to preserve Lincolnshire's rich agricultural heritage with a late eighteenth-century farmhouse, a mud-and-stud cottage and other agricultural buildings on view.

Many other places of historical, environmental and artistic interest lie in close proximity to the seaside resorts. Nearby Wainfleet boasts its lovely Magdalen College School. Near Spilsby, Gunby Hall (NT), described by Tennyson as 'an English home' all things in order stored, a haunt of ancient peace', is open on Wednesday afternoons in summer, with the gardens open on Thursday afternoons as well. The gardens of Harrington Hall near Somersby are open mostly on summer Sunday afternoons. Burgh-le-Marsh, three miles inland from Skegness, dates back to Roman times and features the fourteenth-century church of St Peter and St Paul and Dobson's five-sailed windmill of the early 1800s which still works today. Alford, on the road from Mablethorpe, holds a well-known craft market in the Corn Exchange on Tuesdays and Fridays in the summer, climaxed by a festival on August Bank Holiday Monday an interesting venue for traditional crafts.

To see the beauty of natural landscapes, a short drive into the Lincolnshire Wolds will enchant. Chalk hills, sweeping grassy verges and undulating slopes and valleys each offer a different panorama. Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve, only three miles south of Skegness, provides extensive views of the salt marshes and mud flats, the feeding grounds for water birds and unique plant and animal life.

The Seal Sanctuary and Nature Centre in Mablethorpe and Natureland and the Seal Sanctuary in Skegness show an arresting view of the process and care required in saving baby seals.

With all the activities and observations of the busy day buzzing in my head, I walked quickly back to the railway station for my journey home. Strangely, I suddenly remembered a large, colourful print of an Art Deco British Rail poster which had hung in my gift shop in the States, featuring sophisticated 'Noel Coward' holidaymakers enjoying the seafront, with only the word 'Skegness' emblazoned on the bottom. At last I understood the sheer vitality and exuberance of the poster. Skegness and coastal Lincolnshire is not so much a place but a state of mind. I felt a bit like those visitors must have felt as they made the journey home seventy years ago. For all its clichés, the day had been a refreshing change of pace, a time to dawdle a bit, to breathe pure, fresh air, to view the awesome power and the rugged beauty of the sea, to smile at others having such a good time and to realise anew the richness and diversity of this county, and, yes, this country.

I doubt that I would think the same about a day trip to Cannes, or St-Tropez, or Capri. They are too idyllic, too sophisticated, too perfect. Skegness is more 'my cuppa' - comfortable, unpretentious, charmingly 'over the top'. I'll go back. I know I will. You can bet on that!