Mablethorpe
Mablethorpe | |
---|---|
![]() The sand dunes and part of the beach, past North End | |
Location within Lincolnshire | |
Population | 12,531 (2011. with Sutton-on-Sea) |
OS grid reference | TF506850 |
• London | 130 mi (210 km) SSW |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | MABLETHORPE |
Postcode district | LN12 |
Dialling code | 01507 |
Police | Lincolnshire |
Fire | Lincolnshire |
Ambulance | East Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Mablethorpe is a small seaside town on a sandy shore in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.[1] The population of the town (including Sutton-on-Sea) was 12,531 at the 2011 census.[2]
History
Mablethorpe Hall
Mablethorpe as a town has existed for many centuries, although part of it was lost to the sea in the 1540s. For example, records of the Fitzwilliam family of Mablethorpe Hall date back to the 14th century. In the 19th century, it was also a centre for ship breaking during the winter. Mablethorpe Hall is to the west of the town along Alford Road. It is near the parish church of St Mary. (The Mablethorpe church group also includes Trusthorpe.)
Town lifeboats
In 1883 the first lifeboat station was built in Mablethorpe. The station ran until the First World War when it temporarily closed because of crew shortages. After the war, the station was closed permanently due to a continuing shortage of crew. The station remained closed until 1965 when an inshore lifeboat (ILB) station was established.
The town now has a new lifeboat station.
A new D class lifeboat, D-506 Patrick Rex Moren, was placed on service on 9 July 1996.
In 1998, a bronze medal was awarded to the Helmsman for a service on 12 April, when the D class lifeboat rescued the crew of two and saved the fishing vessel Lark. The fishing vessel had broken down in the surf and was drifting helplessly towards the shore, having lost her anchor.
The lifeboat was launched in a force 7 gale and a heavy swell – extreme conditions for this class of lifeboat. The helmsman had considerable difficulty in negotiating the rough seas in order to reach the fishing boat. He decided that it was too hazardous to take off the crew and passed a line and towed her away from danger – a considerable feat in the huge seas for a lifeboat smaller than the fishing boat and powered by one 40 hp outboard engine.
In 2001, the B class Atlantic 75 lifeboat, B-778 Joan Mary, was placed on service.
In 2005, a new D class lifeboat, D-653 William Hadley, was placed on service.
East Coast floods
In 1953, Mablethorpe was hit by the disastrous East Coast floods.
Lord Tennyson
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Alfred_Tennyson..jpg/150px-Alfred_Tennyson..jpg)
The town was visited regularly by Alfred, Lord Tennyson – one of Britain's most popular poets – in the 19th century. Some parts of the town are named after Lord Tennyson (for example, Tennyson Road and Tennyson High School).
D. H. Lawrence
Mablethorpe is the destination for the Morel family's first holiday in the D. H. Lawrence novel, Sons and Lovers, published in 1913. "At last they got an answer from Mablethorpe, a cottage such as they wished for thirty shillings a week. There was immense jubilation. Paul was wild with joy for his mother's sake. She would have a real holiday now. He and she sat at evening picturing what it would be like. Annie came in, and Leonard, and Alice, and Kitty. There was wild rejoicing and anticipation. Paul told Miriam. She seemed to brood with joy over it. But the Morel's house rang with excitement."
Transport
Along with many small seaside villages and some inland towns and villages, Mablethorpe lost its railway station in 1970 because of the Beeching Axe. The old railway station is today the site of the town's sports centre.
Stagecoach Interconnect 9 runs through the town, the half way point between Skegness and Louth. Generally an hourly service with summer Sunday services only operating between Skegness and Mablethorpe. Grayscroft Coaches operates numerous services from their base on Victoria Road in the town, including Service 1 to Louth via Manby. Brylaine operates service 96/96A connecting Mablethorpe with Alford and Spilsby generally every 2 hours.
Geography
Mablethorpe is in the East Lindsey council district of England.
The town is administered with Sutton-on-Sea and Trusthorpe as the civil parish of Mablethorpe and Sutton. The former parish of Mablethorpe covers a rectangular area inland along the A1104 Alford Road towards Maltby le Marsh as far as the boundary between the LN12 and LN13 postcode at Grange Leisure Park[3] where Earl's Bridge crosses West Bank. The southern boundary of the former parish follows the Trusthorpe Drains which are crossed at Bamber's Bridge on Mile Lane. Out towards Alford lies Strubby Airfield, with the Strubby Aviation Club and Lincs Gliding Club. To the north is the parish of Theddlethorpe St Helen, which is much bigger in geographic area than the former parish of Mablethorpe, extending up to the River Great Eau at Saltfleetby. The town is the eastern terminus of the A52. Apart from Louth itself the town is best accessed via the A1104 and A16 through Alford. The A157 to/from Louth is the sixth bendiest[4] road in the UK; such that the road via Saltfleetby is the same length.
Commercial trade
Shopping
There are two supermarkets in the town – a Co-operative and a Lidl – as well as several smaller retailers. High street names include Boots, Heron, Shoe Zone, Greggs and Cooplands, though most of Mablethorpe's businesses are independent.
Banks
The town is host to two banks: Lloyds Bank and Barclays
Leisure
Common family attractions in the town include a small fairground and an award-winning beach. One of Mablethorpe's long-standing traditions, its sand train, operates to take visitors to and from the northerly point of the beach.
Mablethorpe's cinema, the Loewen, lies on Quebec Road. The cinema was previously known as the Bijou. The Dunes leisure complex lies on Mablethorpe's seafront. In 2008, the old Dunes Theatre became Sharky's Bar following a refit. However, in 2012 the complex was returned to its original state and branding.
Mablethorpe has long been known for its traditional seaside amusement arcades. In May 2008, a skatepark was opened in the town. Situated on the seafront, the park is host to a small funbox, a spine and two quarter pipes. Several small caravan parks and guest houses cater to the town's tourist community.
Landmarks
Just over a mile north-east of the town, near the Seal Sanctuary, lies Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal, which supplies five per cent of the UK's gas. To the west is the Bambers wind farm, which opened in November 2004 and houses eight turbines – producing five megawatts of energy. The Bambers II wind farm, an extension of the first, opened in November 2006, and produces an additional five megawatts of energy. The two turbines at Mablethorpe wind farm, which produce 1.2 megawatts, were the first wind turbines in Lincolnshire when they were built in July 2002. All three are owned by Ecotricity, and are situated at the corner of West Bank and the Trusthorpe Drains. Mablethorpe's Star of the East is on the seafront.
Media
The local weekly newspapers are the Mablethorpe Leader and The Target.[5] Radio coverage for Lincolnshire is provided by BBC Radio Lincolnshire and Lincs FM. In October 2012, a group of volunteers worked together to create a local Community Radio Station, CoastalFM which aims to promote local events, organisations and news via online radio and podcasts.
Education
- Mablethorpe Primary Academy School[6]
- Monks' Dyke Tennyson College[7] (Mablethorpe site, closed in August 2016)
Adult learning
- Mablethorpe Learning Centre[8]
Events
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Beach_hut_on_Sandilands_foreshore_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1401544.jpg/200px-Beach_hut_on_Sandilands_foreshore_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1401544.jpg)
Mablethorpe hosts Britain's only beach hut festival, Bathing Beauties, in September each year. Owners of private beach huts compete in exterior design, amidst a backdrop of poetry, music, and drama.[9]
For over forty years, Mablethorpe has hosted motorbike sand racing each winter and spring. This has inspired the Lincolnshire Bike Week following on from the successful Mablethorpe Bike Nights and Sutton-on-Sea Bike Nights by the local visionary Coastal Events Community Interest Company.[10]
Every summer Mablethorpe hosts its illuminations event (know locally as the "Switch On"). Each year, a celebrity is invited to the town to "switch on" its illuminations. Celebrities that have attended the event in the past include Barbara Windsor, Timmy Mallett and Wolf and Hunter of Gladiators. In July 2011, Twist and Pulse of Britain's Got Talent led one of the most well-attended illumination events.[11]
Gallery
-
Countryside just outside the town
-
Looking towards the fairground
-
Mablethorpe's seafront
-
Kite buggying on the town's beach
-
Mablethorpe's Ye Olde Curiosity Museum
-
The town's esteemed sand train, in the summer of 2007
-
Assorted food stalls within the vicinity of the beach
References
- ^ OS Explorer map 283:Louth and Mablethorpe: (1:25 000): ISBN 978 0319238240
- ^ "Town Population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
- ^ "Grange Leisure Park". Archived from the original on 23 December 2007.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "BBC NEWS - UK - England - Dorset - Bendiest roads in the UK revealed".
- ^ "Louth Leader".
- ^ Mablethorpe Community Primary School
- ^ "Mablethorpe Tennyson High School". Archived from the original on 15 December 2005.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ [1]
- ^ "BBC NEWS - In Pictures - Picture Gallery: Mablethorpe huts".
- ^ [www.lincolnshirebikeweek.co.uk]
- ^ "Mablethorpe Website". Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help)
External links
Media related to Mablethorpe at Wikimedia Commons
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg/40px-Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg.png)
- The largest public collection of Mablethorpe photos and information
- Business and Events directory for Mablethorpe and surrounding areas
- Unofficial town website for Mablethorpe
- MASCOT - Mablethorpe And Sutton Chamber Of Trade
- Photo gallery for Mablethorpe, Trusthorpe, Sutton-On-Sea with images old and new
- Photos of Skegness, Mablethorpe, Chapel St. Leonards from the past to present day
- Visit Lincolnshire
- Mablethorpe and Sutton Town Council
- Mablethorpe Wind Farm
- Coastal Community Challenge