Idyllic Memories of Gibraltar Point
Source: Skegness News 28th February 1988
Photos: supplied by Mr John Holland
Skegness man John Holland has come up with an intriguing portfolio of rare photographs of Gibraltar Point as it was.
Although the history of Skegness itself is well documented, little is known of Gibraltar Point - particularly in the early part of this century.
Mr Holland has idyllic memories of the times he spent there as a youngster, playing, with his sister, Joan.
Home was the former Ship Inn, which is often referred to as Gibraltar House, where his father ran a smallholding.
Since Gibraltar Point was taken over as a nature reserve by the Lincolnshire and South Humberside Trust for Nature Conservation, records have been kept of activities.
Now Mr Holland is considering writing a book about its early days.
“It is a facinating place with its own store of secrets,” he says. “I think most visitors would be intrigued to know more of its rich history.
This is a rare photo of the Ship Inn, or Gibraltar House as it was familliary known. During its 300-year history, it was almost certainly used by smugglars who ventured up the Haven with their illicit cargoes. It was home for Mr Wilf Holland and his family until it finally began to disintegrate.
Wilf Holland used to run a horse-and-cab service into town from Gibraltar Point. One of them had a narrow escape when it was washed out to sea by a particularly high tide. It was eventually recovered, plastered in mud, at Friskney!
Alongside the Ship Inn, there was formerly a cafe where mineral waters, chocolate, cigarettes and the like were on sale. The cafe, which was eventually lost in a fire,has been moved from its original site on North Parade to make way for the building of the Warwick Hotel. Pictured is Mr John Holland’s grandmother, Mrs Paul (right) with some of her wares.
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