Cleethorpes

For the constituency of this name, see Cleethorpes (UK Parliament constituency).

Coordinates: 53°33′12″N 0°01′18″W / 53.5533°N 0.02155°W / 53.5533; -0.02155

Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes Beach
Cleethorpes  Cleethorpes shown within Lincolnshire
Population	31,853 (2001)
OS grid reference	TA310081
Unitary authority	North East Lincolnshire
Ceremonial county	Lincolnshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CLEETHORPES
Postcode district	DN35
Dialling code	01472
Police	Humberside
Fire	Humberside
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Cleethorpes
List of places: UK • England • Lincolnshire

Cleethorpes is a town and unparished area in North East Lincolnshire, England, situated on the estuary of the Humber. It has a population of 31,853 and is a seaside resort.^[1]

History

The name "Cleethorpes" is thought to come from joining the words "clee", an old word for clay, and "thorpes", an Old English/Old Norse word for villages, and is of comparatively modern origin.^[2] Before becoming a unified town, Cleethorpes was made up of three small villages, or "thorpes": Itterby, Oole and Thrunscoe, which were part of a wider parish called Clee (not to be confused with Old Clee).

While there are neolithic and Bronze Age remains in the area, permanent occupation appears to date from the 6th century, when the Danes arrived, with substantial communities only appearing in the 9th century.^[3]

The manor of Itterby was purchased in 1616 by the trustees of Peter Blundell's charity for the benefit of scholars and fellows at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge from Blundell's School, Tiverton.^[4] This is reflected in many of the street and park names in the area.

Fishing village

Cleethorpes developed as a fishing village. By the time of the 1801 census the population was 284.^[5] The 1820s saw the first developments of Cleethorpes as a health holiday resort, with sea-bathing and the taking of medicinal waters becoming fashionable. By 1831 the population had increased to 497.^[5]

In 1842 the Cleethorpes Enclosure Bill was enacted. 2,050 acres (8.3 km²) of land were divided between land owners and eight new roads developed.^[6] In 1848 Cleethorpes was described as
"...much resorted to as a bathing-place, for which it is highly eligible; the air is pure, the scenery good and besides a few lodging-houses and smaller inns, there is a large hotel, built some years since, on an eminence embracing extensive views of the sea, the Humber, and the Yorkshire coast. Many of the population are employed in the oyster-fisheries."^[7]

The resort expanded following the linking of the town by railway with the industrial towns of Yorkshire. Cleethorpes Pier opened in 1873, and the promenade in 1885.^[6] Cleethorpes with Thrunscoe was constituted a Local Board of Health District in 1873, and under the Local Government Act of 1894 it became an urban district.^[8]

Urban district

In 1916 the urban district was renamed Cleethorpes, and in 1922 and 1927 the town's boundaries were extended to include part of Humberston (as far as North Sea Lane) and the Beacon Hill area of Weelsby parish. In 1936 Cleethorpes was granted a charter of incorporation to become a municipal borough.^[8]

UFO sighting

On 22 September 1956 at 3pm, a large UFO was spotted for over an hour off the Cleethorpes coast, It was seen by radar at RAF Manby as well. It was a large spherical object with a glass appearance. The Lakenheath-Bentwaters incident had happened the month before.^{[citation needed]}

Uniting Cleethorpes and Grimsby

Cleethorpes successfully resisted attempts by Grimsby to absorb it and in 1974 it became the Borough of Cleethorpes within the new county of Humberside. However when Humberside County Council was abolished in 1996, Cleethorpes Borough Council was joined with Grimsby Borough Council as the unitary authority of North East Lincolnshire. In 2009, North East Lincolnshire Council agreed to market the towns of Grimsby, Immingham and Cleethorpes, under the Greater Grimsby banner.^[9]

Governance

Cleethorpes is currently part of the parliamentary constituency of the same name, which also includes other towns in the area, including Immingham and Barton-upon-Humber. Prior to 1997, Cleethorpes had been included in the constituencies of Brigg and Cleethorpes, Louth (Lincolnshire), and Grimsby.

Since 1945, the Members of Parliament for Cleethorpes have been as follows:

Election		Member	Party
	1945	Kenneth Younger	Labour
	1950	Sir Cyril Osborne	Conservative
	1969 by-election	Jeffrey Archer	Conservative
	Oct 1974	Michael Brotherton	Conservative
	1983	Michael Brown	Conservative
	1997	Shona McIsaac	Labour
	2010	Martin Vickers	Conservative

Since 1996 Cleethorpes has formed an unparished area in the unitary borough of North East Lincolnshire. Cleethorpes comprises three of the borough's fourteen wards: Croft Baker, Haverstoe and Sidney Sussex. Each ward returns three councillors, so that Cleethorpes is represented by 9 of 42 members of the council. As of 2011, Three Councillors are members of the Conservative, Five Councillors are members of the Labour and one Councillor of the Liberal Democrat parties.^[10] Cleethorpes does not have its own town council; however, the nine councillors form the Charter Trustees of the Town of Cleethorpes.^[11]

Council Wards and Elected Members

North East Lincolnshire Council has three Council Wards within the area of Cleethorpes.

Croft Baker Ward

• Cllr Matthew Jason Brown (L)
• Cllr Michael Burnett (L)
• Cllr Leanor M Pidgen (LD)

Sidney Sussex Ward

• Cllr Christopher D Shaw (L)
• Cllr Hazel Chase (L)
• Cllr Alexander Wallace (L)

Haverstoe Ward

• Cllr Bill Parkinson (C)
• Cllr Margaret Cracknell (C)
• Cllr Keith C Brookes (C)

KEY: (L) = Labour Party (C) = Conservative Party (LD) = Liberal Democrat Party

Geography

Greenwich meridian marker

The Greenwich meridian passes through the town and a signpost shows some interesting distances in miles. North Pole 2,517 miles (4,051 kilometres), South Pole 9,919 mi (15,963 km), New York City 3,481 mi (5,602 km), London 143 mi (230 km).

Cleethorpes is a seaside resort and is physically linked to the neighbouring town of Grimsby (the main town boundary runs along the residential Park Street). Between the two towns is the (former separate) village of Old Clee and Weelsby.

The town consists of three former parishes. The boundary crosses the A180 at Park Street, which is also the DN32/35 postcode boundary.

Colloquial name

Local residents from the Humber area refer to Cleethorpes as Meggies but it seems very unclear where the name comes from. Some^[who?] say that the top of Isaac's Hill used to be called Meg's Island, while others say a meggie^[12] was the cost of a tram fare from Grimsby to the resort.^{[citation needed]} The term is used in Grimsby to refer to the town itself, as well as its inhabitants.^{[citation needed]} Cleethorpes can also be known as "down beach". Locals call the beach, the sands.^{[citation needed]}

Climate

As with the rest of the British Isles, Cleethorpes experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The average annual rainfall is amongst the lowest in the British Isles.

Climate data for Cleethorpes 7m asl, 1971-2000
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	6.9 (44.4)	7.3 (45.1)	9.5 (49.1)	11.4 (52.5)	14.6 (58.3)	17.7 (63.9)	20.1 (68.2)	20.2 (68.4)	17.7 (63.9)	14.0 (57.2)	9.9 (49.8)	7.8 (46.0)	13.1
Average low °C (°F)	1.6 (34.9)	1.7 (35.1)	3.1 (37.6)	4.6 (40.3)	6.9 (44.4)	9.7 (49.5)	12.2 (54.0)	12.2 (54.0)	10.4 (50.7)	7.4 (45.3)	4.1 (39.4)	2.4 (36.3)	6.4
Precipitation mm (inches)	50.7 (1.996)	38.3 (1.508)	45.6 (1.795)	42.4 (1.669)	43.5 (1.713)	50 (1.97)	38.4 (1.512)	48.7 (1.917)	52.1 (2.051)	46.5 (1.831)	57.2 (2.252)	52.0 (2.047)	565.4 (22.26)
Sunshine hours	61.1	75.7	105.4	146.1	201.1	183.3	200	187.9	138.6	104.2	69.3	49.3	1,521.9
Source: [13]

Landmarks

Panorama of the Cleethorpes seafront.

Cleethorpes railway station

Cleethorpes Pier

Kingsway Gardens

Ross Castle

Cleethorpes Discovery Centre

Cleethorpes Beach at Kingsway

South Promenade

Kingsway Seafront

Cleethorpes Meridian Park

One of the Illuminations at Cleethorpes

Cleethorpes Town Centre

While commonly referred to as a seaside resort, Cleethorpes actually sits on the Humber estuary. The sea at Cleethorpes is actually the mouth of the Humber. This means that bathers are separated from the sea by several hundred yards of mud at low tide.

The sea front provides views of shipping traffic entering and leaving the Humber for the ports of Grimsby, Immingham, Hull and Goole. The main shopping area is St Peter's Avenue (B1374).^{[citation needed]}

Two large fortifications, the Humber Forts, are visible in the mouth of the river. On a clear day, the lighthouse situated on Spurn Point can be seen with the naked eye from the North Beach.

There is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution station, which is near the pier and next to the Coastguard on Central Promenade. A new and larger RNLI station is planned.^[when?] Cleethorpes Rescue also protect the beach.

Cleethorpes has a large boating lake with many varieties of ducks, swans and geese. To the south of the resort near Humberston is a yacht club.

Ross Castle, a mock ruin of a castle built in 1863 by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, was named after Ernest Ross, secretary of the railway company.^[6] Its height was the highest point on the cliffs. After a period of closure, the castle was renovated, re-opening in June 2008 to the public. Possibilities of a further closure have been raised after a woman fell to her death on 9 January 2009.^[14] In 2007 the town was the Royal Horticultural Societies Britain in Bloom award winner in the coastal category. The town was also received a Silver-Gilt award, a Tourism Award and Jeff Blanchard the Shredded Wheat Community Champions award.^{[citation needed]}

A statue of The Boy with the Leaking Boot was given to the town in 1918 by John Carlborn. It is reported that he was a Swedish immigrant to Cleethorpes who had built up a successful shipping business, and that the statue was a copy of one in the Hasselbacken Restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden.^[15] The Cleethorpes statue stood in the Pier Gardens but is now in the town hall, with a replica on display in the Tourist Information Office. The statue is now on display on the sea front close to the leisure centre.^{[citation needed]} A nearby public house, The Leaking Boot, was destroyed by fire in June 2009.^[16]

Other visitor attractions

Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway

Floyd the Dragon - The Cleethorpes mascot

• Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway
• Cleethorpes Pier
• Discovery Centre
• Floyd the Dragon - The Cleethorpes mascot
• Meridian Point
• Pleasure Island Family Theme Park
• The Jungle Zoo (formerly Jungle World), criticised by council inspectors and animal protection groups because of welfare concerns.^{[citation needed]}
• Winter Gardens

Events

• Cleethorpes Carnival Parade
• Cleethorpes Dance Festival
• Local Gigs

Transport

Bus services to Grimsby, Immingham and nearby villages are operated by Stagecoach Grimsby-Cleethorpes. There are two evening journeys to Louth, provided by Stagecoach in Lincolnshire.

From Cleethorpes railway station, operated by First TransPennine Express, train services run, via Grimsby, to Barton-upon-Humber (for bus link to Hull), Manchester Airport (South TransPennine) and Newark-on-Trent. The station is also served by Northern Rail and East Midlands Trains.

It^{[clarification needed]} is at the termini of the A180, A16 and A46 roads.

Education

Infant, junior and primary schools

• Bursar Primary School
• Elliston Infant and Junior Schools
• Middlethorpe Primary School
• Queen Mary Avenue Infant School
• Reynolds Primary School
• Signhills Infant and Junior Schools
• St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School
• St. Peter's Church of England Primary School
• Thrunscoe Primary School
• William Barcroft Junior School

Secondary schools

• Cleethorpes Academy
• St. Andrew's College

School Sports Partnership

From September 2011, N.E Lincolnshire SSP is the only remaining Sports Partnership after government funding cuts. Cleethorpes is 'the centre of the school sport universe'

Religious sites

St Peter's church

The parish church is St Peter's, built in 1866. Other churches are St Francis of Assisi on Sandringham Road, and Holy Trinity and St Mary's Church in Old Clee, the oldest building (built 950AD) in Grimsby. Christ Church of Cleethorpe, near Machray Place, is also one of the larger parishes.^{[further explanation needed]} St Aidan's Church on the A180 Grimsby Road was administered in the 1950s by John Hurt's father.^{[citation needed]}

Sports

Cleethorpes is home to Blundell Park, the home ground of the football team, Grimsby Town, one of few English League clubs with a town or city name to have their home ground in a different community.^{[citation needed]} There is an athletics club^[17] and Cleethorpes Rugby Union Football Club who play in the Midlands 4 East (NE).^[18]

Cleethorpes cricket ground, known as Cleethorpes Sports Ground, is located on Chichester Road. It hosts professional games such as the 20/20 cup and various county games played by Lincolnshire County Cricket Club,^[19] and the Vagabonds cricket team.^{[citation needed]}

Redevelopment

The boating lake

Cleethorpes has undergone significant redevelopment, with JD's Nightclub and the Lifeboat Hotel both being demolished in order to build flats overlooking the beach. The Winter Gardens, a venue for a variety of events, was also demolished.^[20] In 2007 a North East Lincolnshire Council's committee accepted proposals for the demolished Cleethorpes Winter Gardens to be replaced by 47 flats. This resulted in some local opposition.^{[citation needed]} A new multiplex cinema, Parkway Cinema, was built in Cleethorpes, along with other developments at the Meridian site.^{[citation needed]}

Shopping facilities have been augmented with a 2-floor Tesco Extra, expanded in 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Twin town

Cleethorpes is twinned with Königswinter, Germany.

Notable people

• Kristian Adams,^[21] cricketer, played for Kent and Lincolnshire, born in Cleethorpes
• Bill Appleyard (1879–1958), footballer for Newcastle United, born in Cleethorpes^[22]
• H. Hugh Bancroft, organist and composer
• Stephen Bennett, golfer
• Nibbs Carter, bassist for heavy metal group Saxon
• John Cockerill, footballer
• Peter Collinson, film producer and director^[23]
• Bob Cottam, cricketer^[24]
• Eorl Crabtree, rugby league player
• Michele Dotrice, actor
• Helen Fospero, television newsreader and journalist
• Vivean Gray, actor
• Alan Green, local politician
• Chris Hargreaves, footballer
• Patricia Hodge, actor^[25]
• Gemma Merna, actor
• Kerry William Purcell, author on graphic design and visual culture
• Helen Roberts, singer and actor
• Paul Roberts, cricketer
• Carl Ross, fishery entrepreneur
• Darren Smith, priest and General Secretary to Additional Curates Society, born in Cleethorpes
• Rod Temperton, songwriter, record producer and musician
• Bridget Turner, actor^[26]
• Richard Witts, musicologist and ex leader of 1980s group The Passage
• Darren Wrack, footballer^[27]
• Patrick Wymark, actor

See also

• Brigg and Cleethorpes (UK Parliament constituency)
• Compass FM
• Humber Coast & City Railway
• Orpheus Male Voice Choir, Grimsby & Cleethorpes
• Pleasure Island Family Theme Park
• Trolleybuses in Cleethorpes
• Yellowbelly (Lincolnshire)

References

1. ^ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Urban Areas : Table KS01 : Usual Resident Population Retrieved 2009-08-26
2. ^ C W Foster (editor) (1920). "Introduction: Lost vills and other forgotten places". Final Concords of the County of Lincoln: 1244-1272. British History Online. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53616. Retrieved 2008-07-22. 
3. ^ "Cleethorpes - A Potted History". North East Lincolnshire Directory. http://www.nely.co.uk/cleehistory.html. Retrieved 2008-07-22. 
4. ^ A History of Clee and the Thorpes of Clee. C. Ernest Watson
5. ^ ^{a b} "Timeline". cleethorpesuk.com. http://www.cleethorpesuk.com/timeline.php?id=301&f=Cleethorpes. Retrieved 2008-07-22. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} "Cleethorpes Timeline". Shona McIssac MP. http://www.shonamcisaac.com/f2f621ea-cc58-6754-61cd-57111e10356e?PageId=750ac353-7cf7-1954-2da9-e58b84258bcc. Retrieved 2008-07-22. 
7. ^ Samuel Lewis (editor) (1848). "Cleethorpe". A Topographical Dictionary of England. British History Online. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50882. Retrieved 2008-07-22. 
8. ^ ^{a b} F A Youngs Jr., Guide to the Administrative Units of England, Vol II: Northern England, London, 1991
9. ^ Business Welcomes Rebrand
10. ^ "Wards". North East Lincolnshire Council. 2008. http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/council/wards/. Retrieved 2008-07-24. 
11. ^ "The Charter Trustees Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996 No. 263)". Office for Public Sector Information. 1996. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1996/Uksi_19960263_en_1.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-24. 
12. ^ Cassell's Dictionary of Slang indicates that a meg was originally a slang term for a Guinea (British coin) but was also used to refer to any coin. ISBN 978-0304351671
13. ^ "Cleethorpes 1971–2000 averages". Met Office. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/sites/cleethorpes.html. Retrieved 08 Nov 2011. 
14. ^ Probe continues into death of woman after Ross Castle fall
15. ^ "Leaking Boot". http://www.piebirds.co.uk/Leaking%20Boot.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
16. ^ "Hope for future of Leaking Boot site". Grimsby Telegraph. 2 July 2009. http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/news/Hope-future-Leaking-Boot-site/article-1131383-detail/article.html. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
17. ^ Cleethorpes Athletics Club^{[dead link]}
18. ^ Cleethorpes Rugby Club^{[dead link]}
19. ^ "Sports Ground, Cleethorpes". Cricket Archive. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/418.html. Retrieved 6 August 2010. 
20. ^ The Winter Gardens Cleethorpes
21. ^ "Kristian Adams". Cricket Archive. http://www.cricketarchive.com/Players/10/10602/10602.html. Retrieved 2009-06-29. 
22. ^ "Obituary". The Times: p. 14. 16 January 1958. 
23. ^ "Collinson, Peter (1936-1980)", screen online. Retrieved 14 July 2011
24. ^ Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 43. ISBN 1-869833-21-X. 
25. ^ "Patricia Hodge Biography (1946-)", filmreference.com. Retrieved 14 July 2011
26. ^ "Bridget Turner Biography (1939-)", filmreference.com. Retrieved 14 July 2011
27. ^ "Cleethorpes-born footballer Darren Wrack hangs up his boots", thisisgrimsby.co.uk. Retrieved 14 July 2011

• Cleethorpes and the Meggies by Margaret Hart
• Cleethorpes - "The End of the Line" by Johnathon Prestwick