SkegnessVideo.com

Source: Skegness Standard 1985/86

Whale hunters were out in force on a beach near Skegness at the weekend, after a 50ft Sperm whale was washed up dead at Gibraltar Point.

Representatives of the British Museum were pulling teeth and many local people went down just to look.
Meanwhile, Mr Malcolm Whitehead of East Lindsey District Council’s environmental services was worried.
His problem was how to dispose of it — it was dead and gradually getting very smelly.
“We had two alternatives,” he said. “The first was to wait until the weekend, when there will be a high Spring tide, and tow it out to sea.
“But there are problems with that. We’d have to sink it somehow, and I don’t know how to sink a whale. And by the weekend, it have decomposed so much that it might fall apart when we try to move it.

“The people from the British Museum advised us not to blow it up — not that we were thinking of it — because somebody tried that on the Northumbrian coast and showered Newcastle with whale!”

So Mr Whitehead’s answer was to bury it on the beach.
This has often been done with whales before, but not with one as big as this.
Mr Whitehead said that was was possibly the biggest whale ever to be found in the area, and certainly the biggest in recent years.
Mr Duncan Yeadon of Natureland identified it as a male sperm whale.
Fifty feet long and seven feet high, the whale’s lower jaw was six feet long.
The sperm whale is one of the world’s largest carnivorous creatures, and lives on squid, cuttlefish, octopus and shark, but has been known to swallow humans.

Recent Whale Strandings on Skegness Beach

Source: Skegness News 1940

An advert in the Skegness News offering advice for women during the Second World War

DO’S AND DON’TS FOR WOMEN
DON’T waste your gas or light. It is the same thing as wasting coal.
DON’T wait for rationing to start before you get some spare food in.
DON’T go shopping just before closing time, DON’T go out after dark unless you must.
DON’T spread rumours. It is like letting a car run clown hill without any brakes.
DON’T worry because you don’t know where he is. No news is good news.
DON’T let war conditions get you down.

DO lower the gas when the saucepan boils.
DO, replace your emergency food store if you break into it.
DO write your name and address on your gas mask box.
DO try to keep a cheerful face.
DO remember that anything is better than the thing we are fighting against.
DO your best to keep fit and healthy.

DO as you would be done by.

My apologies for posting yet another Skegness person’s death, I don’t mean to be morbid, it’s just that an obituary often reveals vital or interesting information!

Remember Blackbourn’s Shoe Shop on Lumley Road, Skegness? It closed down in October 2006 to re-open as Subway Fast Foods. This news story describes the founder of Blackbourn’s Shoe Shop.

We interviewed the owner of the shop as it was closing down - here’s what we wrote:

Skegness Shoe Shop to close after over 100 years of trading
Skegness shoe shop shuts down after 71 years
September 12th 2006

Blackbourn’s Shoe Shop in Skegness is to close its doors for the last time after over a hundred years of business in Skegness.

Bill and Maureen Stockdale, the present owners of the shoe shop will be shutting up shop next month due to retirement.
Mr Stockdale told us that his wife had inherited the long established business from her great aunt, Alice Blackbourn.

The late Mrs Blackbourn, wife of George Blackbourn had moved to the present premises in Lumley Terrace, Skegness, in 1935. The business had previously been on Roman Bank and, in 1901, further down Lumley Road.

Mr Stockdale said that he was sad that the business had to close. He said that the shop had always sold quality footwear, and nowadays it was getting hard to compete with the chain stores.
He agreed that in the present climate, shoes had become an almost disposable commodity.

Here’s a photo I took of the premises before it closed:

Source: Skegness News 1927

Skegness Tradesman’s Death.

We regret to record the sudden death from heart failure of Mr. George William Blackbourn, aged 54, shoe dealer of 95 Lumley Road’, Skegness.

Mr. Blackbourn journeyed to Manchester on Friday last to bring his wife back to Skegness, and had the fatal seizure in the bath room on Saturday, while shaving. The mortal remains have been brought to Skegness, and the interment is taking place at St. Clement’s Churchyard this (Wednesday) afternoon.

The deceased has been a resident of Skegness for many years. He was engaged for some time in the hairdressing, saloon of Mr. X. E. Middleton, but a gun burst in his hands, necessitating the amputation of his left hand.

After acting as Sands Inspector to the local Council he set up in business as a shoe retailer at 44, Lumley Road, Skegness, removing two years ago to the present extensive premises.
The late Mr. Blackbourn leaves a widow and a son (by his first wife) to mourn their loss.

1927 newspaper advert

I was taken rather aback when I perchanced on this old newspaper advert for Doan’s B&K Pills as it contained a testimonial from a well-known Skegness family member, Mr M Grunnill.

This brand of analgesic and mild diuretic was advertised and distributed world-wide, so it came somewhat of a shock to see that its advertisers skillfully included testimonials from local residents. Flicking through old newspaper issues in the 1920s, it seems that this was a common advertising ploy.

Let’s remind ourselves that the Grunnill Family in Skegness has been connected with the Skegness Lifeboat for decades.

Back Given Out ?
Then Follow the Advice of This Skegness Resident.

Are you dragging along day after day with a dull, nagging backache? Do you feel nervous and tired, tormented with sharp pains at every sudden movement? Then look to your kidneys!

Colds, strains and overwork weaken the kidneys and bring on throbbing backache and knife-like twinges. Don’t invite lumbago, sciatica, rheumatism, dropsy and other serious kidney troubles!

At the first sign of trouble use Doan’s Backache Kidney Pills to strengthen and stimulate the kidneys. Read what this Skegness resident says of Doan’s:

On 25th May, 1921, Mr. M. Grunnill 9, Drummond Road, Skegness, said:—”If I caught cold, I was afflicted with such cutting pains across the small of my back that it was difficult to work. It I stooped it was hard to get up again. There were other symptoms of disordered kidneys too.
“I found benefit as soon as I started with Doan’s Backache Kidney Pills. They relieved the pain in my back, and all the other distressing symptoms were removed.”
On 31st May, 1926, Mr. Grunnill said:—”I can highly recommend Doan’s Pills. They are a splendid kidney medicine. (Signed) M. Grunnill.”

Same price everywhere, 3s. a box. Don’t ask for “backache pills,” or “kidney pills,” ask distinctly for DOAN’S Backache Kidney Pills, the same as Mr. Grunnill had.

1950s

ONE of the men who helped to transform Skegness from just another small seaside town to a popular holiday resort, with attractive garden lay-outs and modern amenities, Mr. Rowland Henry Jenkins, Surveyor to Skegness Council for 40 years, died at his home at High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, last Tuesday. Aged 75, he had been in failing health for a number of years.

When he retired in December, 1952, Mr. Jenkins and his wife, Florence, moved to Lymington, Hampshire, where lie supervised the building of their new home, subsequently moving to High Wycombe to be near friends. The funeral took place at Oxford Crematorium on Friday.
A native of Kent, when he came to Skegness the resort’s only man-made attractions were a junk shop, a spiral railway and an old ship on the beach. This vessel, the “Eliza” ended a noteworthy career in 1911 when it was sold by public auction for £16 10s.

He was appointed Surveyor in 1912 and as the Council had just purchased the Foreshore from Lord Scarbrough, Mr. Jenkins was given the task of laying it out. During the course of 40 years he designed and carried through the building of the Embassy, bowling greens, swimming pool, boating lake, the Sun Castle and the waterway.

ARTISTIC SENSE
The first of these developments was the bowling greens on South Parade and before leaving the town, Mr. Jenkins saw the completion and official opening of the beach promenades, the North and South Bracings.

Many ideas he applied in his lay-out of the resort came from experiences gained while travelling abroad, and the Axenstrasse is an imitation of something that had caught his eye in Switzerland.
Above all else Mr. Jenkins was an artist and used his artistic sense in the design and lay-out of the buildings and gardens of the Foreshore.

The ruined castle wall screening the number two amusement park, the walks, the wide decorative boulevards—in fact nearly all the amenities which have attracted visitors to Skegness, can be attributed to him.

A tablet, placing on record Mr. Jenkins’ work for the town, was fixed to the wall of the Embassy in 1954. It was put there by workmen, without any official ceremony.

Mr. Jenkins — or Captain Jenkins as he was perhaps better known—founded the 1st Boys’ Brigade Group and was leader of it for many years. He was a member of the Baptist Church and from 1945 to 1946 was president of the Rotary Club of Skegness.

Photo left: Mr Rowland Henry Jenkins, designer of Skegness Foreshore.

WHY HE MOVED
He was married while in Skegness in 1914. During his life in the town he lived in Willoughton Road before moving to a house in Drummond Road facing the Sea-croft Golf Links.
His reasons for moving to Lymington were that he did not want Council people coming to him for advice when such problems that might arise could be easily dealt with by his successor.

This unhappy situation had faced him in his initial years as Surveyor and Mr Jenkins was determined that it should not happen again.
He later admitted to his friends that moving away from the town where he had spent so much of his life had been a mistake.

From time to time he visited Skegness and over the last Christmas period spent a number of months in the Sandom Nursing Home.

Mr. Jenkins leaves a widow. At the funeral on Friday was Mr. Cedric Fry, of Seacroft, a close friend of Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins.
ENDURING WORK
A former Skegness man, who signs himself “Old Boys, 1st Skegness” has contributed his appreciation of Capt. R. H. Jenkins.

“The Sun Castle, Compass Gardens, Axentrasse, Needles and Venetian Bridge are but a few of the buildings planned for our pleasure by Captain Jenkins. Most Skegnessians will remember him as the town’s Surveyor and Water Engineer whose work and service is honoured by the Embassy plaque.
Those things will last awhile but his greatest love and most enduring work will not be the materials he fashioned in concrete, but in helping to shape the destinies of his Brigade boys. As Captain of the 1st Skegness the Boys’ Brigade he held the chief responsibilty in care and training for manhood of upwards of 600 boys aged between 11 and 18 years. He was to most of us the embodiment of awe, discipline, gentleness and justice out of which grew reverence and love.” Those things will last awhile but his greatest love and most enduring work will not be the materials he fashioned in concrete, but in helping to shape the destinies of his Brigade boys.

GOOD INFLUENCES
Throughout the world are men of Skegness parentage who successfully follow his precepts, a fact one felt which gave Captain Jenkins his deepest satisfaction in life. He was a staunch man of God whose good influences will be felt through many generations of time. Our Captain well deserved eternal peace with His Captain.
” I close my tribute to Captain Jenkins’ life and example, and I feel sure my contemporaries would voice it too, with words of a favourite hymn of his : ‘ Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices.’ ”

Since this article was published in the local newspaper in the 1950s, the Embassy Theatre has been completely rebuilt, so we wondered if the plaque to Rowland Jenkins had been reinstated within the new building. We went along to the theatre to investigate. Sure enough, we found the plaque erected on the wall to the left as one decends the stairs to the lower foyer.