What's happened to Sutton on Sea


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My dad was an engine driver, and he made good use of his travel concessions to take us all on trips to the seaside, either a day or a week at Mablethorpe or Sutton on Sea. A couple of years ago I went back to have a look, and was dismayed at what I saw. Both looked on their last legs. It was late July, and the places were more or less deserted. None of the chalets at SoS looked in use and, worst of all, the beach has been banked up to the prom wall and is virtually on the same level. I have been away for 50 odd years, so my recollections may be awry, but is my impression of these places correct?

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Last time I was in Mablethorpe it was not very appealing either ..................Now when was that........................Grandmothers funeral................1969...............................Oh dear that was 46 years ago. noblue

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I believe there is a Haven Holiday Park at Mablethorpe - that may be the reason that the town looked deserted as people sometimes stay in the Park and use the amenities there. Can't think of an excuse for S on S though! I always felt that Mablethorpe was the poor relation of Skeggy anyway - maybe others may disagree?

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I was at Sutton On sea a few months ago, and have been there a few times over the last few years and have to say apart from the sand having been banked up the wall, and the pool area upgraded I didn't find it too much changed at all. In fact of all the seaside towns along that bit of the coast SoS was the best preserved, and thankfully no arcades had crept in either. The worst one we thought was Chapel St Leonards which was really tatty and depressed.

I think the banking up of the sand is supposed to be a way of improving the protection of the sea defences.

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My first wife's parents had a caravan on Golden Sands Mablethorpe and I stayed there a few times in the early 70s. It was grim and nowhere near as lively as Skeggy.

I haven't been to Skeg since 2010 but it was an enjoyable visit. The fish & chips near the beach were excellent.

Some of Britain's run down seaside towns should take a leaf out of Illfracombe's book. That was crumbling away when I visited in 1990 but you should see it now (apart from the statue of the pregnant woman, Verity)

With the increased threat of terrorism a lot more people will start to holiday in the UK again rather than risk flying into Europe or elsewhere. I know that could be seen as giving in but would you take your family to a European capital at the moment?

I've never liked flying anyway and recent events make Skeggy and Weymouth look fine to me.

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I guess you're right, Sue. Maybe it was expecting too much for them to look the same as I remember them from 60 odd years ago. Does anyone remember the year of the ladybird plague?

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The ladybird plague must have been between 1975 - 1979 as it happened when I worked at Boulby mine, and those are the years I worked there.

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When I was a child everyone I knew went to Skegness and other places in that area on the East Coast. Everyone went during the school holidays and the places were always busy. They were great days, as my old photos show, and us kids entered dreamland for a week or two. Living in a cramped caravan didn't matter, all you thought of was getting out to play on the beach or the secret place you'd found. As time has passed people have become better off financially and fly to exotic places all over the World. It has now become as cheap to fly to the south of France as it is to travel to the East Coast for a holiday and that's why these places are now suffering from a lack of visitors.

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We were one of the lucky ones - we had little or no money and my Dad used to have to borrow a car from a mate of his but once we got to Skeg (after what seemed like days of travelling) the world was our oyster. My aunt and uncle owned a twenty four (I think) roomed boarding house on the front. My aunt was a superb cook (as was my mum) and we always had loads to eat there 'cos Auntie Flo was constantly cooking for the guests. Of course, our accommodation was free but we weren't allowed to go in bowls week.

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Luxury! We never had a car. We had to go by train, normally an excursion from Basford North. Egg sandwiches were out before we got to Sleaford, eyes out for Boston Stump, and spot the herons along the 40 foot.

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On a visit back to the UK about 8 years ago we did a nostalgic trip to Golden Sands, still a great beach then. If it was somewhere the sun shined and the sea was blue it would be a tourist hot spot.

When we were little and going to Skeggy for a day trip we used to pester my dad to go via Sleaford so we could stop at Byard's Leap and then on through Boston so we could see "the Stump". If dad wanted to go through Lincoln and Wragby then another must see was the windmill at Burgh le Marsh. Simple things that we did every time we made the trip that bring back memories sixty years later.

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When I was little and with my family in the car, I used to be really scared of our going near Byard's Leap - especially when it was getting dark - in case we saw something. My Dad told me a bit about it and it made me feel scared. On our annual trip to Chapel-St -Leonard's we used to stop off for a picnic on the way in the same place every year - it was down a little lane which led into a wood. Stopping off on the way was a really important part of the holiday for me... We also had other landmarks like a donkey in a field just after Sleaford, which seemed to be there every year, and what we called 'the aeroplane hill' which was where the A16 climbs up a hill before you get to Spilsby. I used to think the view was like it would be from an aeroplane! On the little winding roads towards Chapel there were no road signs as it was not long after the war, (to confuse the possible invaders) so my Dad had to remember that we had to turn right at a certain pub and left at another one etc. He did go wrong once but we always got there eventually. On these little roads I also had a special song my mum and I used to sing - which I'd learnt at Junior school- it was called 'Summer has come from the sunny lands' and had a chorus 'to the sea, come with me, across the sea to roam' Silly, really, but it was such a special journey ... Outside our campsite in Chapel, on Sea Lane, there was a privet hedge which always seemed to be in flower when we were on holiday. Even now, wheneverI smell the distinctive smell of privet flowers, I'm back there...

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Two things I remember as a child when we visited SoS back in the early 50s,

The sea wall along the beach that I tried to climb but slipped back due to the black/green slime it was covered in and,

The house that we rented, together with my Aunt and her kids. Water was pumped up at the sink with an old fashioned pump handle and, a sand pit in the garden.

They are the only things but, Skeggy and Mablethorpe over the years following was something else again.............

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Some of you might find these of interest. The photographs date from 1977, but the buildings were still there, just, in 2012.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/y0jvev3r55vvnht/1-31-2010_002%20%282%29.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/au3iufnh79m2dr2/1-31-2010_001%20%282%29.JPG?dl=0

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