Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 16:51, 24 August 2013

Grimsby
Grimsby Dock Tower
Population	87,574
OS grid reference	TA279087
• London	140 mi (230 km) S
Unitary authority	North East Lincolnshire
Ceremonial county	Lincolnshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GRIMSBY
Postcode district	DN31 - DN34, DN35, DN37
Dialling code	01472
Police	Humberside
Fire	Humberside
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Great Grimsby
List of places UK England Lincolnshire

Grimsby (or archaically Great Grimsby) is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996.

Geography

The town was previously titled "Great Grimsby" to distinguish it from Little Grimsby, a village about 14 miles (22 km) to the south, near Louth. People from Grimsby are called Grimbarians.

The town has a population of 87,574. It is physically linked to and forms a conurbation with the adjoining town of Cleethorpes. Eleven thousand of its residents live in the village of Scartho, which was absorbed into Grimsby before laws on the green belt were passed. All three areas come under the jurisdiction of the same unitary authority, North East Lincolnshire. It is close to the main terminus of the A180, which ends in Cleethorpes. 22 January is Great Grimsby Day.

The River Freshney rises to the west of the town, towards the A46. The A46 terminates near Grimsby in Cleethorpes at the junction with the A16 just north of Oasis Academy Wintringham.

History

There is some evidence of a small town of Roman workers sited in the area in the second century. Located on the Haven, which flowed into the Humber, Grimsby would have provided an ideal location for ships to shelter from approaching storms. It was also well situated to exploit the rich fishing grounds in the North Sea.

Vikings

According to legend, Grimsby was first founded by Grim, a Danish fisherman. The settlement of Grimsby being established by Danes sometime in the 9th century AD. The name Grimsby originates from Grim's by, derived from the name Grim, the Danish Viking, and the suffix -by being the Old Norse word for village. The legendary founding of Grimsby is described in Lay of Havelock the Dane. This legend of the founding of Grimsby is completely unsupported. A Grim and Havelock Association claims to have evidence to back up the legend.

In Norse mythology, 'Grim' (Mask) and 'Grimnir' (Masked One) are names adopted by the deity Odin (Anglo-Saxon 'Woden') when travelling incognito amongst mortals, as in the short poem known as 'Grimnir's Sayings' (Grimnismal) in the Poetic Edda. The intended audience of the Havelock tale (recorded much later in the form of The Lay of Havelock the Dane) may have understood the fisherman Grim to be Odin in disguise. The Odinic name 'Grimr/Grim' occurs in many English placenames within the historical Danelaw and elsewhere in Britain, examples being the numerous earthworks named Grimsdyke. Every other British placename containing the element Grim- is explained as a reference to Woden/Odin (e.g. Grimsbury, Grimspound, Grime's Graves, Grimsditch, Grimsworne), Grimsby is unlikely to have a different derivation.

Grimsby is listed in the Domesday Book as having a population of around 200, a priest, a mill and a ferry (probably to take people across the Humber, to Hull).

It also appears in the Orkneyinga Saga in this Dróttkvætt stanza by the Viking Rǫgnvald Kali:

Vér hǫfum vaðnar leirur   vikur fimm megingrimmar;

saurs vara vant, er várum,   viðr, í Grímsbœ miðjum.
Nú'r þat's más of mýrar   meginkátliga látum

branda elg á bylgjur   Bjǫrgynjar til dynja.

"We have waded in mire for five terrible weeks; there was no lack of mud where we were, in the middle of Grimsby. But now away we let our beaked moose resound meerily on the waves over the seagull's swamp to Bergen."

During the 12th century, Grimsby developed into a fishing and trading port, at one point ranking twelfth in importance to the Crown in terms of tax revenue. The town was granted its charter by King John in 1201 The first mayor was installed in 1202.

Grimsby does not have town walls. It was too small and was protected by the marshy land around it. However, the town did have a ditch. In medieval times, Grimsby had two parish churches, St Mary's and St James'. Only St James', now known as Grimsby Minster, remains. St James' shares with Lincoln Cathedral the folk tale of an Imp who played tricks in the church and was turned into stone by an angel (see Lincoln Imp).

In the mid-14th century it benefited from the generosity of Edmund de Grimsby, a local man who became a senior Crown official and judge in Ireland.

In the 15th century, The Haven began to silt up, preventing ships in the Humber from docking. As a result, Grimsby entered a long period of decline which lasted until the late 18th century. In 1801, the population of Grimsby numbered 1,524 , around the same size that it had been in the Middle Ages.

Fishing and maritime industry

The Great Grimsby Haven Company was formed by Act of Parliament in May 1796 (the Grimsby Haven Act) for the purpose of "widening, deepening, enlarging, altering and improving the Haven of the Town and Port of Great Grimsby". In the early 19th century, the town grew rapidly. Grimsby's port boomed, importing iron, timber, wheat, hemp and flax. New docks were necessary to cope with the expansion. The Grimsby Docks Act of 1845 allowed the necessary building works.

The Dock Tower was completed in 1851, followed by the Royal Dock in 1852. No.1 Fish Dock was completed in 1856, followed by No.2 Fish Dock in 1877. Alexandra Dock and Union Dock followed in 1879. During this period, the fishing fleet was greatly expanded. In a rare reversal of the usual trends, large numbers of fishermen from the South-East and Devon travelled North to join the Grimsby fleet. Over 40% of these newcomers came from Barking in East London, and other Thames-side towns.

The arrival of the railway in 1848 made it far easier to transport goods to and from the port. Coal mined in the South Yorkshire coal fields was brought by rail and exported through Grimsby. Rail links direct to London and the Billingsgate Fish Market allowed for fresh 'Grimsby Fish' to gain renown nationwide. The first true fish dock opened in Grimsby in 1856 and from then on, Grimsby was at the forefront of the development of the fishing industry. In 1857 there were 22 vessels in Grimsby. Six years later there were 112. The first two legitimate steam trawlers ever built in Great Britain were based in Grimsby and by 1900, a tenth of the fish consumed in the United Kingdom was landed at Grimsby, despite the many smaller coastal fishing ports and villages that were supplying the nation. The demand for fish in Grimsby grew to such an extent that, at its peak in the 1950s, Grimsby laid claim to the title of 'the largest fishing port in the world'.

Following the pressures placed on the industry during the Cod Wars, many Grimsby firms decided to cease trawling operations from the town. The sudden demise of the Grimsby fishing industry brought an end to a way of life and community that had lasted for generations. Huge numbers of men became redundant, highly skilled in jobs that no longer existed, and struggled to find work ashore. As seen in the case of Ross Group, some firms concentrated on other expanding industries within the town, such as food processing. Grimsby's trawling days are remembered through the artifacts and permanent exhibits at the town's Fishing Heritage Centre. The preserved 1950s trawler, Ross Tiger, is located here. Few fishing vessels still operate from Grimsby's once thriving docks, although the town maintains a substantial fish market, of European importance.

The population of Grimsby grew from 75,000 in 1901 to 92,000 by 1931. Given the effects of the Great Depression and the restructuring of the fishing industry, employment declined. The population was fairly stable for the rest of the 20th century.

Since the mid-1980s, the former Humber ferry, PS Lincoln Castle, was moored in Alexandra Dock. She was used during this time as a pub\restaurant. Although her design and status as Britain's last coal-fired paddle steamer was unique, the ship was no longer profitable and was broken up in 2010. Berthed in the Alexandra Dock is the Ross Tiger, the last survivor of what was once the world's largest fleet of sidewinder trawlers.

Second World War

The Royal Dock was used as the UK's largest base for minesweepers to patrol the North Sea. The Admiralty requisitioned numerous trawlers to serve as minesweepers for the Royal Naval Patrol Service. In many cases, their crew were ex-trawlermen as well as men from the Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Navy volunteers. Trawlers would use the winches and warps used in fishing operations to tow a paravane with a cutting jaw through the water in what was known as a 'sweep' to bring mines to the surface and allow for their removal.

− The dangers faced by the 'Patrol Service' ensured that it lost more vessels than any other branch of the Royal Navy during the Second World War with 2385 lives lost. Grimsby’s Royal Naval Patrol Service veterans financed the construction of a memorial beside the Dock Tower to ensure that the bravery and sacrifice of their comrades is never forgotten.

HMS Grimsby is a Sandown class minehunter (commissioned in 1999) currently in service in the Royal Navy.

Governance

Since 1977 Austin Mitchell (Labour) has been the Member of Parliament for the Great Grimsby constituency. The constituency of Great Grimsby is generally considered a Labour stronghold although Austin Mitchell only narrowly held the seat in the 1983 and 2010 general elections, both times with a majority under 800.

Great Grimsby
Grimsby town hall
Great Grimsby as a Borough of Humberside
Area
• 1911	2,868 acres (11.61 km)
• 1961	5,881 acres (23.80 km)
History
• Created	1835
• Abolished	1996
• Succeeded by	North East Lincolnshire
Status	Town Charter Granted 1201 Municipal Borough (1835-1889) County Borough (1889-1974) Borough (1974-1996)
• HQ	Grimsby
File:Grimsbycoat.jpg Arms of Great Grimsby Borough Council

Great Grimsby formed an ancient Borough in the North Riding of Lindsey. It was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 and became a Municipal Borough in that year. In 1889 a County Council was created for Lindsey, but Great Grimsby was outside its area of control and formed an independent County Borough in 1891. The Borough expanded to absorb the adjacent hamlet of Wellow (1889), also the neighbouring parishes of Clee-with-Weelsby (1889), Little Coates (1928), Scartho (1928), Weelsby (1928) and Great Coates (1968). It had its own police force until 1967 when it merged with the Lincolnshire force.

In 1974, the County Borough was abolished and Great Grimsby was reconstituted (with the same boundaries) as the Grimsby non-metropolitan district in the new county of Humberside by the Local Government Act 1972. The district was renamed Great Grimsby in 1979. Local government in the area came under the review of the Local Government Commission for England and Humberside was abolished in 1996. The former area of the Great Grimsby district merged with that of Cleethorpes to form the unitary authority of North East Lincolnshire. The town does not have its own town council, instead there is a board of Charter Trustees. During 2007, in the struggle for identity, it was suggested that the district could be renamed to something like Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes to give a stronger indication of the towns the district consists of. This did not meet with favourable comment among local residents, and the Council Leader dropped the idea a year later.

Council Wards

North East Lincolnshire Council has eight Council Wards within the area of Grimsby.

• Freshney Ward
• Heneage Ward
• Scartho Ward
• South Ward
• East Marsh Ward
• Park Ward
• West Marsh Ward
• Yarborough Ward

Economy

Grimsby, Immingham and Cleethorpes, together form the economic area known as Greater Grimsby. The main sectors of the Greater Grimsby economy are food and drink; ports and logistics; renewable energy; chemicals and process industries and digital media.

Food industry

Grimsby is indelibly linked with the sea fishing industry, which once gave the town much of its wealth. At its peak in the 1950s, it was the largest and busiest fishing port in the world. As a result of the Cod Wars with Iceland, this industry has been in decline for many years. In 1970 around 400 trawlers were based in the port, by 2013 only 5 trawlers remain based there, three times less than the number of vessels which maintain offshore wind farms in the North Sea. The town still has the largest fish market in the UK, but most of what is sold is now brought overland from other ports or Iceland via containerisation. Of the 18,000 tonnes of fresh fish sold in Grimsby fish market in 2012, almost 13,000 tonnes, mainly cod and haddock came from Iceland.

Today, Greater Grimsby is home to around 500 food-related companies, giving it one of the largest concentrations of food manufacturing, research, storage and distribution in Europe. The local council has promoted the city as Europe's Food Town for nearly twenty years.

Grimsby is recognised as the main centre of the UK fish-processing industry, 70% of the UK's fish processing industry is located there. In recent years, this expertise has led to diversification into all forms of frozen and chilled foods. The town is one of the largest centres of fish processing in Europe. More than 100 local companies are involved in fresh and frozen fish production, the largest of which is the Findus Group (see Lion Capital LLP), comprising Young's Seafood and Findus. Its corporate headquarters are in the town. Young's is a major employer in the area, with some 2,500 people based at its headquarters. From this base, Young’s has a global sourcing operation supplying 60 species from 30 countries.

Media interest has surrounded Traditional Grimsby smoked fish, which was awarded a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) by the European Union. This award safeguards the unique and specialist process of traditional fish smoking developed in the town. The traditional process relies on a natural method of slow smoking, as opposed to the more widely used mechanical method. Producers who want to brand their product as "Traditional Grimsby smoked fish" must adhere to strict quality standards laid down by the Grimsby Traditional Fish Smokers Group. As a regional food, it has been commended in 2010 by the celebrity chefs Rick Stein and Mitch Tonks and Jim Fitzpatrick, the Minister for Food and the Environment.

Other major seafood companies include the Icelandic-owned Coldwater Seafood, employing more than 700 people across its sites in Grimsby; and Five Star Fish, a supplier of fish products to the UK foodservice market. The £5.6 million Humber Seafood Institute opened in 2008 and is the first of its kind in the UK. Backed by Yorkshire Forward, North East Lincolnshire Council, and the European Regional Development Fund, the HSI is managed by the local council. Tenants include the Seafish Industry Authority and Grimsby Institute and University Centre. Greater Grimsby is a European centre of excellence in the production of chilled prepared meals, and the area has the largest concentration of cold-storage facilities in Europe.

The food production and seafood heritage links are perpetuated in a UK 2006 Young's television advertising campaign emphasising Grimsby as the source of its seafood products. In the campaign, Grimsby Docks are briefly shown, at dusk, lit and shot somewhat romantically. In 2008 additional commercials featured the town and its main industry, as the company launched a range of Great Grimsby fish-based frozen meals.

Ports

The Port of Grimsby and Immingham is the UK’s largest port by tonnage. Its prime deep-water location on the Humber Estuary, one of Europe’s busiest trade routes, gives companies direct access to mainland Europe and beyond.

Retail

The award-winning Freshney Place Shopping Centre in the heart of the town boasts over 70 stores including Marks and Spencer, House of Fraser and BHS. It was originally constructed between 1967 and 1971 in a joint venture between the old Grimsby Borough Council and developers Hammerson's UK Ltd. and was known as the Riverhead Centre (so named as the development was adjacent to where the two local rivers, the Freshney and the Haven, meet). Victoria Street is the main shopping street.

The Riverhead Centre development caused some controversy at the time as it followed the 1960s trend of replacing old architecture with new; in this case it involved the wholesale demolition of much of the old town centre including the historic Bull Ring (which is now where Wilkinson's, the Halifax Bank and the St James Hotel are based) and streets going back many centuries including Flottergate (located at the present day entrance to Freshney Place between British Home Stores and the market), Brewery Street (located at the present day entrance to Freshney Place between the branch of Barclays Bank and the offices of the Cheltenham and Gloucester) and East St Mary's Gate (no trace remains). During this reconstruction the ornate Victorian branch of the Midland Bank was demolished and rebuilt into a contemporary design that was incorporated into the new shopping centre. In 1985 Marks and Spencer purchased the local department store Lawsons and Stockdale whose frontage ran along Victoria Street; like the Midland branch this was demolished and a new store, linked to the centre, was constructed.

In 1990 the council agreed to sell the area around the shopping centre, used for surface car parking, to Hammerson's UK Ltd. The development owner and Humberside County Council, the highway authority at that time, agreed to the sale of the area of Baxtergate, the road which ran to the rear of the shopping centre, between the shopping centre and the surface car park. Baxtergate was relocated alongside the River Freshney and became phase one of the Peaks Parkway. Hammerson's UK Ltd began a £100 million redevelopment of the site which saw it double in size. The centre was also covered in a glass roof and (where the new extension was built) two multi-storey car parks were constructed at each end of the centre, effectively privatising, roofing and enclosing the old Top Town area of Grimsby. Servicing to the stores was made available from a first floor service area, accessible even by large vehicles, using a ramp at the western end. The ramp also provided access to the car park on the roof of the indoor market which is operated by the local council. In recognition of the design of the new facilities, Freshney Place won a commendation in the Refurbishment Category of the 1993 BCSC awards.

Other developments near the town centre include a new Tesco Extra (the second in the area), the Victoria Mills Retail Park which is home to several chain stores including Next and a B&Q Depot off the Peaks Parkway A16.

Unlike many other towns that have shopping facilities on their outskirts, these (and other similar developments) can be found in and around Grimsby's town centre, making shopping far easier for pedestrians and public transport users, reflecting Grimsby's relatively cheap central commercial land. Other major retailers include the supermarket chains Tesco, Marks & Spencers, Sainsbury's, Asda on Holles Street and Morrisons. The Morrisons store is located just outside the town boundary, in the parish of Laceby, and is peculiarly known as Morrisons Cleethorpes. This is an anomaly arising from when the area was part of the now defunct Cleethorpes Borough. Most major supermarkets in the town have expanded somewhat in the last few years, including a massive extension built at Asda, and more recently another floor was built at Tesco at Hewitts Circus (although this store is technically in the neighbouring conurbation, Cleethorpes).

There are also a number of local, independent specialist stores and the Abbeygate Centre (off Bethlehem Street) is where many are located. Once the head office of local brewers Hewitt Brothers it was renovated in the mid-1980s and is home to a number of restaurants and designer clothing stores. The town also has two markets, one next to Freshney Place and the other in Freeman Street (B1213), itself once a dominant shopping area in the town with close connections to the docks but one that has sadly struggled since the late 1970s.

In March 2007, Henry Boot properties announced a new £30m shopping development adjacent to the existing Freshney Place site. The project will create 150,000 square feet (14,000 m) of retail space and 290 car parking places on land between the River Freshney and Sainsbury's, presently occupied by the former Travis Perkins builders' merchants. As of November 2011 no work has commenced on the proposed development.

A further retail development is planned alongside the planned new stadium for Grimsby Town FC at Great Coates adjacent to the A180, scheduled for completion in mid-2010. As of November 2011 no work has commenced on the proposed development.

Such is the quality of shopping in the area that bus services are run to bring in shoppers from across the county of Lincolnshire, especially from smaller towns such as Louth, Brigg, and Scunthorpe.

Flood sirens

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Environment Agency has awarded Sheffield-based telemetry company CSE Seprol a contract to supply flood warning devices for risk areas in East Anglia. The 18 sirens, at various locations around the flood risk area of Grimsby and Cleethorpes, should reach 25,500 households to warn them of portending floods. The sirens will only be sounded in the event of the Environment Agency issuing a severe flood warning for tidal flooding or if there is a likelihood of the sea defences being breached. The sirens make a variety of sounds, from the traditional wailing sound to a voice message.

Places of interest and landmarks

• Corporation Bridge
• Fisherman's Memorial
• Grimsby Docks
• Grimsby Dock Tower
• Grimsby Institute
• Grimsby Marina
• Grimsby Minster
• Grimsby Town Hall
• Humber Forts
• National Fishing Heritage Centre
• People's Park and Floral Hall
• Waltham Windmill
• Weelsby Woods
• Welholme Galleries

• Grimsby is the site of a Blue Cross Animal Hospital, one of only four in the country, the other three being situated in London. The Grimsby hospital was previously in Cleethorpe Road, but in 2005 it moved to a new building called 'Coco Markus House' in the town's Nelson Street.

Education

For education establishments within Grimsby see North East Lincolnshire-Education

Entertainment

Aside from the nightclubs in nearby Cleethorpes, the town centre has undergone a renaissance in the last decade. A number of national pub chains have redeveloped or opened new outlets, including a specially-built complex at the Riverhead which is home to three (originally five) such operations. Prior to the late 1960s many public houses in the area were owned by the local brewer Hewitt Brothers and gave a distinctive local touch but following a takeover in 1969 by the brewer Bass-Charrington these have been re-badged (many times), closed or sold off.

Musical entertainment is found at the Grimsby Auditorium, built in 1995, on Cromwell Road in Yarborough near Grimsby Leisure Centre. The smaller Caxton Theatre is on Cleethorpe Road (A180) in East Marsh near the docks. The Caxton Theatre provides entertainment by adults and youths in theatre. A notable theatre company in the area is the Class Act Theatre Company run by local playwright David Wrightam..

North East Lincolnshire Council has installed a Wi-Fi network covering Victoria Street in central Grimsby. The service provides access to the Internet for the general public on a yearly subscription.

Transport

Buses

Grimsby's bus service is provided by Stagecoach which took over the original Grimsby-Cleethorpes Transport in 1993. Grimsby-Cleethorpes Transport had been formed in 1957, with the merger of the previously separate Grimsby and Cleethorpes transport (GCT) undertakings. Stagecoach had all the buses resprayed to their standard livery to replace the buses previous colour-scheme of orange and white. Prior to this, the buses were painted blue and white until 1981, when the colours were changed to caramel and cream. The orange and white livery was introduced in 1987. Until 1982 GCT ran a mixture of crewed and one-person operated services. However, in that year the job of conductor was abolished and the company changed entirely to driver-only services.

In 2005, Stagecoach bought out Lincolnshire Road Car, who provided buses to Killingholme, Louth, Barton-upon-Humber and the Willows Estate. The company is now known as Stagecoach in Lincolnshire. Joint ticketing was allowed with Stagecoach Grimsby-Cleethorpes from May 2006.

From September 2006, a new fleet of low-floor single-decker was introduced, making the fleet an unprecedented 85% low-floor.

Railways

Grimsby also has rail links via Grimsby Town railway station and Grimsby Docks railway station. There is a level crossing in the centre of the town across Wellowgate. TransPennine Express provide direct trains to Manchester Airport via Doncaster and Sheffield whilst Northern Rail operate services to Barton-upon-Humber (for buses to Hull) and a Saturday only service to Sheffield via. Retford. Lincoln and Newark are served by East Midlands Trains services which can go on to Nottingham on Sunday in the Summer months. The service to Cleethorpes runs at least hourly during the day, along a single track, passing stations at Grimsby Docks and New Clee.

Former trams

Grimsby was home to two tramway networks: the Grimsby District Light Railway and the Grimsby & Immingham Electric Railway. The Grimsby Electric was a normal gauge tramway opened in 1912 between Corporation Bridge at Grimsby and Immingham. There was no physical connection with the railway system. The tramway served the town with a passenger service between Grimsby and Immingham until closure in 1961. It is claimed that once this was controlled by the Corporation, they were more interested in supporting the motorbus service, now number 45.

The Grimsby Light Railway opened in 1881 using horse-drawn trams. In 1901, these were replaced with electric tramways. In 1925 the Grimsby Transport Company bought the tramway company and in 1927 moved the depot to the Victoria Street Depot, an old sea plane hangar. This system closed in 1937. The depot continues to be used by Stagecoach, though the old Grimsby Tramways livery is still visible on the front of the building.

Operating in the area until the 1950s was a network of electrically operated trolley buses which received their power from overhead power lines.

Airport

14 miles (23 km) west of Grimsby is Humberside Airport, which mainly caters for charter holidays, and is popular for general aviation, with five flying clubs based there.

Redevelopment and regeneration

Greater Grimsby is undergoing a radical transformation as part of Yorkshire Forward’s Renaissance Towns Programme. The 25-year vision for Grimsby involves making a town which is attractive and an economically and socially desirable place to live, visit, work and play. The goal is to bring new life to the town centre by creating quality surroundings and rejuvenating the historic waterside and docks for the enjoyment of all. The town faces the challenges of a post-industrial economy that has struggled to recover from the cod wars. The East Marsh ward of the town is the second most deprived in the country, according to the government's official analysis. Employment minister Mark Hoban singled out the situation Grimsby faced as "clearly a challenge" in 2013 after quarterly unemployment figures for the region rose again.

Media

The Grimsby Telegraph, with an audited circulation of 40,533 copies (January–June 2004), has the highest circulation of a local newspaper in Grimsby and the surrounding area since it is the only daily newspaper. Its headquarters are on Cleethorpe Road next to the A180. The local radio stations are BBC Radio Humberside (which has a studio on Victoria Street manned by Lara King), Lincs FM, Viking FM and the exclusively North East Lincolnshire-based Compass FM. The transmitter for Compass FM and EMAP Humberside (Lincs FM DAB) is on top of a block of flats in East Marsh. Terrestrial television coverage based in the area are the BBC who share the radio facilities on Victoria Street and ITV Yorkshire who have a news unit based in Immingham. Channel 7 Television is a satellite and cable-based station which has studios in Immingham and the Grimsby Institute.

Grimsby in the media

• Bernie Taupin, who lived in Humberston and Tealby (near Market Rasen) when in his teens, wrote the lyrics to Elton John's 1974 song, "Grimsby".
• The town's Scartho Hospital - now Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, as well as the Scartho Cemetery entrance, were featured in the 1985 film Clockwise, starring John Cleese.
• Grimsby was featured in the Open University documentary Coast; it showed only a 'fish-finger' production line.
• The 2006 film, This Is England (starring locally born actor Thomas Turgoose), was partially set and filmed in Grimsby and other surrounding locations such as Nottingham, as was the television serial sequel, This is England 86, set in 1986.
• In 2011 Fiveway Films announced that their Dead Lies film would be shot in and around Grimsby.

Sport

Football

The football team is Grimsby Town F.C., nicknamed 'The Mariners', who play in the Football Conference. Their ground is Blundell Park in Cleethorpes. Due to the club's football grounds being in the neighbouring town it is often joked by locals that it is the only British club that plays away every game. It is the oldest professional football team in the county of Lincolnshire (indeed one of the oldest in the country being formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham with a home ground on land off Ainslie Street, Grimsby).

During the 1930s they played in the English First Division, the then highest level of the domestic game in England. They also appeared in two FA Cup semi-finals in this decade, in 1936 (against Arsenal) and 1939 (against Wolverhampton Wanderers). The latter semi-final was held at Old Trafford, Manchester, and the attendance (76,962) is still a record for that stadium.

Grimsby Town were relegated on 7 May 2010 to the Football Conference, losing their proud status as a league club.

They also reached an FA Cup quarter-final 1987 and in 1998 won the Auto Windscreens Shield and the second division play-off final. Notable former managers include Bill Shankly and Lawrie McMenemy.

Blundell Park has the oldest stand in English professional football, the Main Stand. It was first opened in 1899 although only the present-day foundations date from this time. There have been plans to relocate the club to a new stadium, including the one in 2012 to move to land at the side of the Peaks Parkway in Grimsby.

Grimsby Borough F.C. is a football club established in 2003 and based in Grimsby. They are members of the Northern Counties East League Division One.

Other sports

An ice hockey club has been based in Grimsby since 1936. The current club has teams playing at different levels throughout the English Ice Hockey Association structure, all under the name of the Grimsby Red Wings. In 2009 the club added a Sledge Hockey team to ensure that it was able to offer a fully inclusive sport to the NE Lincolnshire area.

The area has an amateur rugby union side, the Grimsby RUFC, and an amateur cricket side, the Grimsby Town Cricket Club, both of which attract reasonable levels of support.

Tennis teams from local clubs have been successful in various inter-County competitions with the Men's Team from Grimsby Tennis Centre winning the Lincolnshire Doubles League again in 2005. Tennis players from the town represent the County on a regular basis at all age levels.

Grimsby Tennis Centre underwent a major redevelopment of facilities in 2005 and is now entirely accessible to the disabled.

The town had one of the largest table tennis leagues in the country with over 120 teams competing during the 1970s, but, like the game of squash, the sport has declined in the town during recent years.

Notable people

This article's list of residents may not follow Misplaced Pages's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are residents, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (June 2012)

Grimbarians (natives of Grimsby) were mainly born at the former Grimsby Maternity Hospital in Second Avenue, Nunsthorpe, Grimsby. Many Grimbarians were born at the now defunct Croft Baker Maternity Hospital in nearby Cleethorpes. Those born and/or brought up in the area include:

• Shirley Bloomer (b 1934), winner of the French Open Singles and Doubles titles in 1957, and the French Open Mixed title in 1958.
• Quentin Cooper, presenter of Radio 4's Material World, and film correspondent for BBC Radio 2 grew up in the town, attending Wintringham School
• Peter "Mars" Cowling - Bass player in the Pat Travers Band for many years.
• Keeley Donovan, weather presenter for BBC North
• Michele Dotrice (b 1948), actor, Betty Spencer in the 1970s comedy Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
• Brenda Fisher (b 1927), cross-Channel and long-distance swimmer
• Helen Fospero, newsreader for Sky News and Five News
• Freddie Frinton (1909–1968), comedian, actor in 1960s BBC comedy Meet The Wife.
• Freddie Frith (b 1909) - former Grand Prix motorcycle racing world champion.
• Phil Gladwin (b 1963), television screenwriter, Warriors of Kudlak'
• Vivean Gray (b 1924), actor, Nell Mangel in Australian soap opera Neighbours; her father was once a fish merchant on Grimsby Docks
• Edmund de Grimsby, judge and clergyman, was born in Grimsby and probably died here in 1354.
• Dan Haigh (b 1981), bass guitarist in rock group Fightstar, was born and brought up in the town
• Patricia Hodge (b 1946), actor, Miranda, Rumpole of the Bailey and Jemima Shore Investigates. Her parents used to manage the Royal Hotel in the town. She attended Wintringham School in Grimsby.
• Ian Huntley (b 1974), Soham double child murderer, was born at Grimsby and lived there until the late 1990s.
• Madge Kendal (1848–1935), theatrical actor. Dame Kendal Grove, in Nunsthorpe, is named after her.
• Matt Kennard (b 1982), television actor, best known for starring n UK daytime drama Doctors, as nurse Archie Hallam.
• Duncan McKenzie (b 1950), footballer, Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Everton.
• Amy Monkhouse (b 1979) lawn bowler.
• Darren Pattinson (b 1978), England Test cricketer, born in Grimsby
• Michael Pearce (artist) (b 1965), artist, born in Grimsby
• Julie Peasgood (b 1956), actor, Fran in soap opera Brookside, grew up in Grimsby and attended Wintringham School
• Thomas Turgoose (b 1992), actor notably This is England.
• John Whitgift (1530–1604), Archbishop of Canterbury under Queen Elizabeth I
• Patrick Wymark (1926–1970), actor. Wymark View was named after him.
• Numerous well-known snooker players come from the town, the best-known being Ray Edmonds (b 1936), Dean Reynolds (b 1963), Mike Hallett (b 1959), and Sean Storey (b 1971).

People with a connection to the town

• John Hurt (b 1940) - actor, spent his formative years in the town while his father was a minister at St Aidan, Cleethorpes.
• Norman Lamont (b 1942), Conservative MP and former Chancellor of the Exchequer, was brought up in the town
• David Ross - businessman, co-founder of Carphone Warehouse was brought up in the town.
• Ernest Worrall (1898–1972), painter known for works depicting Grimsby during the Second World War, lived in the town from 1932 until the 1960s.

Twin cities

Grimsby's twin cities include:

• Tromsø, Norway, since 1961
• Bremerhaven, Germany, since February 1963
• Banjul, The Gambia
• Dieppe, France
• Akureyri, Iceland. In 2007, a friendship and fisheries agreement was signed with Akureyri which according to Ice News, might lead to a twin cities designation in the future.

As a port with extensive trading ties to Continental Europe, the Nordic nations and Baltic Europe, the town plays host to honorary consulates of Denmark, Iceland, and Norway. Swedish and Finnish honorary consulates are located in Imminhgam, and that of Germany at Barrow-upon-Humber.

The people of Norway also send a tree to the town of Grimsby every Christmas since the end of the Second World War, for the past few years the tree has been donated by the northern Norwegian town of Sortland, and placed in the town's Riverhead Square.

See also

• Grimsby class sloops, in service from the 1930s until 1966.

References

1. ^ "Great Grimsby Day", www.bbc.co.uk
2. Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Urban Areas : Table KS01 : Usual Resident Population Retrieved 26 August 2009
3. "Grim's legend stands firm as historic tale", www.thisisgrimsby, 30 December 2008
4. Grimnir's Sayings (verses 46,49), The Poetic Edda
5. Mysterious Britain, Janet and Colin Bord, (1972) Garnstone Press Ltd., p. 88
6. Shaw, George. Old Grimsby. Wellowgate Publications Ltd. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-4092-3671-9. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
7. Gerrish, Dr. Margaret. "Following the Fish to Grimsby" (PDF). University of Hull. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
8. ^ Leslie Herman, Grimsby Fish Docks Centenary, 1956
9. "Grimsby", Enjoy England
10. "Grimsby Fish Market", www.grimsbyfishmarket.co.uk
12. "PS Lincoln Castle, North East Lincolnshire", www.theheritagetrail.co.uk
13. Cooke, Jeremy (23 March 2009). "Grimsby gains from Iceland's woes". BBC News.
14. ^ Brown, Jimmy, Harry Tate's Navy - One man's story of the Royal Naval Patrol Service, Jimmy Brown, 1994
15. http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/Honour-heroes-ocean/story-13788171-detail/story.html
16. Great Grimsby (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1980s
17. Great Grimsby (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 2010s
18. Vision of Britain - Great Grimsby
19. ^ Vision of Britain - Grimsby MB/CB (historic map)
20. A History of the Lincolnshire Branch - Chapter One - The First Ten Years
21. The Humberside (Structural Change) Order 1995 SI 1995/600
22. North East Lincolnshire Council - Council to consult on possible name change
23. Business Welcomes Rebrand - http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/news/Vision-welcomed/article-881734-detail/article.html
24. Cooke, Jeremy (23 March 2009). "Grimsby gains from Iceland's woes". BBC News. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
25. ^ Townsend, Mark (26 January 2013). "Environment Fishing How climate change spells disaster for UK fish industry". The Observer. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
26. North East Lincolnshire Council, "Regeneration Strategy 2006-2022" http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/5EE4CA3B-2A6E-4695-9FA9-3045AECDE78E/0/newhorizons.pdf
27. "Youngs Seafood", website
28. Grimsby Traditional Fish Smokers Group
32. "The UK's food production capital uncovered", www.foodproductiondaily.com, 7 June 2004
33. http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/news/grimsby-and-immingham-remains-uks-largest-port/1203082509213.htm;jsessionid=209CE0EABAC613A470AF18362940C606
34. RoSPA Silver Award
35. https://www.bdp.com/Documents/Publications/Places%20for%20Shopping%20by%20BDP.pdf
36. http://www.stagecoachbus.com/GetUpload.ashx?Id=375
37. http://www.stagecoachbus.com/GetUpload.ashx?Id=2574
38. "Fishermen's Memorial, Grimsby", www.hodsonarchitects.com
39. "Greater Grimsby Renaissance" website
40. "'This Is England' and 'This Is England 86'", Metro newspaper
41. "Fiveway Films' 'Dead Lies' movie to be shot in Grimsby and Lincoln", Fiveway Films website
42. "Retail store included in new Grimsby Town stadium plans". Grimsby Telegraph. 18 July 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
43. Grimsby & District Table Tennis League
44. "Brenda Ready To Swim Anything Provided It’s Made Worthwhile"; The Montreal Gazette, 15 August 1956. Retrieved 11 June 2012
45. "60 years on, record-breaker Brenda recalls her race to British shores"; Grimsby Telegraph, 16 August 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2012
46. "Brenda Fisher"; Solo Swims of Ontario Inc. Hall of Fame. Retrieved 11 June 2012
48. Soaps - News - 'Doctors' gains new GP and practice nurse - Digital Spy
49. "The England Team Commonwealth Games, Delhi 2010". Sporting Life. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
50. "Ernest Worrall – artist who chronicled Grimsby at war". Grimsby Telegraph. 15 October 2008.
51. "Fish friendship between Grimsby and Akureyri". IceNews Daily News. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
52. "Grimsby & Immingham". ABP Ports. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
53. "Danish Consulates and Vice-Consulates in the UK". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
54. "Consulates". Embassy of Iceland London. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
55. "Consulates in the UK". Norway.org.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
56. "Swedish Consulates". The Embassy of Sweden, United Kingdom. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
57. "Contact information: Honorary Consulate of Finland, Immingham & Grimsby". Embassy of Finland, London. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
58. "Honorary Consuls of the Federal Republic of Germany in the United Kingdom" (PDF). Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, London. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
59. "http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/Christmas-tree-arrives-Norway-love-hour-trip-North-Sea/story-11535386-detail/story.html". Grimsby Telegraph. 16 November 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2013. {{cite news}}: External link in |title= (help)
60. "Christmas arrives in Grimsby as festive tree arrives from Scandinavia". Grimsby Telegraph. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
61. "Video: 35ft Christmas tree arrives at Grimsby Docks from Norway bound for the Riverhead". Grimsby Telegraph. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2013.

External links

• Grimsby Telegraph - the local newspaper
• "A Brief History of Grimsby". Retrieved 12 April 2005.
• "Historical Grimsby". A thousand years of history and famous figures from Grimsby in Lincolnshire. Retrieved 12 April 2005.
• "Leslie Aitchison, Lincolnshire Acts of Parliament". Retrieved 12 April 2005.
• "Grimsby Guide". Retrieved 12 April 2005.
• "The Legend of Grim & Havelock". Retrieved 12 April 2005.
• "Newspaper Reports". Retrieved 13 April 2005.
• "The 2007 Grimsby Floods". Retrieved 12 April 2005.
• "Great Grimsby Day". BBC. Retrieved 22 January 2008.

v t e Lincolnshire
Combined County Authority	Greater Lincolnshire
County & Unitary authorities	Lincolnshire County Council North East Lincolnshire Council North Lincolnshire Council
Boroughs or districts	Boston East Lindsey Lincoln North Kesteven South Holland South Kesteven West Lindsey
Historic subdivisions	Holland Lindsey Kesteven
Major Settlements	Alford Barton-upon-Humber Boston Bottesford Bourne Brigg Broughton Burgh le Marsh Caistor Cleethorpes Crowland Crowle Epworth Gainsborough Grantham Grimsby Holbeach Horncastle Immingham Kirton in Lindsey Lincoln Long Sutton Louth Mablethorpe Market Deeping Market Rasen North Hykeham Scunthorpe Skegness Sleaford Spalding Spilsby Stamford Sutton-on-Sea Wainfleet All Saints Woodhall Spa Winterton
History & Places	Belton House Boston Stump Cadwell Park Crowland Abbey Cross Keys Bridge Donna Nook Dunham Bridge Far Ings Freiston Shore Frampton Marsh Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre Kinema in the Woods Kingdom of Lindsey Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Castle Lincoln Cliff Market Rasen Racecourse Museum of Lincolnshire Life Lincolnshire Fens The Wolds Humber Bridge Usher Gallery Tattershall Castle Bolingbroke Castle Gibraltar Point Winceby Battlefield Woolsthorpe Manor The Wash
Topics	Flag Parliamentary constituencies Lincolnshire Co-operative Lincolnshire sausage Haslet Education Geography Diocese Monastic houses Museums SSSIs Politics Country Houses Grade I listed buildings Grade II* listed buildings Windmills History Lord Lieutenants High Sheriffs Transport
WikiProject Portal Category

• Use dmy dates from July 2013
• Grimsby
• Populated places established in the 9th century
• Towns in Lincolnshire
• Ports and harbours of Lincolnshire
• Ports and harbours of the Humber
• Port cities and towns of the North Sea
• Populated coastal places in Lincolnshire
• Fishing communities in England
• Post towns in the DN postcode area