MY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

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HOLIDAYS AT SKEGNESS IN THE POST WAR YEARS
We went to Skegness for holidays several years, usually a week in September when it was a bit cheaper I suppose. I gladly missed the first week back at school! We went by bus, the United Counties Bus Co. ran special buses to the holiday resorts, leaving the Derngate Bus Station at Northampton early Saturday morning. We had no car and either got a lift to the station or went by taxi. The journey was exciting, passing the huge steelworks at Corby, and then Stamford which was a stop for a comfort break as we now call it. On again through Market Deeping and into the flat Fenland when the road followed the winding old byways and paths though the marshes. Then Boston where the "stump" was pointed out, which was an ancient church tower,  By now, we had joined a line of buses and coaches from the Northern and Midland towns and cities heading for the East Coast. The different bus company colours made a colouful ribbon in front and behind. "United Counties" green and cream, "Eastern Counties" red, "Midland Red" red, "Trent" red, "Royal Blue" blue, "Standerwick" red and so on. I knew them all.
Cars were few and far between. Ordinary people travelled by bus or train. I don't think there was a direct train service from Northampton so we went by bus.

We stayed at a boarding house, "Mrs. Bakers" in Scarborough Road. My mother saved special food treats over the year, like tins of mixed fruit, salmon, and ham. She bought fresh food when we were there and Mrs. Baker cooked it for us. She was a jolly, ample lady who made you feel at home. Her rather smaller, dark suited husband stayed in the background but was there to lend a hand.
In the mornings I would go out with dad to buy the morning paper and have a cup of tea in a cafe. He had tea and I would have Horlicks, with the local workmen usually. Dad would light up his pipe to add to the fug already present. I loved it! Sometimes we would go to the rail station which had a figure of "The Jolly Sailor" on the concourse, Skegness's iconic symbol.
After breakfast, back at Mrs. Baker's, we would make our way to the beach, if the weather was fine. If the weather was not good then we might go to the Winter Gardens which was a glass building with tropical plants in and tea tables and perhaps a string quartet might be playing. Not very interesting for me, I would rather ride up and down the prom in an open sided bus which took people from the Clock Tower to the Butlins fun fair at the other end of the promenade. All these and other attractions were at "Skeggy" before the war and when we went after the War they were trying to restore it to those former glories. There is a wonderful Web site "The History of Skegness, 1930-1939" which shows all of the pre-war attractions.