Mablethorpe
Encyclopedia
Mablethorpe is a small seaside town in East Lindsey
on the coast of Lincolnshire
, England.
and Trusthorpe
, as the civil parish of Mablethorpe and Sutton
. The former parish of Mablethorpe covers a reactangular 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 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
near Strubby was the former RAF Strubby, now called Strubby Airfield. 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
. However, the town is best accessed via the A1104 and A16 through Alford. The A157 to Louth
is the sixth bendiest road in the UK.
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.
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."
.
in 1970 due to the Beeching Axe
. Skegness
, however, kept its railway station. Mablethorpe only retained the miniature railway
y in Queen's Park.
in the town: One is operated by Lidl
, one by the Co-op
. There is also a Heron
for discounted, frozen foods. Other high street names include Boots, Gregs and Couplands and there are also some independent retailers, geared largely towards selling gifts and novelties for Mablethorpe's tourist trade.
Attractions at the resort include a fairground
and the beach
. Its beach is long, wide and flat and separated from the town by a narrow strip of large sand dunes
.
A sand train operates to take visitors to the north end of the beach.
There is a two screen cinema, Loewen Cinema on Quebec road. The cinema is independently run to a high standard boasting the largest screen in the area, Dolby Digital 3D, premier seats and air conditioning.
In 2008 the old Dunes Theatre was changed to Sharky's Bar after a refit.
There are also numerous amusement arcades
which offer your traditional seaside entertainment.
In May 2008 a very small, free-to-use, skatepark
was opened in Mablethorpe. It is situated on the seafront opposite The Beck pub on Quebec Road. The park is host to a small funbox
, a spine and two quarter pipes
.
, which supplies 5% of the UK's gas. To the west is the Bambers wind farm which opened in November 2004 and has 8 turbine
s which produce 5MWe. The Bambers II windfarm
, an extension of the first, opened in November 2006 producing 5MWe with 6 turbines. The two turbines at Mablethorpe wind farm, which produce 1.2MWe, were the first wind turbines in Lincolnshire when they were built in July 2002. All three are owned by Ecotricity
and situated at the corner of West Bank and the Trusthorpe Drains. The Star of the East is on the sea front.
is the Mablethorpe Leader. Radio coverage
for Lincolnshire is provided by BBC Radio Lincolnshire
and Lincs FM
.
The Mablethorpe Marathon was launched in 2006 and attracted around 2,500 runners in its first year. Although it took a break in 2009 it returned in 2010 and remains a popular annual event.
For over 40 years Mablethorpe has also been host to Motorcycle sand racing, which takes place in the Winter and Spring seasons. This inspired the Mablethorpe Motorcycle Festival which was launched in 2010 and will take place again in 2011, hopefully becoming another annual event.
Every summer Mablethorpe hosts its illuminations event known as the "Switch On", a celebrity turns on the lights. Past celebrities to turn on the lights include: Timmy Mallett
, Barbara Windsor
, Wolf
& Hunter from Gladiators. In July 2011 Twist and Pulse
hosted what many considered the best attended event so far.
East Lindsey
East Lindsey is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England. The council is based in Manby near Louth, and other major settlements in the district include Alford, Spilsby, Mablethorpe, Skegness, Horncastle and Chapel St Leonards....
on the coast of Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, England.
Geography
Several small caravan parks exist around Mablethorpe. The town is administered with Sutton-on-SeaSutton-on-Sea
Sutton-on-Sea is a small seaside village on the coast of Lincolnshire, England. It is close to Trusthorpe and Mablethorpe, and is part of the civil parish of Mablethorpe and Sutton...
and Trusthorpe
Trusthorpe
Trusthorpe is a small village on the east coast of England. It is in the county of Lincolnshire and is south of Mablethorpe and north of Skegness...
, as the civil parish of Mablethorpe and Sutton
Mablethorpe and Sutton
Mablethorpe and Sutton is a civil parish and town in East Lindsey, Lincolnshire, England. It is on the North Sea coast and includes Mablethorpe, Trusthorpe, Sutton-on-Sea and Sandilands along with the inland village of Thorpe...
. The former parish of Mablethorpe covers a reactangular area inland along the A1104 Alford Road towards Maltby le Marsh
Maltby le Marsh
Maltby le Marsh is a village in Lincolnshire, England, between Alford and Mablethorpe. The village is at the junction of the A1104 and the A157....
as far as the boundary between the LN12 and LN13 postcode at Grange Leisure Park 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
Alford, Lincolnshire
- Notable residents :* Captain John Smith who lived in nearby Willoughby* Anne Hutchinson, pioneer settler and religious reformer in the United States* Thomas Paine, who was an excise officer in the town....
near Strubby was the former RAF Strubby, now called Strubby Airfield. To the north is the parish of Theddlethorpe St Helen
Theddlethorpe
Theddlethorpe comprises two close villages and civil parishes, Theddlethorpe St Helen, and Theddlethorpe All Saints, in the East Lindsey district of the county of Lincolnshire, England. These two villages have operated as one entity for many years...
, which is much bigger in geographic area than the former parish of Mablethorpe, extending up to the River Great Eau at Saltfleetby
Saltfleetby
Saltfleetby is a village and civil parish in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Situated approximately east of Louth, north of Mablethorpe and on the coast of the North Sea, the village had a population of 599 at the 2001 Census....
. The town is the eastern terminus of the A52
A52 road
The A52 is a major road in the East Midlands, England. It runs east from the junction with the A53 at Newcastle-under-Lyme near Stoke-on-Trent via Ashbourne, Derby, Stapleford, Nottingham, West Bridgford, Bingham, Grantham, Boston and Skegness before terminating on the east Lincolnshire coast at...
. However, the town is best accessed via the A1104 and A16 through Alford. The A157 to Louth
Louth, Lincolnshire
Louth is a market town and civil parish within the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.-Geography:Known as the "capital of the Lincolnshire Wolds", it is situated where the ancient trackway Barton Street crosses the River Lud, and has a total resident population of 15,930.The Greenwich...
is the sixth bendiest road in the UK.
Mablethorpe Hall
Mablethorpe has been in existence 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 breakingShip breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
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.
Lifeboat
In 1883 the first lifeboat station was built in Mablethorpe. The station ran until the First World War when it temporarily closed due to not having a full crew. After the war the station was closed permanently due to a continuing shortage of crew until 1965 when an inshore lifeboat (ILB) station was established. The town has a new lifeboat station.Tennyson
The town was visited by Alfred Lord Tennyson in the 19th century. Some parts of the town are named after the poet including: Tennyson Road and Tennyson High School.D. H. Lawrence
Mablethorpe is the destination for the Morel family's first holiday in the D. H. LawrenceD. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
novel, Sons and Lovers
Sons and Lovers
Sons and Lovers is a 1913 novel by the English writer D. H. Lawrence. The Modern Library placed it ninth on their list of the 100 best novels of the 20th century.-Plot introduction and history:...
, 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."
Floods
In January 1953 Mablethorpe was hit by the disastrous East Coast floodsNorth Sea flood of 1953
The 1953 North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm, that occurred on the night of Saturday 31 January 1953 and morning of 1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Scotland.A combination of a high spring tide and a severe European windstorm caused a...
.
Transport
Along with many small seaside villages and some inland towns and villages, Mablethorpe lost its railway stationMablethorpe railway station
Mablethorpe railway station was a station in the town of Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire which is now closed....
in 1970 due to the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
. Skegness
Skegness railway station
Skegness railway station serves the seaside resort of Skegness in Lincolnshire, England.Services are operated by East Midlands Trains which run to and from Nottingham, where services originate or terminate.-History:...
, however, kept its railway station. Mablethorpe only retained the miniature railway
Ridable miniature railway
A ridable miniature railway is a ground-level, large scale model railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are models of full-sized railway locomotives .-Overview:Typically they have a rail track gauge between and , though both larger and...
y in Queen's Park.
Shopping
There are two supermarketsSupermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
in the town: One is operated by Lidl
Lidl
Lidl is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany that operates over 7,200 stores across Europe. The company's full name is Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG...
, one by the Co-op
Lincolnshire Co-operative Society
Lincolnshire Co-operative is a consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. It is a registered Industrial and Provident Society, a member of the Co-operative Union Ltd., the Co-operative Retail Trading Group and a corporate member of Co-operative Group Ltd...
. There is also a Heron
Heron Foods
Heron Foods Ltd is an English family-owned retail chain based in Hull with over 175 stores mainly in the North of England....
for discounted, frozen foods. Other high street names include Boots, Gregs and Couplands and there are also some independent retailers, geared largely towards selling gifts and novelties for Mablethorpe's tourist trade.
Leisure
Funfair
A funfair or simply "fair" is a small to medium sized travelling show primarily composed of stalls and other amusements. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is...
and the beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
. Its beach is long, wide and flat and separated from the town by a narrow strip of large sand dunes
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
.
A sand train operates to take visitors to the north end of the beach.
There is a two screen cinema, Loewen Cinema on Quebec road. The cinema is independently run to a high standard boasting the largest screen in the area, Dolby Digital 3D, premier seats and air conditioning.
In 2008 the old Dunes Theatre was changed to Sharky's Bar after a refit.
There are also numerous amusement arcades
Amusement arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
which offer your traditional seaside entertainment.
In May 2008 a very small, free-to-use, skatepark
Skatepark
A skatepark is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, aggressive inline skating and scooters. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, quarter pipes, spine transfers, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, pools, bowls, snake runs stairsets,...
was opened in Mablethorpe. It is situated on the seafront opposite The Beck pub on Quebec Road. The park is host to a small funbox
Funbox
A funbox is a standard element of a skatepark. Its main characteristic is the table component in the middle which varies by height and surface area and is usually surrounded by ramps and transitions. There are many possible compositions, with the simplest form being a table followed by a ramp...
, a spine and two quarter pipes
Quarter pipe
A Quarter pipe is a ramp used in extreme sports which resembles a quarter of the cross section of a pipe. They are most commonly found in skateparks and a skiing/snowboarding terrain park, although the trained eye of an extreme sports fan can find them in modern day architecture...
.
Landmarks
Just over a mile to the northeast of the town, near the Seal Sanctuary, is the Theddlethorpe Gas TerminalTheddlethorpe Gas Terminal
Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal is a large gas terminal on the Lincolnshire coast on Mablethorpe Road at Theddlethorpe St Helen close to Mablethorpe in East Lindsey in England. It is just off the A1031 and next door to a holiday camp and ....
, which supplies 5% of the UK's gas. To the west is the Bambers wind farm which opened in November 2004 and has 8 turbine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
s which produce 5MWe. The Bambers II windfarm
WindFarm
WindFarm is wind energy software used to analyse, design, optimise and visualise wind farms. It calculates and optimises the energy yield subject to natural, planning and engineering constraints. WindFarm has the wind modelling software MS-Micro integrated. MS-Micro is based on the same...
, an extension of the first, opened in November 2006 producing 5MWe with 6 turbines. The two turbines at Mablethorpe wind farm, which produce 1.2MWe, were the first wind turbines in Lincolnshire when they were built in July 2002. All three are owned by Ecotricity
Ecotricity
Ecotricity is a green energy company based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England specialising in selling and generating wind power. It is built on the principle of heavily reinvesting its profit in building more of its own windfarms.-History:...
and situated at the corner of West Bank and the Trusthorpe Drains. The Star of the East is on the sea front.
Media
The local weekly newspaperNewspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
is the Mablethorpe Leader. Radio coverage
Coverage (telecommunication)
In telecommunications, the coverage of a radio station is the geographic area where the station can communicate. Broadcasters and telecommunications companies frequently produce coverage maps to indicate to users the station's intended service area. Coverage depends on several factors, such as...
for Lincolnshire is provided by BBC Radio Lincolnshire
BBC Radio Lincolnshire
BBC Lincolnshire is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Lincolnshire — apart from the northern parts, which are covered by BBC Radio Humberside...
and Lincs FM
Lincs FM
Lincs FM is an Independent Local Radio station serving Lincolnshire and Newark, from the Humber to The Wash. It is the current holder of the licence which was advertised by the Radio Authority on 4 March 1991.-Background:...
.
Events
Mablethorpe hosts the UK's only beach hut festival Bathing Beauties in September every year. Owners of private beach huts compete in exterior design as well as poetry, music and drama performances.The Mablethorpe Marathon was launched in 2006 and attracted around 2,500 runners in its first year. Although it took a break in 2009 it returned in 2010 and remains a popular annual event.
For over 40 years Mablethorpe has also been host to Motorcycle sand racing, which takes place in the Winter and Spring seasons. This inspired the Mablethorpe Motorcycle Festival which was launched in 2010 and will take place again in 2011, hopefully becoming another annual event.
Every summer Mablethorpe hosts its illuminations event known as the "Switch On", a celebrity turns on the lights. Past celebrities to turn on the lights include: Timmy Mallett
Timmy Mallett
Timmy Mallett is a TV presenter and broadcaster in the UK. He achieved cult status on BBC Radio Oxford and Manchester's Piccadilly Radio and later on TV-am...
, Barbara Windsor
Barbara Windsor
Barbara Ann Windsor, MBE , better known by her stage name Barbara Windsor, is an English actress. Her best known roles are in the Carry On films and as Peggy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders....
, Wolf
Michael Van Wijk
Michael van Wijk , is a professional sportsman, bodybuilder, actor and TV presenter in the United Kingdom. van Wijk is most well known for his role as Wolf on British TV endurance sports game show Gladiators, a role he held for seven years, eight series...
& Hunter from Gladiators. In July 2011 Twist and Pulse
Twist and Pulse
Twist and Pulse are an English street dance duo based in London. They are best known for being the runners-up of the fourth series of Britain's Got Talent, famously coming in second to Spelbound in the live final....
hosted what many considered the best attended event so far.
External links
- Mablethorpe's first and most comprehensive town website
- Mablethorpe's Town and Community website for visitors and residents
- 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
- Reviews of Golden Sands