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Skegness
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SKEGNESS
, south along the coast from the Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe reserve, has been a busy resort ever since the railways reached the Lincolnshire coast in 1875. Its heyday was before the 1960s, when the Brits began to take themselves off to sunnier climes, but it still attracts tens of thousands of city-dwellers each year, who come for the wide, sandy beaches and for a host of attractions ranging from nightclubs to bowling greens. Every inch the traditional English seaside town, Skegness gets the edge over many of its rivals by keeping its beaches clean and its parks spick-and-span, whilst a massive leisure complex in neighbouring Ingoldmells has a whopping indoor "fun pool". Indeed, Skegness has a tradition of keeping ahead of its competitors: in 1908 it came up with the ground-breaking "Skegness is So Bracing" slogan beneath a picture of a "Jolly Fisherman" and it was here in 1936 that ex-showman Billy Butlin opened the first Butlin's Holiday Camp. All that said, the seafront, with its rows of souvenir shops and amusement arcades, can be dismal, especially on rainy days, and you may well decide to sidestep the whole caboodle by heading south three miles along the coastal road to the
Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve
(daily dawn to dusk). Here, a network of clearly signed footpaths patterns a narrow strip of salt and freshwater marsh, sand dune and beach that attracts an inordinate number of birds, both resident and migratory.
As for practicalities, Skegness
bus
and
train stations
are next door to each other and about ten minutes' walk from the seashore - cut across Lumley Square and go straight up the High Street to the landmark clock tower. The
tourist office
(daily: April-Sept 9.30am-5pm; Oct-March 10am-4pm; tel 01754/764821,
) is yards from the clock tower, behind the beach and opposite the Embassy Centre on Grand Parade. They can provide a colossal list of accommodation, including scores of
B&Bs
and
guest houses
. A series of inexpensive choices is strung out along Drummond Road, near the action but still agreeably residential. Options here include the
Sherwood Lodge
, at no. 100 (tel 01754/762548; under ?40), and the
Singlecote Hotel
, at no. 34 (tel 01754/764698; under ?40). For something a little more original, there's the
Old Mill Guest House
, in an old and imaginatively converted windmill five miles inland at Westend, Burgh Le Marsh (tel 01754/810081; under ?40). Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United Kingdom,
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