Episode 17 | The Best North East Lincolnshire Heritage Stories of 2023

From Cleethorpes Pier to the Humberston Fitties, join us for a round-up of our best heritage stories from 2023.

This program was made with support from the national lottery Heritage Fund in 2023 Our Heritage Channel team have been exploring the rich history of our Coastal Community following regeneration projects like the Peterson Smokehouse visiting magnificent local buildings like Wheels be Hall and Reporting on Heritage at risk like the fascinating and fragile huson fitties here are some of the Highlights Northeast Lincolnshire has many iconic buildings to celebrate and enjoy here are a few that caught our [Applause] Eye we’re here in cops to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the pier and to find out more about its history and Heritage clay thorp’s pair is a fine examp sample of Victorian architecture that has stood proudly on the beach for 150 years during that time the paer has attracted thousands of visitors and I’m sure that many of you have fun memories here as the pier was once an iconic club and concert

Venue the CLE thorp’s prominade peer order was approved in 1867 and planning began on developing the town seafront korps Pier opened on the 4th of August 1873 and on that first day nearly 3,000 people paid to walk on the pier cleps was now a thriving seaside resort with the beautiful Pier at its Heart a concert hall was built in 1888 on the new pierhead but it was shortlived as a fire destroyed the hall in 1903 a new Pavilion was built closer to the Shoreline along with a cafe at the head of the pier to attract more visitors in

The inter War years the pier was sold to cop’s Bor Council and in the early part of World War II a large section of the pier walkway was deliberately destroyed to stop enemy Invaders from using it as a landing stage if they made it between the Humber forts postwar

Compensation from the government wasn’t enough to restore the pier so it remained at the length you see it today 1/3 of its original length the current Pavilion had around £50,000 spent on it in the 1960s to make it one of the most modern peer buildings on the East

Coast the pier remained as a club and concert venue for many years and in the 1970s featured family favorites such as the Nolan sisters Canon and ball Tony Christie and Mike and Bernie Winters and it was a key venue for Northern Soul in the ’90s and u0s the musical heydays of the previous century were revived as the likes of blur 5 A1 and Billy Piper packed out the peer building after a major renovation in 2015 the pier reopened as a highquality restaurant and t- room and was named

National peer of the year in 2016 by the peer Society in 2016 puppers fish and chips bought the pier and created the world’s largest fish and chip restaurant which now attracts more than 2 million visitors each year and employs more than 100 people over the past 150 years the iconic CLE thorps Pier has stood through

War and fire it’s seen musical acts from variety to Brit pop and it sered food to millions of visitors each year and talking to food I’m off to get myself some fish and Chips This is the council chairman originally when it was built the building was built in 1863 so we’re 160 year old this year Council for whatever reason decided then to put two extra pieces on so they built this as an extension in 1888 so this room and our banqueting room were added

And then it became our Council chamber the there’s a famous mayor Henry James Vil um his portrait is actually in the building to our left don’t really know a lot about him as a person and not been able to research very much but generally people were businessmen unfortunately had to be men

Originally um who could be mayor but we’d had a mayor since 1201 so we’ had lots of Mayors and it actually took till 1949 to a lady called Margaret LaMore was our first lady May so the council chamber used four Council meetings was used last Thursday we had our full

Council meeting in here when they come to a council meeting this is where they come and they sit in their allocated seat This is our assembly room very important room it’s used for many many events uh one of the biggest events we have every year is our May making ceremony which is held in here um we elect our mayor and then we derobe the old mayor and we robe

The new mayor so it’s quite a lot of pump and Circumstance but it’s really a really nice event um we have our organ which is played um and that sounds fantastic in this room so it gets used for lots of different type of things this is actually set up for the

Clifton’s Dance Academy that will be holding a dance session tonight and we’ve got our famous moral so it actually depicts um allegedly a royal hunting in Bradley Woods for balls hence three balls and that’s where the crest of GR be origin originated from did you know that Grimsby Central

Hall is the oldest surviving concert venue in Northeast Lincolnshire well I’m here on dunam Street to take a look inside this fascinating building to find out more you coming with me Grimsby Central Hall opened in March 1936 obviously built in Freeman Street or just off Freeman Street for the

Fishing industry Central Halls were built as Community venues as well as places of worship so the methodists worshipped here up until 1991 when the congregation became so small they decided it was too big a building to maintain over three floors so they publicized their notice to leave there

Was a lot of choir and orchestras performing here at the time um as part of the community side and they didn’t want to lose the venue because it was very valuable they formed a trust gby Central Hall trust and the methodists agreed for them to have the building for

As long as they wanted to keep It the venue offers a main Auditorium with superb Acoustics and a seating capacity of 700 plus a 170 seat Recital Hall with one of grimsby’s only surviving sprung dance Floors Grimsby Central Hall has been the Beating Heart of the local music Community for over 85 years orchestras bands and pop stars have all performed at this iconic Venue from Iconic buildings to Hidden gems un covered during a year of Discovery did you know that this church in Old CLE is the oldest building in grimby with a Saxon tower that dates back to 1050 ad now that’s pretty old but there’s also another landmark that’s even older nearby join me on a journey to find out more about the ancient history of the Area IMA like a simple Hill but behind me in cleor cemetery is evidence that cleor is truly Ancient Beacon Hill so called because of the beacon that was placed here in the medieval times is a prehistoric burial mound that dates back to the Bronze Age that’s around 4,000 years ago excavations in the 1930s found Neolithic tools in the surrounding areas suggesting people occupied this area

Some 6,000 years ago in the barrer itself large NS were found holding cremated remains as well as smaller NS containing remains of four Children who these people were is unknown but it’s hard not to speculate perhaps there were great warriors of a clan that lived in this area but what is certain is that loved ones have been continuously buried in this land for thousands of years most people think that old CLE is

Part of CLE thorps but actually it’s not it’s a separate Village and here I am at Old CLE Parish Church to find out more about its history The Church oakle is actually called Holy Trinity and St Mary the vergin so not many people know that one

The land that the church is built on used to be ancient farmland and it was surrounded by water and the oldest part of the building is behind me it’s mentioned in the Doomsday Book because we are actually the oldest building in Grimsby that’s the tower the Saxon Tower this is the oldest building in Grimsby with its 11th century Tower the church was intended to provide not only a place of worship but also a vantage point from which to watch for Viking Invaders and a sanctuary to protect the villagers you can see the so-called old

Man of CLE built into the stone just up there nobody knows who the old man of CLE was but he’s always watching over the Area It was better for my mental health for me to feed her it was nice for me just to be able to have that me and ha time I notices it calms me down I kind of even do off they do say helps you losing weight a lot quicker as well so I think

That’s a bonus for the moms I’m having my body smashed back yeah I feel renewed yeah I have this satisfaction so it protects mom against ovarian cancer cervical cancer breast cancer lowers ey blood pressure with the release of oxytocin it’s that feeling of bonding feeling of well-being with your baby as

Well that um you can’t bottle That Hing gems are not the only precious thing in the region our long association with the Armed Forces is something we are justly proud of have you ever wondered why so many military planes fly over Grimsby and CLE thorps every day well it’s because Lincolnshire has so

Much flat land making it the perfect place for RAF bases so perfect in fact that during World War II over 46 air bases were located in the county given Lincolnshire the nickname bomma County today we’re in CLE thorps to take a look at some of the war memorials

Located here and have a chat with some of the local veterans who have served our country during both world wars Grimsby and CLE thorps provided thousands of men for various military and Naval units many of them joined the 10th and 11th th Lincoln the Royal field artillery and

The Lincoln chenry Grimsby provided over 400 trollers with nearly 6,000 fishermen to man them altogether a total of about 14,000 men went into various Services what was left of the fishing fleet carried on amid the dangers of the North Sea and in this perilous Endeavor to maintain the food supply 156 trollers

Were lost or captured and over 500 fishermen perished to commemorate those Lost At War Grimsby and CLE thorps has a number of War memorials and cets and here in CLE thorps the remembrance gate overlooks the beach it was dedicated 10 years ago during 2013 on the Armed Forces Day

Celebrations the crest shows the Army’s Crossed Swords the eagle of the royal Air Force and a naval anchor in the center eight stainless steel plaques and two larger Granite plaques honor every branch of the Armed Forces and Merchant Navy the people of Grimsby today know wisby Woods is a public park but it hasn’t always been a park where I’m standing right now used to be the location of a prisoner of war camp wisby Camp started Life as a training camp for troops in the first

World war but during the second world war his purpose changed Italian prisoners of War brought over from the fighting in the Middle East were imprisoned here and used to work the land following the D-Day Landings in 1944 the camp was also flooded with German prisoners over 100,000 prisoners

Of War were held in the UK and wisby Camp was just one of hundreds after the war had finished the Campa change once again and this time it became home to a legendary troop of Soldiers the Polish Carpathian Lancers were formed in Syria made up of 500 men who escaped Poland after the German invasion fighting on Horseback they were a crucial part of the war efforts in the Middle East during their time in Italy they fought in the grueling Battle of Monte Casino which was devastating for

The Allied Forces who lost 555,000 men at the end of the war the Lancers were settled here at the camp in Grimsby and they were given two options return back to Poland or remain here in the UK and almost all of them decided to Stay the Armed Forces weekend was just one of the spectacular public events enjoyed by visitors and locals alike Our Heritage Channel team were there to capture the atmosphere and preserve the Legacy it’s absolutely fantastic it’s bringing together the community it’s an opportunity for all sorts of different organizations and individuals who have a

Connection with the the sea all to come together on one day we’re really excited because we do need to promote brisby welcome to the Festival of the scene Festival of the sea is absolutely fantastic to get everybody in the communities together it’s about giving people the opportunity to be creative in

Their town is brilliant this is the third time it’s happened and what it’s all about is showcasing grimby links to the Sea looking backwards and also looking forward Festival is great for Grims because it’s celebrating the heritage of the Town what built the town we should celebrate our heritage in our fishing industry and be proud of it this will be an absolutely thriving cultural sect some people might go well what’s the relevance of the Arts but the

Arts is incredibly powerful when we’re here in Northeast Lincolnshire we are in Viking age England so this celebrates all of that culture and Heritage that Grimsby is so strongly tied to the members of public can come around and they can see everything from blacksmithing to candl making making bread and even cheese the

Families can walk around there’s loads of free activities for children you can meet the Vikings we’ve come to grimston to teach you all about your heritage because Grimsby is a wonderful place and it was born on a viking backbone it’s nice to show the kids kind of who the ancestors

Were highlighting Heritage at risk is an important part of our work and we were therefore Keen to explore and report on the beauty and fragility of the unique hamerson fitties the last remaining plot land of its kind in the country Caroline car is a director of fittest cic an organization that aims to

Preserve the historically uniqueness and Heritage of this special place her family have owned shis here for over 50 years as a small child I used to come down with my mom’s family and they had a chalet on Anthony’s B Ro so my mom’s dad was a the fisherman and that’s kind of

Typical where lots of fishing families have Chalet and then in the summer the fishermen would go to work cycle down to the docks the moms and the kids are just spend all their time on the beach and and having fun and enjoying themselves and just having a Holiday so the Fitts was first establish the early 1900s and people used to just come down and enjoy and they bring tents and sleep out just add heart and as time evolved they brought more ad hoc structures so there was a family in Dudley Street a doctor his daughter was

Really really ill and they recommended CA so he packed up his horse and cart and with some you know primitive shed and came down and set up camp and people still call it the camp the sheds and the the Huts became more and more permanent

Over time and then in the wars so both first world war second world war it was used by the army so is it was is a key tactical base the officers mess from the second world war is still here there’s lots of buildings with a lot of lot of

History and Heritage we have a Shelly design guide and one of the key features I think is that everything is so different most of them are completely and utterly unique in their design and just their complete quirkiness and AD hogness and that’s part of the beauty of this place Coverage of stories like the HST and fitties and people’s part was given an extra Dimension and a cinematic quality thanks to the addition of a drone pilot to our production Team There is a wealth of C cultural environmental architectural and social Heritage in Northeast Lincolnshire which has now been recognized at a national level the work to preserve promote and protect our proud Heritage is now receiving the support it needs and deserves the STA Fund in Northeast Linker has been really really important

Project we’ve been really able to reach small community groups um with smaller projects that ordinarily we wouldn’t necessarily have been able to fund we’ve got so many Grassroots ideas amongst the town within the town but maybe people with perhaps not that confidence to be able to go out and put in funding bits

Themselves so they need that kind of foundation that opportunity to do so some of them were very small amounts of funding which is more difficult for people to obtain from us and others just wouldn’t necessarily know of us or our processes or be able to access those so

With support from um people who really do know and understand the local context and the local community groups we feel that we’ve been able to really fund things that matter to local people with aage viewing figures of 30,000 people the Heritage channel has played an important role in bringing the Heritage

Stories of Northeast Lincolnshire to the local community and a wider audience around the world next month’s program will be coming from grinby fish docks where we will be sharing news of some exciting new developments and me meeting some of the people behind the Regeneration of this important place in

The history of our Coastal Community thank you for joining us on the Heritage Channel we hope you’re enjoying our programs as much as we are enjoying making them see you all next month I’m here in CLE thorps to find out more about this fascinating it’s not hard is

It you didn’t you haven’t seen this you wait till it’s it’s better when it’s [Laughter] edited he was able to call on this valuable experience to transform the cultural landscape of our region and generate a renewed interest in Rich Heritage in our Rich Heritage postwar compensation from the

Government wasn’t enough to restore the peer so it remains that it’s a so it remains of the length you see it today so it Remains the L no that is the easiest probably also my stomach was rumbling and it felt like you could hear it on the thing could you hear

It I heard it so this is the heaviest Bell of the three and I thought the first one was heavy here we go you got to get it going got to get a bit of momentum going and then you just it that’s it we’re up I was trying not to laugh to this

Year’s F world this year’s Festival will also oh God who wres this stuff you Do I don’t know if it’s cuz I’ve got a hang of it feels easier the 2020 24 Hammond Health and yeah Hammond Health we’ll be paying a visit to W mamor okay now one more come On that’s it I’m counceling the gym membership now I’m just coming here for the workout weekly thank you Helen welcome that was hard that was postwar compensation from the government wasn’t enough to restore the peer so it remained at the length you see it today 1/3 of its original

Length yes come on we’ve got it come On The programs on the Heritage channel are made with support from the national lottery Heritage fund