Skegness Miners' Convalescent Home and Holiday Centre

A convalescent home was established in Skegness in the late nineteenth century by the Derbyshire businessman Edward Terah Hooley for miners from Ilkeston who had been injured. The home was purposefully located on the coast to improve the relaxation and health in the miners. This would have been a very different environment to the landlocked and industrial Derbyshire they were used to. The home was later taken over by the Derbyshire Miners’ Association who eventually built a new convalescent home in 1928. This new home provided accommodation for 120 men and 30 women. It finally closed in 2018 and was sold off to a local business owner in 2019.

The Derbyshire Miners' Welfare Holiday Centre was built next to the Convalescent Home with financial grants from the Miners' Welfare Fund and colliery owners. It opened on 20 May 1939 and was the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, described by Sir Frederick Sykes, Chairman of the Miners' Welfare Central Committee, as 'a pioneer venture'. The holiday centre could accommodate almost 1,000 visitors per week in wooden chalets, and was available to approximately 40,000 miners (and their families) then employed in Derbyshire collieries. It provided accommodation, meals and entertainment, and was also used by miners in other regions. It closed in the 1990s. This plan shows a proposed extension to the roadway entrance and car parking facilities.