# Should I visit Skegness?



## JHE (Apr 18, 2010)

Well, should I?

Let me explain my situation and then why I'm asking the question.  I'm on holiday, sort of.  I was booked for a week in Malta.  Volcanic ash has almost certainly deprived me of my week in Valletta.

There are many things I could do in and around Nottingham this week if I can't get away to the Med.  Should going to Skegness be one of them?

I've noticed, since moving to Nottingham a couple of years ago, the extraordinary enthusiasm among people here for going to Skegness.  As far as I understand it, it is a strongly sentimental - probably nostalgic - enthusiasm.  Is it all based on having been taken to 'Skeggy' in childhood?  Is much of the apparent enthusiasm ironic?

Are there good things?  Does the place look nice?  Given that I have no wish to sit around on a beach, what might I like in 'Skeggy'?  What is there that's interesting?

A couple of Spanish friends who visited Skegness a year or two ago told me that within half and hour of arriving in Skegness, they wanted to leave?  Is it horrible?

What are your experiences, impressions and opinions?


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## Vintage Paw (Apr 18, 2010)

Oh god, Skeggy was a ritual when I was a kid (living in Long Eaton, just outside Nottingham). You'd drive up, and when you went past that windmill you knew you were nearly there.

Great Skeggy memories. Entirely fueled by nostalgia and sentiment. I can't even remember what the fucking place is like, it's been so long. But I'd go there again in a heartbeat if I could


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## Vintage Paw (Apr 18, 2010)

It's entirely, from what I remember, a family/kid standard seaside town with not much to do. I'm basing this on what I can't really remember from the early 80s. I have a photo of a donkey on the beach with a name band across its nose. Its name was Pam. My mum took the photo because that was my aunt's name and she thought it'd be funny.

It's got palm trees.

That's all I remember.


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## Meltingpot (Apr 19, 2010)

Skegness topped a recent poll of desirable places to retire to;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skegness


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## pogofish (Apr 19, 2010)

JHE said:


> Are there good things?  Does the place look nice?  Given that I have no wish to sit around on a beach, what might I like in 'Skeggy'?  What is there that's interesting?



We visited there this summer after going to see one of Mrs Fish's pal's who has moved nearby.  Her lad loved it, bit he is at the age where all things "theme park" seem to work for him.  

Place is an absolute hellhole IMO, dedicated to ripping every penny off you, with little to look at and few redeeming features at all.  The "beach" is a small strip on the other side of some serious sea defences, with a large offsghore windfarm as the view.  After that, it is caravan parks and retirement developments all the way as far as you can see in either direction along the coast.   However, there are some genuinely lovely towns and villages nearby and inland, so you could probably use the place as a base for some exploring but use a map and don't trust the main road signposts - eg, Alford to Skeggy is about eighteen miles if you follow the signs but more like six if you take the unsigned/poorly signed roads the residents use.

We also got a very, very unpleasant reception in the place we stayed, because some of the regulars got it into their heads that we might be Polish.  Eventually the barmaid sort of cottoned on to our accent being like someone else she once knew and came over for a chat, which confirmed to her we were Scottish.  She then went round the regs and told them so. That probably saved us from a kicking - no kidding!


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## ajdown (Apr 19, 2010)

Direct train from Nottingham makes it a reasonable option - in the summer peak they even ran some 'extras' with unusual stock, if you're into that kind of thing.

Otherwise time your travelling carefully as if you try and travel when all the chavs and hen parties are off to skeg, with 15 suitcases and Chantal, Traycee and whatnot in nappies running up and down the carriage and it's not a pleasant couple of hours.

I quite like it.  If you're going with your own transport, take a trip down to Gibraltar Point nature reserve, it's a pleasant day out.


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## rutabowa (Apr 19, 2010)

it's got a fairly nice beach, take some bottles of peach concorde down there and cause havoc. 2 of my friends never returned when we went to skegness for the day, they stayed and got jobs on the fair, awesome.


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## TheDave (Apr 19, 2010)

I went recently with my family, it's good for the little uns but I can imagine it being utterly boring for people who aren't with kids. The beaches are fairly filthy and the water has lovely greasy, scummy feel to it. Also beware fat, old folk on mobility scooters as there are millions of the fucking things whizzing about.


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## pogofish (Apr 19, 2010)

TheDave said:


> Also beware fat, old folk on mobility scooters as there are millions of the fucking things whizzing about.



Seconded!


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## Maidmarian (Apr 19, 2010)

It's a fairly bog-standard English seaside town .

Nothing much else to say about it really.

The Butlins there is really popular for "themed-breaks" --- if that's your kind of thing.


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## spawnofsatan (Apr 19, 2010)

It's better visited out of season, then it turns into "Skagness"  I bet you'll leave after 3 hrs at most.


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## ericjarvis (Apr 19, 2010)

JHE said:


> Well, should I?
> 
> Let me explain my situation and then why I'm asking the question.  I'm on holiday, sort of.  I was booked for a week in Malta.  Volcanic ash has almost certainly deprived me of my week in Valletta.
> 
> ...



If the choice is Skegness or Cleethorpes then choose Skegness. If the choice is Skegness and pretty much anywhere else that isn't in a war zone, then  avoid Skegness.


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## disco_dave_2000 (Apr 20, 2010)




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## disco_dave_2000 (Apr 20, 2010)

Skegness pier - but yeah it's a bit of a dump


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## derf (Apr 20, 2010)

I went to Skeggy just before I moved out here.
Only holiday place in the world with a branch of the Samaritans on the front and defib machines in telephone boxes.


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## Addy (Apr 20, 2010)

I've had some really good times in Skegness


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## Geri (Apr 23, 2010)

Vintage Paw said:


> Oh god, Skeggy was a ritual when I was a kid (living in Long Eaton, just outside Nottingham). You'd drive up, and when you went past that windmill you knew you were nearly there.
> 
> Great Skeggy memories. Entirely fueled by nostalgia and sentiment. I can't even remember what the fucking place is like, it's been so long. But I'd go there again in a heartbeat if I could



Me too (I'm an Ilkeston girl originally).

My auntie took me on holiday there when I was about 4 years old - all I can remember is her leaving me & her friend's little girl in some big dorm kind of place whilst they went out on the town.

I'd love to go there again.


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## audiotech (Apr 23, 2010)




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## JHE (Apr 26, 2010)

MC5 said:


>



Some of the posts earlier in the thread put me off a bit, but now I know that I could meet fat, wide-eyed, limp-wristed fishermen smoking gawd knows what strange drugs while prancing along the beach, I think it might be quite fun for a while.


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## fen_boy (Apr 26, 2010)




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## dessiato (Apr 26, 2010)

As an earlier post said, Skeggers is better than Cleethorpes, but a shithole nonetheless. There are, however, lots of nice places around there. Gibraltar Point, Alford, Lincoln not too far away, Louth for the quaintness, all are sort of nice places for visiting from Skeg. (DON'T GO TO MABLETHORPE! It makes even Cleethorpes look good!)


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## YyK (May 19, 2010)

spawnofsatan said:


> It's better visited out of season, then it turns into "Skagness"  I bet you'll leave after 3 hrs at most.



Skeggie is great in winter, if your into fighting, freezing and fucking drunks. I'd rather head up Matlock way and into the peak district for a cheap local holl myself tho.


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## IMR (May 20, 2010)

The Parrot Zoo a.k.a. the National Parrot Sanctuary is near Skegness and that's worth a visit. At lunchtime the parrots are let out of their aviaries and can 'interact' with visitors in a seated picnic area, i.e. lunge at and try to bite them.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (May 20, 2010)

I went to the Butlin's there as a kid.  I remember it being the worst of the lot


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## rioted (May 21, 2010)

Ingoldmells FTW


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## TheDave (May 21, 2010)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I went to the Butlin's there as a kid.  I remember it being the worst of the lot



My uncle is a security guard there so we got free entry every time we went there. Still shit even if it was free.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (May 21, 2010)

TheDave said:


> My uncle is a security guard there so we got free entry every time we went there. Still shit even if it was free.





I'm talking the late 70s.  Is it still as bad?


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## TheDave (May 21, 2010)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I'm talking the late 70s.  Is it still as bad?



Went last year with the family. Like I said above the little uns enjoyed it but for the prices people pay it's still just a bog standard amusement arcade with accommodation.


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## bigbry (Jun 19, 2010)

Chapel St Leonards is where it's at.


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## bluestreak (Jun 19, 2010)

i went on holiday to skegness butlins when i was a nipper.  it had little to offer me.

HOWEVER... my mum and grandma have both moved to lincolnshite and visited skegness recently when a gang of seals temporarily made a skeggy beach their home and found it a rare and beautiful experience.


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## Geri (Jun 20, 2010)

Here I am at Skeggy, approx. 1970 I would guess.







I'm the blonde kid in the daisy dress.


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## Dr. Furface (Jun 20, 2010)

I went a couple of times as a kid but don't remember much - and I'm happy with that! - except that when the tide was out the sea was about a mile away. I don't recall having much fun there and Ive never wanted to go back. Even as a kid I thought it was naff.


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## JHE (Jun 21, 2010)

Geri said:


> Here I am at Skeggy, approx. 1970 I would guess.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



The woman on the right in a blue cardie looks like a better-looking version of Cherie Blair.


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## Vintage Paw (Jun 21, 2010)

audiotech said:


>



Ha! I forgot about that! Iconic Skeggy picture, that right there.

There's a particular section of my extended family that have all packed up out of Nottingham and moved to Skeggy and its environs. Fucking trash.


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## Luther Blissett (Jun 21, 2010)

Go to Gibralter Point.  It can be accessed from southern Skegness.

The same yellow-bellied friend tells me that Anderby Creek is an underappreciated seaside destination.


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## Steel Icarus (Jun 22, 2010)

Skeggy is everything you might want from an authentic English seaside town, as long as your ideal is a crap funfair, lobster-red men in Union Flag plastic Tommy helmets, pubs packed full of bastards, and the unmistakable aroma of batter, sick and heart-attack doughnuts.


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