 Butlin 's had a long history of combining amusements with transport , starting with their first miniature railway at the Empire Exhibition in 1938 . Skegness was to receive its own miniature railway in 1962 . A chairlift system was installed at the same time . In 1965 , the camp became home to the UK 's first commercial monorail system . According to Peter Scott , who has researched the history of Butlin 's transport systems , Butlin apparently got the idea for the system from Disneyland . Construction began in 1964 with the cars being manufactured locally ; the total cost of the system was £ 50 @,@ 000 ( 2011 : £ 794 thousand ) . In 1974 a fire broke out in the kitchens of the Beachcomber Chinese restaurant leading to the complete destruction of the Princes building . In the Ballroom upstairs , a " Miss Personality Competition " was taking place when smoke was first spotted . The Redcoat in Charge of this event and the compère acted quickly , and were able to evacuate the building with no loss of life . To compensate for the loss of the entertainment venue , the <unk> was moved to encompass the Ingoldmells Hotel , which then became another venue . 
