In March 1928 a large new convalescent home was opened on Skegness seafront by the Derbyshire Miners Association. Built at a cost of £50,000 the home had 54 bedrooms, most with 3 beds each, and was fully central heated. The home could be used by all working men of Derbyshire, not just miners. It was said that the annual running costs would be between £10,000 and £12,000 per year.
In 1939 the association built a 21-acre holiday camp on land adjacent to the home as a way to provide discounted holidays to it’s 40,000 members and their families. The camp could accommodate a thousand people and a whole family could have a weeks holiday for less than £5, including food. This was significantly less than other camps or hotels in the area.
It was usually open from March to October, with four weeks reserved for retired mineworkers at special rates and nine weeks for the disabled or permanently sick. The camp soon became popular with cooperatives, unions and assorted charitable organisations representing retirees and those with disabilities. They would often send hundreds of people at a time, sometimes even taking over the entire camp for a whole week.
In 1949 a second smaller camp was acquired in Rhyl which had been established the previous year for East Midlands miners. Both camps operated on the traditional full board basis with all meals being taken in a large communal dining hall. Chalets consisted of a bedroom and maybe a bathroom. Some were en suite while others used communal toilet/shower blocks nearby.
A huge fire in 1949 destroyed the main 20,000 sq ft entertainment building. The wooden structure contained a concert hall, dining room and 600 gallons of oil. The fire was welcomed by local residents due to the many noise complaints coming from within. It was rebuilt the following year at a cost of £140,000 (with better sound-proofing) and featured a ballroom with 2,000 sq ft of the finest imported African hardwood. It was officially opened by Viscount Hyndley, chairman of the NCB.
In 1954 a new block was established for paralysed miners and their families, some of whom had never left their hometown or seen the sea before. That same year the camp heating system was said to be “worn out” and local residents were complaining about the smoke being generated. Miners were asked to give an extra penny each week to the welfare fund to cover the cost of installing a new system
In 1958 a successful appeal was made to the House of Lords to open up the camp to all holidaymakers, not just miners. This resulted in an official complaint from local hoteliers who said that the camp would undercut them by getting preferential treatment as a registered charity. The camp said they were empowered to take outsiders as long as they charged economic prices. Later that year some of the old wooden chalets were replaced by new brick buildings.
An outdoor pool was built followed in 1961 by a new indoor pool, the biggest in Skegness. In 1963 half of the wooden chalets were swept away and replaced by a huge new £60,000 three-storey apartment block containing 137 units. More new apartments were built in 1966 and the old wooden chalets were advertised for sale “22ft x 22ft, includes floor and roof, cheap”. By the late-1960s the camp boasted 6 bars, a 1000-seat theatre/cinema and it’s own ‘Cavern Club’.
In common with many other camps, the 1970s saw a downturn in business as more holidaymakers jetted off abroad. Those who stayed home wanted the freedom of self catering as opposed to fixed mealtimes that usually came with full board. In 1976 the camp responded by building a block of 52 self-catering flats each with their own kitchens and dining room. Around the same time the camp opened the new Drifters Showbar complex consisting of a disco, supermarket and games room. The Rhyl camp was sold in 1980.
The Skegness camp remained open throughout the 1980s but closed at the end of 1989. It was sold to Rinkfield Properties who spent £500,000 on refurbishments. The site reopened in 1990 as Skegness Sands Holiday Village.
At the end of 1991 the owners went into administration. In March 1992 the “rundown” camp was sold to Skegness businessman Gordon Hawkins for £1.2 million. Within a year he’d demolished all the chalets and began filling the site with caravans. The Drifters Showbar was renamed Sands. The old indoor pool was kept and refurbished.The park is still open today.
The convalescent home was not included in the sale and remained in use, but sadly closed in 2018.
