The Lincolnshire Guide > Editors Blog

Site Updates

Hi and welcome to the new look Lincolnshire Guide!

Based on comments we have received from our customers we have updated the site to better serve the needs of our users, aiming for a more clear-cut look and easy on the eye layout.  All the familiar functionality is still there, with a host of new features.  These include:

• A reviews section that allows site visitors to review and rate the facilities they have visited in Lincolnshire
• Integration with BeachBlue's AvCal availability calendar which allows visitors immediate access to live availability calendars
• An improved search facility with a clearer results screen

There are many small improvements under the skin which all aim to provide a better user experience.

We are keen to hear any views you may have.  You can contact us
View Full Entry  |  Published 4 months ago

Should we charge tourists excessive prices? No.

It is always fair to say that prices go up, year on year.  That is pretty much a given.  Whether it is food, utility bills, council tax or whatever.  Inflation causes price rises.  Fair enough.

Something else that also causes price rises is the change in seasons.  The Lincolnshire Coastline is one of the jewels of the County's crown, with many thousands of visitors flocking to the seaside resorts over the summer period.  For many caravan sites, bed and breakfasts and hotels the season began on 1st March.  Demand is high, so prices increase and people have a choice - they can go on holiday or choose not to.  Obviously in Lincolnshire we hope they choose to visit us.  The main resorts get clogged on busy weeks and weekends throughout the year so locals know to get in early or avoid completely.

However, there is one cynical move that - to put it plainly - profiteers pull every year and that is the price of fuel in the coastal strip.  Forecourt prices rocket come the season and, typically, it has happened again.  The main culprits are not the big names (though not blameless either and are known to locals to pull the same trick) and not the backstreet garages who have higher costs and can't buy in bulk anyway - but the mid-level garages.

I travelled into Louth on Friday of last week and in the morning petrol and diesel at one well-known petrol station on the A16 was 118.9p a litre.  The same garage was selling fuel at 121.9p a litre in the afternoon. 

Had there been a rise in duty?  No.  Had there been a rise in oil prices?  No.  Had the main garages put their prices up?  No.  Was this the day when people travel to the coast for the first weekend of the season?  Yes.

Upon checking around on my travels around the area that weekend I could find no other garages that had put their prices up.  Not main garages, no...

View Full Entry  |  Published 5 months ago

Is the Jolly Fisherman important any more?

That may be the question that Skegness needs to be asking itself now - does the Jolly Fisherman really matter any more?  Is he relevant today, or of a bygone era?

Whatever your point of view, whether you are for the Jolly Fisherman or not, it has certainly stirred some talk in the press, especially after a local District Councillor is quoted as saying "The Jolly Fisherman has been promoting this town for the last 100 years and he's nowhere to be seen".

In question is the new Skegness and Mablethorpe Visitors' Guide, produced by Lincolnshire Tourism.  According to Councillor Byford, there are no references to the Jolly Fisherman or the traditional strap line about Skegness being so bracing.  To many bracing = cold...

The Jolly Fisherman, who celebrated his 100th birthday in 2008, is a familiar sight to those visiting Skegness over the years.  Indeed, there is still an original railway poster on display at the National Railway Museum in York.  But is this really the image that we want to attract people to Skegness and the surrounding area?

I agree with Councillor Byford that the photography in the document appears to come mainly from stock photographs.  Indeed the main photo on the front cover is as generic as they come, and could have been taken anywhere.  Surely a photograph extolling the virtues of Skegness or Mablethorpe (lets not forget Mablethorpe in this, because it is Skegness AND Mablethorpe...) would not have been too hard to obtain?  Many thousands of visitors take happy snaps throughout the holiday period in both resorts and surrounding areas.

However, the front cover is bright and glossy, and it does catch the eye among other public...

View Full Entry  |  Published 7 months ago