We stumbled across the model village when strolling around Skegness. It is a bit beyond the Aquarium. At £3 an adult, we decided to chance a look round.
But what a sad attraction it is.
You can see that back in the 60s it would have been a labour of love. It was carefully laid out, but now it is run down and shabby. The train can’t have moved for years, the water is still and stagnant, the buildings in desperate need of a lick of paint. Many smaller parts were broken or laying on their side.
The bedding plants were very sparse and some shrubs are dead – and yet most of the grass had been trimmed and the edging borders were clearly recently weeded. Just not planted.
Borders of lobelias, salvia and alysum would brighten the place up. A moving train as advertised would bring the place to life. And the stagnant water needs sorting.
Having said that, the church building had been repainted and had bell music.
If only a task force could be sent in to refresh it, I’m sure it could be brought back to life.
I left feeling sad for the people who built it.

I have rarely read a review that was so meaningless and devoid of intelligent content than this review.A Model Village is a nostalgic reflection on an an idealised way of Life…that is the whole essence of its charm and interest.
No doubt that some reviewers would like to see a Village with Social problems,perhaps with an interactive no Go area where one can experience virtual Muggings,floods of people on Benefits demanding a same day appointment at the Model Doctors’ Surgery…or perhaps We could have a depiction of some Social Housing…obviously free to view,for those that are unwilling to seek gainful employment.
The entry price is very cheap,in My opinion and would provide a ,sadly infrequently encountered,opportunity for some non electronic entertainment ,for Our Children….so please..no changes and I love it….

I am taking my kids to skegness this saturday and im gonna visit the model village with them if it’s open :-0 Iloved it has a kid hope it ends up a memory to my kids like it did to me :-)

Dont change skegness it’s a national treasure for a seaside resort so many nice memories

I used to go every years as a child to Skegness model village and i couldn’t wait to show my children, What a surprise instead of flowers there was weeds, were there used to be plants there was just bare mud patches, the exhibits all needed painting and repairing with holes in some building,This is a place i would not go back to again nor would i recommend it the cost £8 i could have spent better

I was just looking through the internet for details on the skegness model village and I came across this amusing write up complete with a defensive comment…. great stuff!! Now I will add to the debate, coz I can! I have to agree with G Vickery in the observation that the charm and the pace of the village lies within it’s nod to a bygone era when people could just take in and muse along without the need for constant stimulation noise and caffeine drinks on tap, what a lovely peaceful world that is, and for a couple of quid each and a half hour of peace alongside a slice of English seaside history it’s gotta be worth that for christs sake. The fair rides and arcades can more than compensate for the lack of stimulation and I’m sure that anyone who visits this model village will be able to locate a suitable outlet for refreashments should the need arise. The lack of visitors is probably due to a distinct lack of marketing and I’m sure there are plenty of people who would be able toenjoy there first trip round if they were aware it existed.

Your little boy obviously enjoyed his day and thats nice to hear.

In reply to G Vickery.

I make no apologies for the way I felt when writing the review, the point to a review is to tell people how you found the product, attraction etc…

I try in my reviews to be as fair as I can giving people the good, bad and ugly of an attraction. No attraction is perfect and most of Skegness is out of touch with keeping up with the times which means most attractions in Skegness has room for improvement.

It is not unreasonable to comment on what I feel would have made my visit more pleasurable.

I don’t want the feel to Skegness Model Village to Change since it is a tradition nostalgic attraction, but as I said in my review although it was nice I remembered every model from when I was small in the 80 and I felt there was nothing new for me to enjoy when I visited when I was older.

It took something away in my experience with my children, not being able to discover something new along side them.

Many model villages around the country have grown in the years and improved, Skegness Model Village as stayed the same since it was created, maybe it’s that the people running the Skegness Model Village don’t have the skills needed to expand the attraction.

I never said anything about fast food outlets in my review, all I said was a place to sit and have a cup of tea would be nice in making the Skegness Model Village more enjoyable.

I do believe I said that my youngest son went around the Model Village several times with my eldest, but I had very little intrest in going around the model village again since I’d seen it all before, a sit down and a cup of tea or a cold drink on a hot day while I waited would have been nice.

No I don’t want tower blocks and car parks in the Model Village (‘TUT TUT’), but it is out dated I think I wrote it might be nice to have Skegness in Miniature for instance.

If Skegness Model Village sold trinkets it might be cheaper to get in!

As for the cost needs to be high through theft is a bit of a stretch unless someones going to make off with a 2ft box out the front door the only thing to replace is the figurines which are just standard plastic people which you can purchase at any hobby store.

Like I said nice place to visit once, good for little kids and enthusiast’s to visit, but once you’ve been it looses it’s appeal!

I do believe this is telling people to try it out definitely once.

I’m very surprised by this review; I couldn’t disagree more. This village is utterly charming and never ceases to delight me and my children and their children. We always go to see it on our annual visit and come away feeling warm and cosy and charmed.

Why would you want it to change? Do you want it to incorporate a tower block and a car park?

Although costs are an important consideration for us as for many, we don’t feel that the charges are excessive given how much it must cost to maintain this wonderful little village particularly since so many of the hard carved, unique characters are stolen and have to be regularly replaced.

A few seats would be a good idea but please, no more fast food outlets – I can wait for an hour or two before getting a cup of tea somewhere else. The peace and quiet is delightful; frenetic activity can be found everywhere else.

Similarly, if you want memories take photos! I don’t want to buy tacky trinkets; again I can get those easily elsewhere (one of my favourites is a little glass viking ship and another is a sand-bottle man that I made in the colours of the Italian flag and called Luigi after a character in a book).

Recommendation: 10 out of 10 for this lovely little village.