Nottm Children's Home Skegness


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I never had the bad fortune to go there, but it's reputation was known. I used to go on holiday to Skeg regularly with my parents and I remember standing outside the place and Mum (herself a hard bogger) threatening to send me there if I didn't behave.

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Until I joined Nottstalgia several years ago I’d never heard of this Skegness place, nor Pinewood.   The reason being, I suppose, I was brought up in a working class household with 2 very loving paren

Whilst visiting Skeg today we had a wander down Roseberry Avenue. The old place has changer a bit but the main structure is the same, As Davep1549 says now council offices. This was never there.

Similar to me, Lizzie.   I know I was fortunate to be brought up by 2 loving parents - the only difference was that we DID have a car as my dad worked for the Ministry of Food  in the forties and then

Welcome & thanks for your input DRW. You hit the nail on the head about people not believing how bad it was, I have been accused of exaggeration & even lying about how bad it was, I feel vindicated reading what others went through. I still shudder when I think of the horrible place..

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Hi everyone, I'm new on here only because I was trying to find out some information about the kids home that my brother and I went to in the late 50's. Having read all of the posts on here I must admit I was quite shocked to read about all the abuse that took place there. I was wondering if it was indeed the same place, I'm pretty certain that it was, in fact my brother and I went there twice.

My memories are that I enjoyed my time there, there were young male helpers who used to have a skittle group, a small putting area in the garden, some lessons to do with the sea, trips to the embassy theatre, walks to Gibralter point and plenty of coca cola. I must admit I never saw or received any abuse at all, perhaps I was lucky, I don't know. By the way there was no boxing at all.

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# 93 ART

I went in the 60's. Maybe different people ran it when you was there or the normal people who ran it were on vacation & stand-ins ran it, or us who had a rough time got the stand-ins.. BTW welcome, we're a very friendly crowd on here, we moan & whinge a lot though..

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#98

In that case Art, that could have been Mr Ellis, one of the nicest, kindest men you could wish to meet.

Not long after if my memory is right, he was replaced by a bloke called Mr Nicholls, one real nasty mother. His son was certainly no better than his father.

The experience I suffered there was to last all my life.

On a public forum we have to tread carefully what we say in public, libel laws & litigation can be quite expensive !

We never had Coke to drink either when Nicholls was there.

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Don't know why but I volunteered to go to Skeggy Holiday Home! Not until recently did I learn its official name was Nottingham Poor Boys Home, in the area where we lived we were not one of the poorest ones so I've no idea what me mam thought.

My recollections are that on arrival we were required to strip and join a queue to get into one of a number of large baths, several kids to a bath, filled with a disinfectant smelling milky liquid, bit like a sheep dip except I can't remember being thrown in. I don't remember any showers but I was that skinny I wouldn't have got wet anyway.

Breakfast was porridge and bacon and eggs but only one plate so if you didn't finish the porridge the rest could be a bit messy. Morning was normally school lessons followed by some activity in the afternoons, I think mainly walks. I can remember being taken to the "pictures" to see 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and to some theatre to see Hilda Baker so it would have been around 1954.

Before bedtime we had to kneel on the end of the bed and say our prayers we were then given a slice of bread and dripping and told to "hit the sack." A few times during the three weeks a kid would cry out for his mam, and would be silenced with a loud thwack from within the darkness.

Some kids obviously had it worse than others and clearly worse than me I wasn't aware that some kids had it so bad. It would seem to change depending on the year so it looks like I was one of the fortunate ones.

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Whilst visiting Skeg today we had a wander down Roseberry Avenue.

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The old place has changer a bit but the main structure is the same, As Davep1549 says now council offices.

This was never there.

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All the swings gone & the playground now a car park.

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Classroom still there.

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Kommandant Nicholls lived here with his family. A truly horrible brutal bully, I wonder how many kids grew up with mental scars after meeting him ?

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All those years ago there weren't a car in sight !

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Strange to think that I was incarcerated here more than 50 years ago. Where has the time gone ?

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On the topic of children's homes, I went to St Mary's on Derby Rd in the 50s and I remember the class being taken by charabanc to Colston Basset to visit the 'poor children' at a big mansion which I think was a Barnardos home. Very 'soft focus' memory of unfamiliar trees, grass, sunshine and a large white building. Coming from grime covered Radford, a white building was a real novelty.

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Yes I went to Skeggy home for boys in the 50s - I remember it was run by a Captain Ife?? but the man responsible for keeping us in order was Mr Roberts

- Peter

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I went to Trent Bridge too but although there was the cane and strap have to say I was a goody two shoes. The house names were Bosworth, Lake, Laws and Pearson name after old boys killed in the first world war - Peter

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Do you suppose the City Council has kept records of who attended Roseberry House each summer? I've made the following request:

A list of names of children attending Roseberry House Skegness during its operation by Nottingham City Council as summer holiday accommodation. Period unknown but spanning at least 1950s and 1960s. Information limited to list of names for each year. Request is for research into social history of Nottingham.
I know there are FOI exceptions in regard of anything that comes under the Data Protection Act. Could a list of names/dates adversely affect those on the list who are still living? (one of the tests applied for Data Protection). Let's see.
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