Butlins Skegness (officially Butlins Resort Skegness), formerly Butlin's Skegness or Funcoast World; is a holiday camp located in Ingoldmells near Skegness in Lincolnshire, England. Billy Butlin conceived of its creation based on his experiences at a Canadian summer camp in his youth and by observation of the actions of other holiday accommodation providers, both in seaside resort lodging houses and in earlier smaller holiday camps. Construction of the camp began in 1935 and it was opened in 1936, when it quickly proved to be a success with a need for expansion. The camp included dining and recreation facilities, such as dance halls and sports fields. During World War II, the camp was subject to use by the military serving as a Naval training base, reverting to being a holiday camp in 1946. Since then, the camp has seen continuous use and development, in the mid-1980s and again in the late 1990s being subject to substantial investment and redevelopment. In the late 1990s, the site was re-branded as a holiday resort, and remains open today as one of three remaining Butlins resorts. Holiday camp conception In 1914, Billy Butlin was living in Toronto with his mother and stepfather, when he left school and began working for Eatons department store. According to Butlin, one of the best aspects of working for the company was that he was able to visit their summer camp which gave him an idea of what was to become a very big part of his life. The onset of World War I led to his leaving Eatons and enlisting in the Canadian Expeditionary Force serving in Europe, but seeing little if any action. After the war, Butlin returned to England where he used some of his last £5 (2011:£) to purchase a stall in his uncle Marshall Hill's travelling fair. As a showman, Butlin ultimately created his own travelling fair. Butlin soon had fixed fairground sites as well as his travelling fair – the first was at Olympia in London outside Bertram Mills' Circus. In 1925, he opened a set of fairground stalls in Barry Island, Wales where he observed the way landladies in seaside resorts would (sometimes literally) push families out of the lodgings between meals, and began to nurture the idea of a holiday camp similar to the one he had attended whilst an employee at Eatons. In 1927, Butlin leased a piece of land from