Skegness, so bracing as depicted in the famous John Hassall poster reproduced on the front cover of this book, dates back to the 1850s. At this time, Skegness was just a village with a bathing place and two hotels.
However, once the railway arrived in 1873, the village grew into a popular seaside town. Early holidaymakers to the Lincolnshire resort came from London and places south of Grantham, but in 1913, the line from Kirkstead (Woodhall Junction) to Little Steeping was opened to attract better facilities for passengers from Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire.
The inter-war miseries were countered by the opening of the first of Billy Butlin’s holiday camps at Skegness in the 1930s, bringing more visitors and affection for 'Skeggie'. Many came back time and again.
The first five chapters of this book deal with how the network of lines grew to ultimately serve the town. Later chapters concern traffic after the First World War and local traffic. The section entitled ‘The Stations and Their Work’ is sixty pages long and looks at stations on the lines serving Skegness. Further chapters look at holiday traffic and the decline of train services to Skegness.
This book is a reprint of an Oakwood Press book first published in in 1997. Well-illustrated throughout with black & white photographs, maps and timetable extracts. 160 pages.