Grantham
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| Grantham | |
|---|---|
| OS Grid Reference: | Template:Gbmappingsmall (Template:Coor gb) |
| Administration | |
| District: | South Kesteven |
| County: | Lincolnshire |
| Region: | East Midlands |
| Nation: | England |
| Other | |
| Ceremonial County: | Lincolnshire |
| Traditional County: | Lincolnshire |
| Post Office and Telephone | |
| Post town: | GRANTHAM |
| Postcode: | NG31 |
| Dialling Code: | 01476 |
Template:GBdot Grantham is a small market town in Lincolnshire, England with about 40,000 inhabitants. Situated on the River Witham, it has the East Coast Main Line (between the stops for Peterborough and Newark Northgate) and the A1 main road from London to Edinburgh running past it (the town was bypassed in 1960). The main local landmark is the impressive parish church of St. Wulframs, which has the third highest spire found among English churches, and is also home to the country's first public library.
Two world famous people are associated with the town: Sir Isaac Newton, who was schooled at the still existing King's School, Grantham, and Margaret Thatcher, who was educated at Kesteven and Grantham Girls Grammar School (K.G.G.S), and was born in the town itself where many inhabitants still remember her personally.
Politically the town is part of the Grantham and Stamford constituency (recently altered), is represented in Parliament by Conservative Party MP Quentin Davies and has a long history of electing Conservative members of Parliament. The local town council is staunchly Labour, but many villages of South Kesteven keep the Conservative proportion of the vote beyond reach.
Grantham is home to the world's only 'living' pub sign: A bee hive perched in a tree. The town is also notable for the first female police officer.
In 1905, Richard Hornsby (1790-1864) & Sons of Grantham, founded 1815, invented the revolutionary caterpillar track, for use with steam engines. In 1909, they showed the British Army their invention, who were bemused, but took it no further than that. A short time later, Hornsby sold the patent for the caterpillar track to Holt Tractors of California, USA. Thanks to the ownership of the patent, this company would become the world-dominating Caterpillar Inc. Tractor Company. Benjamin Holt even claimed to be the real inventor. In 1914, the British Army's Colonel Ernest Swinton saw one of Holt's caterpillar tractors towing a piece of artillery, and realised its literally ground-breaking role as an attack vehicle. One year later the tank was born. It first saw action at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette on September 15th 1916.
During the famous Dambusters RAF mission in May 1943, the RAF Bomber Command's No. 5 Group and the operation HQ, as Barnes Wallis nervously learnt the grim news, was in a building which later housed a county council education department, and was built by Richard Hornsby & Sons in 1865, and is now a private house. In 1944 (including D-Day), this was the headquarters for the USA's 9th (IX) Troop Carrier Command, being known as Grantham Lodge.
Aveling & Porter of Rochester, Kent, would join with Barford & Perkins of Peterborough to become Aveling-Barford Ltd in 1934, largely due to financial help from Ruston & Hornsby. The new company took a former site of Hornsbys, naming it the 'Invicta' works, which is from the motto on the coat of arms of Kent, and translates as 'unconquered'. Aveling-Barford has not fared well with the sinking market for large dumper trucks and road rollers, and are now owned by Wordsworth Holdings PLC(USA). A trailer company, Crane-Fruehauf, may be moving into part of the factory.
British Manufacturing and Research Company (or BMARC), on Springfield Road, made munitions for many years. It was owned by the Swiss company, Oerlikon, until 1988 and is now part of Astra Holdings PLC.
The food processing industry now employs the largest contingent of Grantham's citizens, including Fenland Foods (part of Northern Foods), and a large frozen vegetable factory (PAS) near Easton.
External Links
- The genesis of the caterpillar tractor. (http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/holttractor.htm)
- History of Ruston & Hornsby. (http://www.oldengine.org/members/ruston/front.htm)
- Development of the first 'tanks' in the First World War. (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWtankdevelop.htm)
- Northern Foods. (http://www.northern-foods.co.uk)
- BMARC and Michael Heseltine. (http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199495/cmhansrd/1995-06-13/Debate-1.html)
- Listen to a BBC documentary about BMARC/Astra. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/document/ram/document_20040913.ram)eo:Grantham