The Fairy Dell Paddling Pool can be found at the Skegness Boating Lake. To find the paddling pool go over the bridge and the free paddling pool can be found on the other side.
The Fairy Dell Paddling Pool is open from May to September 10am till 6pm every day
It’s one of the best things in Skegness to do for free with the kids.
The Fairy Dell is a nice little pool with sprinklers and an ornamental fountain in the center and it’s weaving pools there’s seats for adults and soft flooring underfoot.
The Paddling pool is a great relaxing place to play with the kids. I still take my son at 13 years old, but then he’s in no hurry to grow up and be an adult :-)
The Fairy Dell is kept clean every morning and during the day that the Paddling Pool is open, it is cleaned by a janitor with a net to remove rubbish or leaves from the pools and the bins are emptied. The water is chlorinated but not heavily.
The council looks after the maintenance of the pool very well, but the Fairy Dell has been subject to mindless vandalism since it opened which is a shame :-( The young delinquents keep ripping up the sponge floor which results in huge holes in the floor and debris in the water and can be uncomfortable under foot, you have to be careful where you tread.
The flooring was replaced in 2009 with a completely new floor, it took 8 plus weeks to do and within a month of completions the floor was ripped up again :-(
The holes that these mindless kids are causing could be stopped altogether if there was a strong police presence on the boating lake or if the council put up a bigger fence around the paddling pool to stop the vandals from getting in in the first place, the 3ft fence is a bad design flaw! Replacing the expensive flooring every few years is not a viable solution and it could result in the Fairy Dell in the future having to close due to cost, I personally can not see the council keep paying to have the floor replaced.
Maybe if Skegness holiday maker complained to East Lindsey District council some thing would be done, since the council doesn’t listen to the residence in Skegness about this matter :-(
Still the Fairy Dell is a nice place to take the kiddies for a bit of free fun. Definitely recommended when visiting Skegness, it is clean, fun and lovely on a hot day to have a paddle.
I would have given the Fair Dell Paddling pool a 9/10, but because of the damaged floor it had to be lower :-(
Skegness Attractions Star Rating for the Fairy Dell Paddling Pool 8/10
Just to let you know I have been going to Fairy Dell all my life, now 42, and now take my children – 6 and 12. They love it. Well done to Lincolnshire Council for keeping it going all these years. This is a must for Skegness, and must continue for years to come. Would love to be a Grandma and take my grandchildren there, Hopefully. Thanks.
Hi
I remember spending many happy days as a child at the fairy dell I’m coming with my own two girls on sept what’s the last date it will be open
Is this the same place that was there in the 1950’s,does anybody know? I remember my mum and dad taking me to a place in Skeggy to paddle when I was tiny, (58 now!) and it was all like a maze of shallow water-filled blue pathways with a circular pool in the middle with a fountain. Don’t remember if it had a name then.I have very happy memories of it, and wish I had photos. Would love to take my grandchildren there (9, 6, and due in December)one day. Am amazed it’s still free!
Yes, it is the very same pool. I am 65 and remember that it was the most magical place to me.
I remember the steps down to the ‘Axenstrasse’ which took one down from the paddling pool to the side of the boating lake and bare feet on the cold stone floor. Bliss!
I was wainfleet born and bred and spent many summer’s at the fairy dell same place from the 1960s I took my 3 children there and my grandchildren .So much fun and good summer memories although it’s been updated since I was young it’s still a nice place to spend a day out
No it’s not the same one, the old paddling pool you remember was next to the pier, the new one is on the boating lake.
Unfortunately the old paddling pool wasn’t used for years and fell into disrepair, there’s a kiddies play park there now.
The council wanted to get rid of a paddling pool all together in Skegness, but when word got out and there was an out cry from the public from as far a field as Australia, so they built a new paddling pool in 2006.
The old pool area was replaced by a lovely new kids park in 2009
Both the paddling pool which has just been resurfaced in 2011 (kids keep kicking up the rubber flooring) and the new play park are a must for young kids visiting Skegness, great attractions and there free :)
Marie
I believe you have maybe got the two paddling pools mixed up.The Fairy Dell is in the boating lake. The old Sunshine Pool was laid out so where you paddled spelled out the word Sunshine. This is the paddling pool near the pier which has now been filled in.
An ex resident who paddled in both in the late 40s and 50s.
WOW! I think I just read in a article, (in a promotional magazine for Skegness) that it cost a whopping quarter of a million pound to resurface the flooring on the Paddling pool.
I hope I read it wrong, since this (2011) is the second time it’s been replaced by the council in 5 years.
If I was the council I would come up with something to prevent thoughtless crime on the fairy dell, since surely Skegness can’t keep paying that kind of money for new flooring every couple of years.
A big fence around the perimeter of the paddling pool or a security guard might be cheaper.
Does anyone know the cost for sure to resurface the Fairy Dell?
Marie
I have been to the Fairy Dell when I was a young girl (now 44)I just had a silly thought I was just wondering if Adults could go there for a paddle? I know it is for children well if you think about it we are all children even though we have grown up :(. If the children can have a paddle why not the adults as well?
Is the paddling pool going to be open this saturday 1st October please?
Can’t say for certain, but last time we walked by (yesterday) the fountains were on, so with the great weather (we just got home from a midnight walk along the Skegness beach, wore T-shirts it’s that mild :-)) I’d guess it will be open this weekend.
Thank you – we will make the journey – last there August bank holiday and although cold had a wonderful time. I visited Skegness for the Easter hols every year with my parents staying at the Granville flats, and have very happy memories so much so that our kiddies have a special place in their hearts for Skeggy and also our grandkids – I am 61 now and have photos of the paddling pool going back to the 60’s! (How romantic to be walking on the beach at midnight).
Love the fairy dell been going there since i was born and still do now event though i am 13
my sister and i came every year for two weeks in aug in the 50s the fairy dell was our favourite place to play we used to come to dear skeggy by steam train and stop in a boarding house owned by mrs finch when we walked from the boarding house to the beach im sure we used to walk through a small wood it was all very exciting sadly my mum dad and my dear sister have passed away but i will be comming to skeggy with my husband in sept anne x
I have been going to Skegness since I was about 4 and I have never been to this place up until a month ago.I never even knew it existed and im 48 now! My granddaughter loved it and im bringing my other 2 granddaughters over to play in it.Its wonderful! Wish id have known about it a long time ago….
Does anyone know if dogs are allowed on a lead into Fairy Dell paddling pool area, we have a place in skegness and want to take our granddaughter to the paddling pool unfortunately we cannot leave the dog on her own at home. thanks for any replies.
Hi was there a couple of weeks back with family and no dogs allowed on site, beautifully maintained and ideal for the kids for a paddle we were there a good couple hours kids didn’t want to leave lol well done Lincolnshire council you should be proud
Skegness and it’s rate payer’s. Have all benefited from the Fairy Dell.
How much would we need to raise to install surveillance cameras to protect it.
They only need to operate when it is closed.
There already are surveillance cameras over looking the Skegness Fairy Dell and they were in action a couple of months back.
We walk that way late at night sometimes and we were hiding behind a fence to watch some foxes on the car park and the camera moved to watch us :-) We were pretty much underneath it.
The surveillance camera that moved was directly across from the Fairy Dell, less than 20ft from the Fairy Dell.
Not specifically about the Fairy Dell cameras:
http://www.skegnessstandard.co.uk/news/community/community-news/fears-raised-over-future-of-cctv-1-6553310
Looks like they are secure funding wise in the medium term:
http://www.lincolnshireecho.co.uk/Lincolnshire-council-spend-425-000-CCTV-streets/story-27976253-detail/story.html
David