Skegness Magazine

We were lucky enough to add to our collection of Skegness memorabilia a medal (pictured right).

The medallion is inscribed: “Walk Horncastle to Skegness June 24th 1903″.

The medal is about the size of a two-pence piece and is made out of a silver-coloured metal.

After much digging in the archives, we managed to unearth the old newspaper story of the event:

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Source: Skegness Herald 1903

Walking Match to Skegness

A great walking match from Horncastle to Skegness, a distance of about 23 miles, took place on Wednesday last, in splendid weather.
There were three prizes on offer, the first being a silver cup, and twenty-two residents of Horncastle competed for the same.

The start took place at 8am from the Market Place, Horncastle, and the finishing point was the Lion Hotel, Skegness.

A large number of people assembled to witness the start, and a good number in vehicles and on bicycles accompanied the competitors.

There was immense excitement at Skegness at the finish 0 from noon to about one o’clock – and a large number of persons assembled near the |Lion Hotel to witness the arrival of the competitors.

The first to arrive was Mr Kidd at five minutes before twelve, he having done the distance of 23 miles in 3 hours 55 minutes, a remarkable pedestrian performance when it is remembered that a great portion of the ground is very hilly.

He was greatly cheered on his arrival, and of course he took first prize.

The second prizes was won by Mr Stones who did the distance in 4 hours 8 minutes; and the third by Mr Lowe who arrived four minutes later, doing the distance in 4 hours 12 minutes..
Twenty out of the twenty-two did the journey, and the last man arrived at 1.15pm, doing the distance in 5 1/4 hours.

A sealed handicap was won by a lame man named Vamplew who had two hours start, completing the journey in 5 hours 56 minutes.

The photograph below, taken by A Blades of Horncastle, show the presentation ceremony for the Skegness to Horncastle Walk in 1926.

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