Hassall Commemorative Plaque Skegness Railway Station
Skegness Jolly Fisherman Creator Honoured
Plaque to commemorate ‘Hassall’ the man who put Skegness on the map!
A SPECIAL plaque was unveiled at Skegness Train Station on Saturday, September 19th, 2009, to commemorate the artist who drew what has become arguably the world’s most famous seaside poster.
In 1908, John Hassall drew the iconic image of a Jolly Fisherman bouncing along a golden sandy beach to promote the rail link between London Kings Cross and Skegness. The poster included the slogan ‘Skegness is SO bracing!’ Since then the image of the Jolly Fisherman has been at the heart of the resort’s marketing campaigns and still today, at 101 years old, a bronze statue of Jolly greets people at the Station as they arrive in the resort for their holiday.
To celebrate the unveiling of the plaque, which was commissioned in 2008 as part of Jolly’s 100th birthday celebrations, part of the railway station was transformed into a beach with deckchairs. The Town and District Councils were there too, showing off their new publicity trailer designed in the form of a traditional beach hut.
The aluminium plaque,which was the idea of Coun John Byford, engraved with details of John Hassall, will remain at the Station to recognise the poster he created that put Skegness on the map.
The unveiling took place on the Station at 11.15am and was undertaken by the Mayor of Skegness, Councillor Pat Phillips.
Top picture: (lrft to right) Deputy Mayor, Coun Sue Binch; Coun George Saxon; Tony Cumberworth, Town Clerk; Jolly Fisherman and Mayor of Skegness, Coun Pat Phiilps.
Bottom picture: District Councillor John Byford and the Skegness Jolly Fisherman.
Skegness Town Council and East Lindsey District Council, with support from many local organisations, jointly organised a series of celebrations in 2008 to celebrate Jolly’s 100th birthday, including a special Jolly Fisherman trail, where 100 children from a local school, also celebrating its 100 birthday, dressed up in their favourite wellies and scarf to be the first to walk the trail which weaves around some of the resort’s most well know and popular locations. There was also a big birthday party in Tower Gardens.
More pictures of the John Hassall Plaque Skegness Railway Station
I was in Peterborough on Saturday so was unfortunately not able to attend the unvieling. Its great that through the work of this site I could still enjoy the event thanks to your video news items and for that I am very thankful.
I do believe that the image of ‘Jolly’ is very important to the prosperity of the resort, We have something very unique. At a time when icons and cartoon figures mean mega bucks to the tourism industry i do believe we should get as much milage out of Jolly as we can. There are now themed parks associated with a mouse called Micky and Thomas The Tank Engine, there are attractions centered around building blocks(Legoland)we have our Jolly and the children love him. If there are any budding writers around who are looking for inspiration then look no further than our Jolly.
One idea came to me whilst watching the video. wouldn’t it be good if someone wrote a piece of music, a march perhaps, that could be named after our Jolly, Perhaps someone from the Skegness Silver Prize band could write a piece, we could then use it whenever Jolly attended any ceremony.
I was fortunate enough to attend and would like to thank all those involved in organising the plaque. I’m sure it will remain at the heart of the station for many years to come.