Skegness Magazine

Nautical theme for bars
THE Callow Park Hotel, for many years a familiar site and popular venue for visitors to Skegness, owing to its convenient situation on Grand Parade adjacent to all the resort’s main attractions, will be even more popular when it re-opened in May 1960 as the most modern and most aptly named hotel in the town—the Jolly Fisherman Hotel.
Since it closed in November 1959, the hotel—which started life as a boarding house in the late Victorian period —underwent a complete change, both inside and outside. This followed a decision by Warwicks and Richardsons, the Newark brewers who owned the Callow Park for several years, to discontinue the residential aspect of the hotel and concentrate on providing first-class licensed facilities for the thousands of visitors to Skegness.
With this in mind, Nottingham architects, Messrs. Eberlin and Partners, set to work on remodelling the interior and external elevations on modern lines. The extensive alterations which have been in progress throughout the winter posed many structural problems owing to the sandy nature of the sub- soil, and a new steel frame had to be inserted before the Victorian frontage could be removed.
Under the expert care of the general contractors, Messrs. J. T. Barber and Son Limited, of Boston, and Neil Darroch (Engineers) Limited of Nottingham, this complicated phase of the work was accomplished successfully and the whole contract completed to schedule.

Photo above: Some of the staff of the Callow Park Hotel—which re-opened on 18th May 1960 as the “Jolly Fisherman Hotel”—pictured holding up the sign which is displayed on the frontage: a well-known
character with something new—a glass of beer in his hand!

Nautical Theme
The interior of the hotel followed a nautical theme, and the owners decided that the “Jolly Fisherman with its local connections was an apt name for the hotel in its new guise.
So with the permission of Skegness Council and British Railways who hold the copyright of the Jolly Fisherman design, it was re-named accordingly—and a more-than-life-size sign depicting the Fisherman takes a prominent place on the frontage.
Those who remember the old hotel may find it hard to recognise it now with its contemporary entrance and inviting forecourt.
A wide stairway leads up to the large ground floor entrance to the Lounge Bar, which has not been included to any great extent in the present stage of modernisation, but which it is hoped to extend at some future date.
Neptune Bar
The room to the right of the entrance has been called the Neptune Bar. It has large windows overlooking the sea and the Tower Rose Gardens and is partly panelled and papered in a sailing ship design, while the patterned floor reflects the same nautical atmosphere.
Luxuriously comfortable furnishings and a cocktail bar counter with rich padded front make the Neptune Bar a unique feature of Skegness hotels.
A second stairway from the forecourt leads down to the below-street-level lower ground floor and opens into a large airy room aptly called the Smuggler’s Bar.
As befits its name, nautical charts, paintings of the sea and sailing boats, ships’ lights port, starboard and masthead—and the “drift wood” panelling on the walls and counter help to give the right ‘blend of modern comfort and traditional character’.
Draught beer for the lounge bar and the Smuggler’s Bar is drawn from a refrigerated cellar which ensures a cool glass of beer even in the hottest weather.
Cool and Warm
The new bars are equipped with an up-to-date air extraction system to ensure perfect ventilation, while an oil-fired central heating system provides the necessary warmth on cooler days.

“The alterations and extensions also mean that we have an increased seating capacity for about fifty more people” says the Jolly Fisherman manager, Mr. Jack Hay.
In addition to the interior alterations, what used to be a car-park at the front has now been cordoned off with concrete bollards to make room for large ornamental flower bowls as an added attraction.

Just to remind ourselves, here’s what the Jolly Fisherman Pub looked like after it was turned into Lucky Strike amusement arcade and before it was burned down as part of the Parade Complex in the Skegness Fire of August 2007.

Do YOU remember the Jolly Fisherman Pub and the Smugglers Den in Skegness?

Tell us in the comments box below.