CLEETHORPES | 4K Narrated Walking Tour | Let's Walk 2021

welcome to kleethorpes one of england's favorite seaside resorts located on the humber estuary on the northeastern coast of lincolnshire county a classic beach destination with a pier arcades and wide sands there's a lot to do on a day out in cleethorpes both by the sea and on a walk through its streets on this tour of the town we'll uncover the history and sights of this popular lincolnshire destination as we wind in and out of local landmarks like this kleethop's beautiful armed forces memorial gate which looks over the sea from this central location in the town dedicated to those who have served in the british army royal navy and royal air force it's just one piece of military heritage to be found in cleethorpes a town that was certainly built for pleasure but which has also encountered conflict in the past we'll talk more about that in a few moments but as we walk away from the memorial gate looking back towards the sea in the foreground we can also see the ruins of ross castle in clithop's always delightful pier gardens ross castle may appear like the final remains of the town's medieval defenses but it was actually built very recently in 1885. in fact the castle was built by the local railway company and it was designed as a mock ruin a kind of folly to draw in visitors as seaside holidays grew in popularity during the victorian era a great viewpoint over the seafront the mock castle ruins do actually have some impressive historical worth to themselves nowadays having stood in the town for 137 years far longer than many of the buildings and monuments that surround it just behind ross castle there stands this eye-catching monument of 1999 dedicated to the royal air force north coast strike wing this was a group of squadrons based at the nearby raf base who during the second world war played a crucial role in the war by targeting and inflicting heavy damage on nazi shipping operations in the north sea and the surrounding area top with the statue of an airman this monument commemorates those efforts one of the great military legacies of this area but over the centuries before it grew into the popular seaside destination we know today kleethups existed first and foremost as a fishing village or rather three separate fishing villages that lined the coast here taking a look at a map of the region we can see that modern day cleethorpes lies just down the coast from the port town of grimsby and is one of two major seaside resorts on the lincolnshire coast along with skegness roughly 40 miles to the south famously the lincolnshire coast here has been subject to different waves of settlement from abroad most notably in the 9th century with the influx of danish settlers who established substantial population centres like grimsby and the three villages that existed here before cleethorpes in the early medieval era this place was the site of a trio of small fishing hamlets that were relatively independent of one another and which were named all thransko and itaby all was located around the area where cleethorpe's peer is today while transco lay at the southern end of cleethorpe's beach the road we're walking down here meanwhile was the center of it to be a small settlement of no more than a couple of dozen households in the early medieval era today this is a popular shopping area in kleethorpe's the oldest shop of which is the antique store here believed to have been opened in the early eighteen hundreds to cater to cleethorpe's burgeoning tourist trade italy is a wonderfully atmospheric part of clethops today with its narrow roads evocative of the town's long past and just off the main street we find a former fisherman's cottage believed to be the oldest house in all of clee thorpes along with this white-coloured building that served as a makeshift hospital during the second world war now as we mentioned the original hamlet of itaby was like its coastal neighbors first and foremost a fishing village in particular the likes of it to be were well known for their oysters which were sold to locals or passersby at stalls outside local pubs or along the sea but with just a handful of people living in each of the villages itabi ul and thransko were simply a small part of a wider parish that extended inland in this area known as old clee and as i'm sure you've surmised this is where the name for cleethorpes the effective union of all these old villages was born old clee was so named due to the clay ground in this area and itabi ul and thronsko were three thorpes an old english word for small villages which came together to form klee thorpes it was only in the 19th century when after years and years of existing as a small fishing settlement that old cleese iii thorpes really began to join together before then this area just off the main road in itaby was made up of fields that separated itaby and all nowadays it's a primarily residential part of gleethorpes between the two old village centers and where we find this historic house the knoll the knoll was built in 1898 for the family of one henry kelly who was accumulating great wealth at the end of the 19th century after his steam trawler company in grimsby stood at the forefront of the vital supply of fish to britain's hard-working industrial population now used as offices and with a cafe inside the knoll has some lovely views over the sea despite being set back from the front and it sits in a part of cleethorpes which has been through a lot over the past couple of centuries not only has this area of town once farmland seen rapid development into a densely populated industrial area but in 1916 kleethops fell victim to one of the many zeppelin raids on england's east coast by the german empire in the first world war this baptist church was built on the site of an original which was destroyed in that deadly attack of the 1st of april the baptist church hall was built in 1966 after the second world war in which clethops was also hit by bombing and some of the nastiest attacks on british soil by the luftwaffe during the conflict in the summer of 1943 3 000 so-called butterfly bombs were dropped by the luftwaffe on kleethorpes grimsby and hull these butterfly bombs were an early precursor to modern day cluster bombs and which were particularly devastating in their impact causing panic in the region as 114 people were killed by butterfly bombs over half of all those who were killed in bombing raids during the war in the local region butterfly bombs have on occasion been found unexploded in the region in recent years and are crucially not to be touched if discovered as they were deliberately designed to act like a landmine to inflict maximum damage on the local population and the british morale during the second world war of course the busy tourist heart of cleethorpes has been long since cleared of unexploded butterfly bombs with its great wide open sands a wonderful place to take a stroll along the sea and the heart of the town here home to the pier gardens a beautifully laid out area for relaxation and entertainment here at the back of the pier gardens we're passing by terry's traditional mini golf a nine hole course that's actually one of two mini golf attractions in pier gardens the second of which we'll see when we get down to the front the pier gardens take back to 1883 and were another work of the manchester sheffield and lincolnshire railway company who were behind the ross castle that we saw earlier originally known as the pleasure grounds the pier gardens were designed as a central attraction for visitors coming to the seaside from inland to stroll around the gardens are littered with attractions flower displays and monuments while at the bottom of this slope we find a grand waterfall with a huge pelican statue standing in the middle quite what the pelican represents apart from simply being a massive pelican i'm not entirely sure but the waterfall is a lovely spot that sits at the bottom of the rather steep bank of pier gardens now pier gardens weren't just laid out to give visitors to klee thorpes a place to relax in fact along with the town's mile long promenade the gardens serve as an important defense against the sea as the three thorpes of old clay stand on top of small clay cliffs which were suffering from coastal erosion before the birth of seaside tourism in the area walking out onto the promenade now all of the development by the seafront here has since secured the buildings of old cleese thorpes from falling into the water while establishing clethops as one of the most extensive seaside resorts in the region but as we look over the seafront from kleethorpe's busy promenade you'll have noticed the town's peer in its wide beach but not much water to dip your toes in that's because the beach actually sits overlooking the humber estuary rather than the north sea the estuary is one of the largest in britain and which has a dramatic tidal pattern with the water at this point of the day having retreated miles away from the shore here exposing a vast area of sandy beach and muddy flats further out when the tide's in though the water comes right the way up to the beach here in cleethorpes and it makes for a wonderful place to sit back and relax or go for a paddle on a lovely summer's day this part of the beach by the pier is always the busiest on any day out in cleethorpes with a number of attractions on the sands including traditional donkey rides still taking place here but like all english seaside resorts there's a whole lot to do on the road just behind the beach with arcades restaurants bowling and yet more mini golf to enjoy here behind the promenade is the newer of pier gardens two mini golf courses this one featuring replicas of major world landmarks including this the famous grimsby dock tower which stands in the middle of the course's third hole to my knowledge this is the only mini golf course in the world that features a landmark from grimsby so that's one to take off your list if you're visiting town grimsby and cleethorpes two of north lincolnshire's biggest towns have long had a very tight connection separated by just a couple of miles on this part of the coast clethops was actually nearly absorbed into grimsby as one in the 20th century as the two have begun to merge together as one greater urban settlement after all many of the fishermen and their families who worked in grimsby's world-beating fishing industry during the later 19th and early 20th centuries used cleethorpes as the perfect getaway from their work in grimsby but as we pass by the many arcades and cafes that line this side of the promenade do remember that clethops and grimsby are very much separate albeit closely linked settlements in fact grimberrians residents of grimsby often affectionately refer to the people of cleethorpes as megies a local nickname with lots of theories as to its origin some say that kleethorpe's locals are known as maggies after meg's victorian slang for half pennies which day trippers would spend by the bucket load on a day out here the tram fare from grimsby to cleethorpes was also said to cost a meg so perhaps that's where the name comes from whatever the truth by the early 20th century the kleethorpe's resort was popularly known by the monika meg's island a place to which thousands of people would flock daily for a day of fun and games by the sea and one of the biggest attractions of all on a day like that was this kleethorpe's pier opened in 1873 the pier was originally about three times longer than it is today so that it could reach out to the sea even at lower tide yet another creation of the local railway company to draw in tourists the pier was hugely popular for decades incorporating a concert hall cafe and bar nowadays the pier is much shorter than it once was initially caused by the decision to cut out a section of it in the second world war so that the pier couldn't be used as a landing dock by a potential german invasion having been through a tough few years in the past decade or so the pier which looks out over clethop's busy beach was bought in 2016 by a fish and chip shop chain with the pavilion now used as what is claimed to be the largest chip shop in the entire country the piers continued operation on kleethop seafront is a really great part of what feels like one of the great traditional resort towns on england's coasts there's a lot to do on a day out in cleethorpes whether that's standing in the pools underneath the pier relaxing on the beach playing in the arcades or exploring the streets of the old thorpes and so it's no surprise that the town remains one of the most visited seaside destinations in the country even to this day much of that is to do with cleethorpe's impressive railway connections which hark back to the manchester sheffield and lincolnshire railway company who built so many of the famous attractions in town the railways first arrived in cleethorpes back in 1863 and even today direct trains from as far away as manchester leeds sheffield and more operate to cleethorpes allowing this resort to serve day trippers from all over northern and central england don't worry the trains that link clethops with all those big cities are a bit more substantial than the lollipop train here a nice little chuchu train which runs up and down the promenade every half hour and where all children get a lollipop for free now we'll make our way away from the promenade for now and we'll walk back up into the pier gardens before going in to explore the centre of the old thorpe of all where traditional markets were held for centuries but as we walk back up the slope away from the sea it's time that we asked an important question why exactly did cleethorpes become such a popular seaside destination well the story begins in the 19th century at which time clethops was still just a tiny fishing settlement as it had been for centuries the early stages of the development of kleethop's tourist industry came around the 1820s when some of the oldest buildings we saw earlier in itaby were built cleethouts became popular as a health resort among wealthy individuals who came to bathe in the sea and to take medicinal waters which they saw to have great therapeutic benefits but even with that early development the locals of the area were still very much focused on their historic oyster fishing industry and the population of clithops in 1831 still stood at just under 500 people however developments of the following few decades caused an incredible boom in town that transformed cleethorpes forever first in the 1840s new legislation allowed the development of new houses hotels and more on the areas of farmland that historically separated the old thorpes second as we've mentioned in 1863 the linking of clethorps by railway to major industrial towns in land across northern england gave it a whole new audience with the resort opening up to the masses who came to experience the fresh sea air and wealth of new attractions for the first time back in pier gardens here we can see a monument to one of clethop's most famous attractions through time the traditional donkey rides on kleethorpe's beach this is a statue of dudley the donkey and serves as a tribute to one gladys nuttall a miner's daughter who began the long tradition of donkey rides on the beach here in the 1940s and whose family operated traditional donkey rides in cleethorpes for three generations the rides are said to have brought smiles to many a holidaymaker while the family used many of their profits to support the welfare of their own donkeys and to donate to the donkey sanctuary in sidmuth all the way down in devon i'm sure there are some photos of donkey rides buried under the ground in kleethop's time capsule it will be fascinating to see how the town has changed come the year 2063 when the time capsule has opened but here's to hoping that clethops retains its historic seaside charm but one thing that certainly changed in the town since its early days as a group of fishing villages is its size by the latter victorian period the building of more and more infrastructure and attractions to cater to tourists cemented cleethorpe's position as a thriving seaside town and by 1901 the town's population had soared to over 12 000 24 times larger than the 500 people that lived here in 1831. as we look up at the historic empire theatre originally a public hall built in 1895 clethops continued to grow into a sprawling settlement throughout the 20th century and the town today is home to nearly 40 000 people making it the sixth largest settlement in all of lincolnshire of course with all the tourists who visit clethops regularly in the summer that local population swells somewhat during high season but it all makes for a town that's full of life at its best and a great place for a day out by the sea but once again we're now quite a way back from the sea on top of what were once the more pronounced clay cliffs that the small thorpes of old clay once stood atop this is the entrance to what was once all which developed at the northern end of the beach like itaby all was also a small fishing settlement which was home to a handful of residents and a smattering of local inns and shops although this part of modern day cleethorpes was also the place where traditional markets were held for many years up ahead of us is the old marketplace which was the site of the local market albeit a market which wasn't ever as big as you might expect given the small population of old clay the main market for the people here was located up the road in grimsby which had been the site of an official market since the year 1201 still kleethop's marketplace is a nice spot in the heart of all and while it's never been home to especially large markets it's surrounded by an array of popular shops pubs and restaurants while narrow residential streets spurt off it in all directions historically one of the most popular spots on the marketplace has been the black and white building across from us here steel's corner house restaurant a veritable institution of clethop's tourist scene a fish and chip restaurant that's been in operation since 1946 steel's more than 75 years of history in cleethorpes has made it a cornerstone of their local cuisine and as of 2020 the huge restaurant has even begun doing takeaways so you can enjoy that classic clethops taste on the beach or as you stroll around the town walking away from the marketplace now we'll make our way back towards the seafront and then to kleethorpe's historic train station where we'll be ending our walk around this classic resort in about five minutes time now like many seaside towns that stretch out along the beach cleethorpes is a particularly expansive settlement not only situated along the mile-long seafront promenade but also extending much further inland as the local population has swelled over the decades inland the town is primarily residential apart from a modern high street known as saint peter's avenue situated just behind the marketplace we've already explored a good part of the seafront but we won't quite have time to see it all on this walk one major cleethorpe's landmark by the sea that we won't have the chance to see is this famous statue the boy with the leaking boot located in a memorial gardens down towards thransko the boy with the leaking boot was erected in cleethorpes in 1918 although it was replaced in 2012 after the original was destroyed by vandals now the statue is more than just a nice decoration for cleethorpe's seafront as the boy with the leaking boot is actually one of a number that you'll find all over the world there are at least 24 boys with leaking boots in places as far away as sweden cuba canada america venezuela and more and its origins are rather mysterious some say that the boy with the leaking boot depicts a young italian newspaper seller who drowned perhaps it's also an american army drummer boy carrying water to his comrades or maybe something else entirely nobody is actually quite sure what the legacy of the statue is but if you've got the time in cleethorpes to walk down towards thransko then it's an interesting site to take in now let's make our way back down towards the seafront which is still full of life on this rather sunny summer's day the weather here in clethops today isn't all too alien however as the town is said to have one of the lowest average annual rainfalls in the entire country and has a slightly warmer than average annual temperature perhaps some of the reasons for its enduring success as a caesar destination as well as all the popular seaside attractions that we've already discussed we've also spoken about how cleethorpes was a town very much built with the railways in mind the building of the town station in 1863 was just one piece of the puzzle that has brought cleethorpes to prominence as a major seaside destination with a number of intriguing landmarks being constructed by the railway company to satisfy their customers on a trip out to cleethorpes from their busy industrial hometowns in land but as well as the train ride into cleethorpes the seafront here is home to its own historic coastal railway separate to the lollipop train that we saw earlier the coast is also the home of the cleethorpes coastlight railway which has been chugging up and down on a two-mile line along the beach for decades ever since 1948 and with the rows of arcades and food stalls that lined the promenade even on this side of the pier along with a fun fair even further down the beach from here we could go on and on and on with all the things that there are to do on a day out in cleethorpes britain's seaside towns have undoubtedly faced tough competition in the last half century with the advent of foreign holidays and the irresistible allure of warm weather in the likes of spain but clethorpes is a town that has more than stood up to the challenge of retaining its popularity into the modern day with those crucial rail links across northern england still in place it's fantastically easy to get to cleethorpes for a day out and the town is continuing to develop its many attractions while retaining a historic charm that preserves the heritage of a great british seaside town and for me cleethorpes is easily one of the best places in the country to spend a fun day out by the sea and here we've reached the end of our walk for today at kleethorpe's railway station which is topped by an iconic ornate clock tower of 1884 that greets visitors to this wonderful seaside town thank you so much for watching this video i really hope you enjoyed it and i hope you're looking forward to visiting cleethorpes for a day out by the sea sometime soon

2022-03-28 05:10

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