Great Grimsby Regatta, 1866

From "The Yachting Calendar and Review", published by Horace Cox, 1866.

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GREAT GRIMSBY REGATTA

The rising town of Great Grimsby is one of the most wretched-looking places it was ever our lot to visit, and more resembles an Australian settlement than an English town. Its population is said to increase so rapidly that no one living has any notion how many souls are now contained in the town since the last census was taken; but this startling increase is entirely attributable to its shipping trade in coal, timber, fish, corn and bricks, and not to the migratory visitations of fashionable pleasure-seekers; and the difference between a rising water-place and a thriving shipping port is wonderfully apparent. However, the habitués of Grimsby have some notion of what the fashion is at these pleasant seaside resorts, and annually endeavour to startle the world with a regatta. And then a yacht match is their great delight, although yacht owners as a rule generally avoid the place; still a few steer their course that way just about the time of the regatta, and after securing the prizes hastily leave again. This is not very satisfactory, but what is there at Grimsby to tempt them to stay? As a yachtsman said to us after vainly attempting to discover something with an agreeable aspect, "This place isn't even fit to die in. You mustn't go a mile east of Harwich; if you do, you are out of the world." Yet still, there is a pleasant village not a mile from this, to a stranger, dismal conglomeration of red bricks, where yachting men who wish for a cheap quiet place might very well pass a month or two - we allude to Cleethorpes. The sands there are scarcely to be surpassed, the bathing is excellent, and the living cheap, if not sumptuous, and a vessel can lie comfortably under any conditions of wind at an anchorage about a mile from the shore. But as there is never any distinguished company in the place it would only suit those who wish to "live away from the world," and even here their quietude might occasionally be disturbed, for now and then Cleethorpes is overrun with those peculiarly jolly people who make day excursions from inland places. However, there are worse places on the seaside than Cleethorpes, and although a mere village, it is a paradise compared to Grimsby, where there are only two respectable buildings in the place - the Town Hall and Royal Hotel.

The regatta took place on Monday, July 23, and a large number of spectators congregated on the docks to witness the sports.................

Influence of Railway Travelling on Public Health (1862)

From the "Lancet", 1862

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PASSENGER-CARRIAGES.
In Passenger-carriages the long springs somewhat modify the sensations experienced. But being very rigid and only slightly curved, they afford relief to a very limited extent. It is when these yield too much (on a rough bit of the line) that there is experienced the most disagreeable short bump occasioned by the carriage coming down on the flattened surface of the spring.
Third-class carriages.In the third-class carriages the motion is somewhat better than on the truck; but the short, sharp jolts experienced are eminently unpleasant; the sensations felt after a long journey rather resembling the soreness ensuing after a bruise. An eminent surgeon, of large railway experience, informs us that he frequently hears third-class passengers complain for days from the constant knocking together of knees which successive jolts during the journey produce; for the close packing prevents any wide separation of the legs.
Second class.In the second class, where the seats are covered, the motion is broken up by this intervention into a greater number of less violent shocks, having less intervals between them; for the total amount of motion communicated to the carriage is the same.
First class.In the first class this alteration in character of the motion experienced by passengers takes place to a still greater degree, on account of the thick cushions and padding. It becomes an almost incessant repetition of mere vibrations; swaying the body according to the direction of the impulse.
...............
With care and cleanliness, the linings of railway carriages may last pure till the cloth is worn out, and they do so in some places; but in some counties (and it seems to me that Lancashire is one of the worst) there is no regard to the property of the company or the comfort of those coming after; dirty boots are put on the cushions, and the carpets are fouled by expectoration.
.............
When temperature rises, all impure surfaces become more offensive and everything known has a small - persons and animals pre-eminently. We can readily smell the inmates of a carriage for a considerable time after they have left, if the carriage has been crowded.
......................
One of the evils of railway travelling in warm weather is the dust. the amount, especially at some distance from the engine, is sometimes more difficult to bear than the confinement of the air; and I think it must at times be more hurtful than the work of the stonemason, beside whom i have frequently stood, feeling far less dust than on a railway on a fine summer day, and yet we know the mason suffers.
...............
[after reference to the danger of draughts]. ............ Yet the coldest journey by rail that I ever made was to Torquay on a night before Christmas of 1860. In spite of foot-warmers, abundance of furs, and closed windows and ventilators, all the glass of the windows was crisply frosted on the inside, and I was so be-numbed with cold that I did not recover comfortable temperature for several days. It was the coldest night of that cold year, and on the next morning I saw that the thermometer on a south aspect at Torquay standing at 12°F.

Cleethorpes in 1829

From "Gentleman's Magazine", 1829.

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Modern Cleethorpes, comprehending the ancient hamlets of Itterby and Hole, is now frequented as a place for sea-bathing. Many new lodging-houses have been recently erected, and the general accommodations much improved; and the civility and attention of the inhabitants, added to the salubrity of the air, pure and unsophisticated, whether proceeding from the German ocean on the one hand, or the Wold hills on the other, will always render it a desirable summer retreat for the valetudinarian or the invalid.
Yours, &c. GEO. OLIVER

Hundreds of starfish return to Cleethorpes beach | This is Grimsby

Hundreds of starfish return to Cleethorpes beach | This is Grimsby

Slater's (late Pigot & Co.) National and Commercial Directory and Topography 1852

Extracts from "Slater's (late Pigot & Co.) National and Commercial Directory and Topography" 1852

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GREAT GRIMSBY,

WITH THE VILLAGES OF CLEE, CLEETHORPES, HUMBERSTON & NEIGHBOURHOODS.

For centuries the population was isolated from all neighbouring towns of importance, from the want of efficient communication, now furnished by the introduction of steam vessels, and the more expeditious transit by railway. These facilities for travelling, together with the vast harbour works referred to, have been productive of great moral and intellectual advancement, besides imparting an active impetus to mercantile transactions; inducing many influential and highly respectable persons to take up their residence in the town; and encouragement has therefore been given to effect improvements of various kinds, new erections, &c.

...............
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire railway company opened a line here for passengers on the 1st of March, 1848, and for goods on the 1st of may following. The East Lincolnshire railway was opened hence to Boston by Louth on the 1st of March, 1848, and to Peterborough and London on the 17th of October, in the same year. A direct communication now exists, by rail, between Lincolnshire and the Metropolis, and with Hull and various parts more north.
..........................
CLEETHORPES is an ancient fishing station, a township and rural bathing place; delightfully situated 3 miles E from Grimsby. The natives of this pleasant village are singular in their habits and customs; and at one period it was difficult to find a family some of whose members were not related to other families here, either by blood or marriage - hence the number of the same name. These peculiarities are, however, fast disappearing by the infusion of numerous strangers, and the population is continually increasing: this has given occasion for the erection of many new houses, and the inclosure of land. There are now several well-furnished lodging-houses, a capital hotel, a national school (in which a church service is performed), and two Methodist chapels. A delightful walk fronts the sea, forming a charming promenade for visitors. The Earl of Yarborough is lord of the manor. A majority of the inhabitants are employed in oyster dredging and shrimping, besides taking other fish - and all parts of Lincolnshire and part of Yorkshire are supplied from the fishery here. The population of the township (independent of the other parts of Clee parish,) was estimated, in 1848, to amount to at least 1,000 persons.

..................

[NB entries relating to Cleethorpes only copied, and relevant to tourism, etc]

INNS & HOTELS
Dolphin Hotel, Ann Colton, Cleethorpes

SHOPKEEPERS & DEALERS IN GROCERIES & SUNDRIES
Appleyard Joseph, Cleethorpes
Chapman, Fanny (& draper), Cleethorpes
Hewson Mark (and draper), Cleethorpes
Parker Joseph, Cleethorpes
Robinson John (and draper), Cleethorpes
Stephenson William, Cleethorpes
Wardle, Mary, Cleethorpes

TAVERNS & PUBLIC HOUSES
Cross Keys, John Chapman, Cleethorpes
Leeds Arms, George Burgess, Cleethorpes

RETAILERS OF BEER
Chapman Richard, Cleethorpes

MISCELLANEOUS
Heales Mary, temperance-house, Cleethps
Leith Walter, clerk in charge at the East Lincolnshire Railway station
Reed James, clerk in charge at the Manchester & Lincolnshire Railway station

CONVEYANCE BY RAILWAY,

ON THE MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD AND LINCOLNSHIRE LINE.

James Reed, clerk in charge.

ON THE EAST LINCOLNSHIRE LINE
Walter Leith, clerk in charge.

OMNIBUS.

An Omnibus to CLEETHORPES and running also to and from the Locks and Docks, and the Railway Stations - Geo. Warburton (White Hart Inn & Railway Hotel), proprietor.

CARRIERS.

[none listed start at Cleethorpes. Many would have gone via Cleethorpes? Most start from pubs, and many just one day a week; more than one carrier to some places. To Ashby, Binbrook, Brocklesby and Habrough, Caistor, Keelby, Killingholme, Limber, Louth, Marsh Chapel, North Somercoates, Stallingborough, Tetney, Thoresby, Walesby.
Also, under Louth, by Coaches and Carriers listed]

CONVEYANCE BY WATER.

To HULL, the Pelham Mail Packet, daily, three hours before high water; Traders from the Baltic wharf, once a week, and from the River head, twice a week.

To LEEDS, GOOLE & WAKEFIELD, a Vessel to each place, from River head, once a week.
　
　

"Hints to Railway Travellers and Country Visitors to London" by an Old Stager.

Extracts from "Hints to Railway Travellers and Country Visitors to London" by an Old Stager. Bradbury & Evans, 1852

Some extracts, to give a taste of travel in the mid 19th century. I have not included anything obviously relating to London - but e.g. would sending luggage by goods train have been available in Lincolnshire??__________________________________

Railways....... have annihilated the prejudice against public conveyances, and abolished the old stiff-necked line of demarcation between posting and coaching company. They have opened the world out to every one.
The second-class carriages are infinitely better than the inside of the old stage-coaches used to be, while in every particular except cushions, which are easily supplied, the advantages of easy, expeditious transit are the same in the second-class carriage as in the first. Indeed, in summer, we do not know but the second, or even an open third class, is preferable, being cooler and less dust-catching, owing to the absence of cushions......Where there are ladies, however, the first-class is desirable....

LUGGAGE

One would wonder how people contrived in former days to get themselves and their wants into a stage-coach or carriage and pair, so expansive have they become with railway times. It is not now the carrying, but the paying for it, that forms the difficulty; and twenty shillings is soon run away with for extra luggage by express train...........

If ............. the luggage is still likely to be onerous, pack all the heavy articles into one box, and send them by GOODS TRAIN a day or two before you go yourselves, directed to the care of any friend or tradesman, or, if a total stranger, to be left at the luggage-office, at the station you are to arrive at till called or sent for.

If, however, you feel disposed to risk over weight, have a few luggage-labels, ready directed, in your pocket, headed "GOODS TRAIN," to be affixed on any packages containing articles that you will not be in immediate want of, in case the lynx-eyed porters begin whispering and hinting about having your luggage weighed.

........................
Speaking of travelling generally, it is well, if you can, to avoid travelling at holiday and great excursion train times, as there is always more or less confusion on the lines; also, always write to the station-master a day or two before you want a horse-box, or a carriage truck, as they are not always to be had at the moment.

AT THE DEPARTURE STATION

Something I have yet to look up is when seat reservations were first introduced.

If the train comes through, you must just take such seats as are vacant when it arrives, unless you have an interest with the station-master to secure you a carriage from the starting-place, or to have one ready to attach when the train arrives. A glove, a book, or anything left on a seat denotes that it is taken. Take yours that way.

See your luggage put on the roof of the carriage you occupy, and book the number of the carriage (which is often in a very indistinct place about the wheels), or you may have difficulty in finding your carriage, if you get out after the train lengthens. The seats with the back to the engine are the warmest and least exposed, but at some stations (the York for instance) they reverse the engine, and what goes in head comes out tail. Invalids should note this, and change accordingly.

It is well to have a newspaper - or say this book - in your hand, to resort to in case tiresome people will talk - a purpose that railway travelling was never intended for. If you buy the "Times" at starting, you may barter it for the "Post," the "Post" for the "Chronicle," and so on, at the different stations as you proceed, till you have read all the papers of the day for the price of one.

Carry your own provisions, by which means you can dine when you are hungry, instead of when the railway directors think you ought to be. Chickens cut up, and tongue sliced, with bread, biscuits, cakes, and so on, are most convenient. Don't forget the salt. Buy sandwiches, if you do buy.

The quickest Express generally gives time for drinking, but if you don't like getting out of the carriage you can add sherry and water, or brandy and water, to the stock. Ask how long the train stops before you alight, and on no account attempt to do so before it stops.

If travelling singly, it is well not to enter a carriage containing an evident party, but rather put up with a seat elsewhere. Should anyone, however, do so by you, make way for him at once by clearing your wraps and things off the spare seat, and do not treat him as an intruder.

Railway rugs are much in vogue for travelling, but a shepherd's plaid or maud is a better thing, being applicable to any part of the person that is cold, and convertible into a counterpane at night. Caps and wraps of all sorts are to be had at the principal stations; but the less healthy people coddle and wrap themselves the better.

LODGINGS

The book refers to lodgings in London.   I have left out London oriented pieces, but noted headings as e.g. buying food and laundry would be needed in Cleethorpes. And lodgings in Cleethorpes may have been different to those in London. 

In looking for lodgings, survey the exterior of the house with a "Lodgings to let" in the window, to see whether it looks like such a one as you may expect to find rooms of the size you require.........

It would be a great convenience, if lodging letters would specify in their windows what they have to let, as for instance, a first or second floor, or a first floor, or the parlours, which means the ground floor.

In looking for lodgings avoid corner houses, as they entail a double allowance of noise, also musicians, tailors, bakers, doctors, dentists, and undertakers.

The private house lodging letters pretend to decry lodgings above shops, but if you see comfortable rooms above other than the professions or trades we have named, do not be prevented taking them on that account. Your friends will not suppose you keep the shop, while it may be satisfactory to know that the lodging letters have other means of living than upon you.

Having seen what from the outside you think will do you, you know proceed to knock at the door. If it is opened by a dirty slip-shod girl; if in addition the mat is ragged and the passage dirty, back out as quickly as you can, saying if they have a first floor to let that you want a second, or if a second that you want a first, and so on. And here we may observe that London lodgings are of three sorts:

First, the house-agent's lodgings, or "apartments" as they call them, where no "let" appears in the window, and the business is transacted by a house agent.

Secondly, the "either lodgings or houses," as the takers require, where the letters transact their own business, and will go out, leaving their servants if required.

Thirdly, the regular first and second floor, or parlours to let, that one sees at every turn and corner of the town.

We are not great admirers of the house-agent's "apartments;" they are generally kept by pretending sort of people, who being above lodging letting, leave their inmates to the mercy of the servants, whose services they not unfrequently entirely monopolise themselves. We knew one who could not bear the idea of her servants seeing any money pass between her lodgers and herself, and begged the rent might be sent down stairs to her in a sealed envelope!

The second sort, the either lodgings or houses as the party requires, is convenient if your family is large, but there is a danger attending them that it may be well to make known. Many of the houses have a sort of work-shop or retiring rooms down the yard, and while the owners are supposed to be recreating at Margate or Herne Bay, they are in fact occupying these rooms and living upon their lodgers. We knew a case where a country family occupied a house of this description for a whole summer, without ever suspecting what was going on, and this notwithstanding they had some fine faithful old family servants of their own up with them. Therefore we say "beware of back settlements."

The third is the common sort, and to them we will direct our attention. These are chiefly in the hands of "faithful old family servants," learned in the doctrine of perquisites and polite peculation.

These are curious people to deal with. The smiling obsequious plausibility that marks the entry, often contrasting with the stern inflexibility of the cracked plate and uttermost farthing scene at the exit.

Look at three or four sets of lodgings at least before you begin to make up your mind upon any. This will enable you to judge of the current rate of prices, and also to play one set of lodgings off against another. If towards the close of a bargain the party begins to be exorbitant about trifles you had better cry off, as they will be sure to cheat you in the end. Be very particular in looking at the offices and conveniences and the supply of water. Ask if there are any children or other lodgers, and if so, who. Also if they dine at home, and at what hour, in order that your arrangements may not clash, as few lodgings can manage two dinners at a time.

Coals are a fertile source of imposition. You are supposed to be in town at a time of year when it requires a little nerve to face a candle to seal a letter, but for the less fortunate as to season, coals are often a serious item. A writer in the "Times" lately exposed how at an hotel he was charged 2s 6d. per day for 2 ½d. worth of coals! Lodging-house people will often try for 1s/ a day for a sitting-room fire, and 6d. for a fire in the bed-room, but 6d. is ample for the one and 3d. for the other; 3s. 6d. a week, or 6d. a day when you dine at home for the use of the kitchen-fire is also a common charge, though it is far too much. Some very exorbitant people try to make a charge for the passage lamp, but this is a sheer imposition.

[WASHING - the visitor is advised to check the charges for washing]


BOOT AND SHOE CLEANING. - CLOTHES BRUSHING

This is often a bone of contention in lodgings, the people of the house generally trying to put them upon the poor over-worked servant, by whom they are sure to be wretchedly done, while you are charged a price that ought to ensure a superior polish; 6d. a day or 3s. 6d. a week for boot cleaning and clothes brushing is what they generally try for, but 2d. for boots and 1d. for shoes is the right thing. A prudent man will brush his own coat rather than let it descend to mop up slops in the area, and be brought back "nicely folded," which is generally all that is done. In bachelor's lodgings, boot cleaning &., is very well managed by men who do for the inmates of a certain number of houses. It is the family lodging letters that always make the trouble and declare there is no one to get...............it would be a good speculation for green-grocers (who are mostly old servants) to combine the business of valets. They should proclaim it in their windows, for the lodging letters would never let it be known.

PLATE

Plate is generally a purely imaginary article in London lodgings. take up a dozen or two of forks and spoons with you, and be sure you take them back.

................People...... in general, do not like lodging-house hospitality; and you had better make any return for what you receive by inviting your hosts to visit you in the country, the railways affording to them the same facility of getting at you, that they do you of getting at them. That is the true reciprocity system.

RENT.

First, or drawing-room floors, are always the most expensive; though there is often little to choose in absolute comfort between a first floor and a second. Many people object to a second floor in lodgings, who think nothing of climbing up to a third-floor in a fashionable hotel.

Remember, if you have noisy people in the house, it is better to have them below you than above. A second-floor is preferable to the parlours or ground floor, as you have better air and less noise and dust.
Whatever rooms you take, it may be well to stipulate that things are to remain as they are; or, on taking possession, you may find that the ornaments have taken flight, and druggets and chintzes covering the attractive carpets and chairs.

As there is always a final fight about dilapidation, it may mitigate the severity of the engagement, if, on entering, you point out the cracks, stains, and repairs. We have heard of a skilfully mended, skilfully cushioned easy-chair that was a regular annuity to a lodging-house keeper - each fresh occupant of the rooms breaking it down almost immediately.

If the lodging-house people ask you for a reference on taking, it gives you an opportunity of asking to see their last half-year's rent and tax receipts, which will secure you against Doe & Roe taking liberties with your wardrobe. The deposit of a sovereign answers every purpose of a reference - though a cab-load of luggage is as good as either.

 
TERM OF TAKING

It is not advisable to take lodgings for more than a week certain, though by taking them for a longer time you may get them a little cheaper. The best plan is to engage them with liberty to leave at the end of the week; but if you continue - say for a month - to have them at something less. Reduce the bargain to writing as well as you can, and get the party to sign it.
................
Forthwith write your new address in your pocket-book, so that, if you get your pocket picked, you may have a chance of getting the book at least back.

ENTERING.

We will now suppose you have effected an entry - got your trunks unpacked and your hands washed with a piece of your own old Windsor soap, instead of a piece of gingerbread-looking lodging-house stuff, charged at fifty per cent. profit, which leads us to say that the bane of lodgings is that the majority of letters want a profit upon everything you have - bread, meat, fish, cheese, butter, milk, vegetables, and will often change or spoil articles that are supplied by other than their own pliant tradespeople. The best plan is to specify, when you take the lodgings, that you mean to be supplied by your own tradesmen, and if there is any demur about it, have nothing to do with the lodgings.

Locking things up with lodging-house keys is quite a work of supererogation. the best plan is to convert a good strong railway box of your own into a temporary store-room.
..............

Anticipating your departure, we may here say that it is usual to give the poor servants of the house something, and it is desirable to give it to them personally. they are generally terribly worked, and wretchedly paid. The amount must depend upon the length of time you have been there, the trouble you have given, and the disposition they have shown to oblige. Any master or mistress can judge what they can get such a servant for by the year, and calculate accordingly.

Cleethorpes in the mid 1860s - extracts from Davenport's Guide

Some extracts from "
Davenport's Illustrated Guide to Cleethorpes, and Visitors' Hand-book to Great Grimsby" - undated, but probably the 1866 edition

The reference to the dining room at the station capable of seating 300 people does make you wonder if there was an additional building, no longer standing, at the station.  Elsewhere I have seen references to concerts held in the "Assembly-rooms" at the station.

____________________________________
The air is soft and refreshing and the cottages are clean and inviting. Most of them can accommodate visitors, and it is the sweet and homely appearance of all that leads a visitor to hesitate in his selection.
_______________________________
The visitor on his trip to Spurn point, will pass over the Cockle Beds, an extensive shoal on which, at low tide, people may be seen gathering cockles, or watching the dredgers plying their vocation. To the left lie the Oyster Beds, where an extensive cultivation of this bivalve is carried on. These beds can only be seen by visitors at Spring tides, about the full or change of the moon. They extend over an area of about 300 acres, which is divided into plots, and "farmed" by masters of fishing smacks and others connected with the fishery. The earl of Yarborough, as Lord of the Manor, claims the letting of these beds, which are an important and valuable property. At low water, oysters of all ages may be seen in large quantities, paving as with so many small tiles, the extensive fishing ground. The visitor is cautioned not to tread upon, or meddle with, these oysters in any way, as being private property it would be regarded as an act of trespass, if nothing further. In addition to oysters, there is considerable fishing carried on in plaice, smelts, soles, skate, eels, cod, and herrings. Large quantities of cockles and shrimps are sometimes caught, and the visitor may procure them fresh every day.
_________________
Now the place is peopled by upwards of a thousand residents. Streets are laid out, some of them very tastefully, and everywhere is so quiet that an enthusiastic old lady, fond of cats and sequestered nooks, once said - she "could almost hear the sunshine." The cottages are roomy and neat, and in some instances surrounded by garden plots. A taste for flowers is everywhere displayed, evincing a pure domestic feeling on the part of the residents.
Fronting the beach, and commencing at the "Cliff Hotel," Upper Thorpe, are terraces of finely built houses, of a style that we find in other watering places. "Queen's Parade" and "High Cliff terrace" are amongst the better class of these buildings. There are also several very fine houses in Beacon Thorpe; and in Middle Thorpe, along the road are scattered some princely looking dwellings of quite a modern construction, that are evidences of the thriving nature of the place. Tavern and Hotel accommodation are quite adequate to the wants of visitors. These establishments consist of

THE DOLPHIN HOTEL. This is the principal establishment of the place; being commodious and pleasantly situated, fronting the beach in Middle Thorpe. Some people call it the "Ivy Hotel," from a portion of its walls being picturesquely overgrown with ivy. Attached to the hotel is a private establishment for those who prefer the retirement of home. A separate room is provided for excursionists who have brought their own refreshments and hot water is furnished to them at a cheap rate. Conveyances for hire are kept, and there is a billiard-room attached, and baths are also provided for the comfort and convenience of visitors.

The Cliff Hotel, situate in Upper Thorpe, the "Cross Keys," in Middle Thorpe, and contiguous the "Leeds Arms Inn," at each of which visitors will meet with every attention to their wants.
_________________
Formerly it was no pleasant journey from Grimsby to Cleethorpes by the old coaching process, which was abandoned on the opening of the railway extension from Grimsby to Beacon Thorpe. This branch was opened in April, 1863, by the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Company, and has been found to be a great benefit. The station is built in the prevailing style of railway station architecture, and is furnished with a station master's residence, first and second class waiting rooms, ladies' waiting room, a refreshment bar, to which is attached a dining room, which may also be used as a lecture or concert room. The interior is of the Gothic style; three fine oaken spandrels supporting the roof, from which are suspended three ornamented gasaliers. The tables, in several tiers, and capable of seating 300 persons, are flanked with chairs, and supplied with books and periodicals. An excellent dinner may be obtained at a come-again price; and tea and coffee can be supplied in any quantity. The room is well adapted for the accommodation of school trips, as many as five hundred scholars and their friends having been supplied with refreshments at one time.

Conveyances are in constant attendance at the station to meet the trains to and from Grimsby. There are at present six arrivals, and as many departures daily.
Contiguous to the railway station, is the residence of the chief officer of the coast-guard.

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BBC News - Rise in beaches failing safety standards

BBC News - Rise in beaches failing safety standards

Good Beach Guide: Top regions
Lincolnshire - 9 beaches - 100% recommended

Video: Piles of sand grow on Cleethorpes seafront after days of high winds | This is Grimsby

Video: Piles of sand grow on Cleethorpes seafront after days of high winds | This is Grimsby

Charlotte Brontë planning a trip to Cleethorpes - 1839

Charlotte Brontë, Letters. [from "The Life of Charlotte Brontë" by Elizabeth Gaskell. ] and "Charlotte Brontë on the East Yorkshire Coast" by F. R. Pearson (The East Yorkshire Local History Society, 1957) [different parts of letters in each, combined to show travel details]_____________________________________________
In 1839 Charlotte Brontë was considering a trip to Cleethorpes with her friend Ellen Nussey. Charlotte was looking forward to seeing the sea for the first time: "The idea of seeing the sea - of being near it - watching its changes by sunrise, sunset, moonlight, and noonday - in calm, perhaps in storm - fills and satisfies my mind. I shall be discontented at nothing."

"July 26^th, 1839.
Your proposal has almost driven me "clean daft" - if you don't understand that ladylike expression, you must ask me what it means when I see you. The fact is, an excursion with you anywhere, - whether to Cleathorpe or Canada, - just by ourselves - without any ninnies to annoy us - would be to me most delightful. I should, indeed, like to go - but I can't get leave of absence for longer than a week, and I'm afraid that wouldn't suit you - must I then give it up entirely? I feel as if I could not - I never had such a chance of enjoyment before - I do want to see you and talk to you, and be with you - when do you wish to go? could I meet you at Leeds? to take a gig from Haworth to Birstall would be to me a serious increase of expense - and I happen to be very low in cash - O Ellen rich people seem to have many pleasures at their command which we are debarred from - however no repining - if I could take the coach from Keighley to Bradford and from Bradford to Leeds and you could meet me at the inn where the coach stops - on your way to Cleathorpe for I presume you go by the Leeds and Selby Railroad - it would be the convenient plan for me."

Charlotte added a PS to the letter:

"If I find it impossible to stay for longer than a week, could you get someone else to bear you company for the remaining fortnight? Since writing the above I find that aunt and papa have determined to go to Liverpool for a fortnight, and take us all with them. It is stipulated, however, that I should give up the Cleathorpe scheme. I yield reluctantly. But aunt suggests that you may be able to join us at Liverpool. What do you say?"

On 4 August 1839 Charlotte wrote again to Ellen Nussey, suggesting a visit to Bridlington (then called Burlington):

"The Liverpool journey is yet a matter of talk, a sort of castle in the air - but, between you and I, I fancy it is very doubtful whether it will ever assume a more solid shape................. I have got leave to accompany you for a week - at the utmost stretch a fortnight, but no more - where do you wish to go? - Burlington I should think from what Mary Taylor says would be as eligible a place as any. ................I had almost forgotten to settle about how we are to join if I take the coach from Keighley to Bradford and from thence to Leeds - I think I could arrive in the latter town by 10 or at the latest 11 o'clock in the morning - will that be soon enough for your plans? and will it suit your convenience to meet me at the inn where the coach stops? If this project should be deemed in some way inconvenient I must conceive some other - on some accounts it would be far better to get to Brookroyd [the Nussey family house] the day before - do you know whether there is any daily coach from Bradford [that] runs anywhere within a mile of you? After all I have not yet ascertained whether my limited time for staying at the sea-side will interfere with what is necessary for your health if it would I throw the whole scheme up at once - write very soon. What luggage will you take? much or little?"

On 9^th August Charlotte wrote:

"In the greatest haste I scrawl an answer to your letter - I am very sorry to throw you back in your arrangements, but I really cannot go to-morrow - I could not get my baggage and myself to Leeds by 10 o'clock to-morrow morning if I was to be hanged for it. You must write again, and fix a day which will give me a little more time for preparation. Haworth, you know, is such an out-of-the-way place, one should have a month's notice before they stir from it. You were very kind to try to get me fetched - but indeed Ellen, it was wrong of you - do you think I could comfortably have accepted so unreasonable a favour? my best plan will certainly be to come to Brookroyd the day before we start. I'll try to manage it."

On 14^th August Charlotte wrote:

"I have in vain packed my box and prepared everything for our anticipated journey. It so happens that I can get no conveyance this week or the next. The only gig let out on hire in Haworth is at Harrogate, and likely to remain there, for aught I can hear. Papa decidedly objects to my going by the coach, and walking to Birstall, though I am sure I could manage it. Aunt exclaims against the weather, and the roads, and the four winds of heaven; so I am in a fix, and, what is worse, so are you."

The trip to the sea (Bridlington, not Cleethorpes) eventually took place in September 1839.

Spending a Penny!

Very few trains had loos in the 1860s.  You could take your own, as the adverts below show!

Refreshment cars weren't standard either until later , so you could spend a penny at whatever facilities were available at stops for refreshments.


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"Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation Guide, for Great Britain and Ireland". 2^nd Mo. (Feb.) 1855.


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RAILWAY CONVENIENCE.

Gentlemen and Ladies Travelling by Railway will find great increase of comfort by using

WALTERS' RAILWAY URINALS, of which F. WALTERS has a large assortment.

MANUFACTURERS of TRUSSES, and SUSPENDERS for HUNTING.ELASTIC STOCKINGS,
to draw on WITHOUT LACING. NEW INVENTION!
WALTERS' HYDRO-PNEUMATIC SYRINGE.

___

FREDERICK WALTERS,

16, MOORGATE STREET, CITY.

N.B. - Entrance for Ladies, Private Door. - A Female Attendant for ladies

__________

TUCKER AND SON,

190, STRAND, (Opposite St. Clement's Church, and near Temple Bar),

LONDON

......................................................

A NOVEL RAILWAY READING LAMP

(for candles), which can be fixed in the carriage in an instant, folds up in a small space for the pocket, and is acknowledged by all who have used it to be the only complete article for the purpose.
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Lancet  1862


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SPARKS & SON, INVENTORS OF THE India-rubber Urinals for male and Female Railway Travellers, Invalids, and Children.

...................................................

The above Urinals are made on the most approved principles, and are all fitted with the recently-invented valve, which will not allow any return of the water by the upper part, by being placed in any position, and from their improved construction are better than any similar articles at present in use.

................

SPARKS and Son, Patent Surgical Truss and Bandage Makers,

28, Conduit-street, new Bond-street, London.

From "About Railways", by William Chambers of Glenormiston. Published by W&R Chambers. Introduction dated Nov. 2 1865
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The construction of a railway is the business of contractors, who execute the works by estimate, according to the plans and specifications of the engineers...........Acting himself as commander-in-chief, he has subordinates called time-keepers, foremen, gangers, and under-gangers, placed over detachments of operatives.


These operatives are a remarkable class of men. Originally from Lincolnshire and Lancashire, they are popularly known as navvies, from having been engaged in excavating navigable canals. The genuine navvy is an interesting specimen of a strong-built, hearty, industrious, and illiterate English rural labourer; his dress, a round felt-hat, coloured plush waistcoat, loose flannel jacket, corduroy breeches, and laced quarter-boots - appetite for beef, fried ham, and ale immense. With muscular strength corresponding to his appetite, the navvy is a proficient at using the pick, shovelling earth, and handling a wheel-barrow, which, with a load of one to two hundredweights, he trundles along a plank, and tips over with uncommon dexterity.

"Rambles about Home. In Lincolnshire" by W.H., 1865

From "The Youth's Magazine", 1865

Rambles about Home.
IN LINCOLNSHIRE. W.H. [initials of author only are given]

PEOPLE who object to travel in districts where tunnels are numerous should take a trip by the "Great Northern," up the eastern coast of Lincolnshire. They will there be indulged with a ride of about seventy miles, from Deeping to Grimsby, free from tunnels, if we except a small one just after leaving Boston. Indeed, though Lincolnshire is the second county in England for size, and is well supplied with railways, there are only two or three of these inconveniences in the whole county.

Some drawbacks, of course, there are on this account; for where there is no necessity for tunnels, the land must be flat and it is generally low as well; and, as a necessary consequence, the pleasing varieties of hill and dale are absent. ..... Those raised causeways that we sometimes pass are called Droves............ In addition to these causeways it was often necessary to use stilts; and so common was the practice that the inhabitants of the fens were for many ages called stiltwalkers. These people kept very large flocks of geese and other water-fowl among the fens; and every Christmas they sent so many up to London by the mail coaches that passengers could not be allowed a seat............

...............our train reached Grimsby, where our party remained for the night. The next morning, I and a friend who wished to join in an adventure, set out for Cleethorpes. We soon got on the sands, and after walking nearly three miles in a southerly direction, we found ourselves at Cleethorpes, a charming spot not surpassed as a bathing-place by any town on the eastern coast of Lincolnshire. Spurn Head is only eight miles off; the Yorkshire coast for many miles is visible, and the junction of the Humber with the German Ocean causes the waters to present a breadth of eight or ten miles. That which surprised us was the vast expanse of sand which lay before us. the tide was receding, and we followed it. On and on we went towards the south-east, still allured by the prospect of getting a better view of the German Ocean. Sometimes we were driven from our course by the oyster beds that lay in our road; here and there a boat was left on the sand by the receding tide, the owners sauntering about waiting for the returning waters. Every moment the immense area of sand increased in extent and tempted us further and further from the line where persons more experienced would have made a pause. Stragglers on the sand, who were a mile nearer the coast than ourselves, had set their faces towards the shore before we perceived that the tide had turned. A long white line of foam, nearly a yard in height, which broke close to our feet, followed by another and another, left us no room for doubt or hesitation. With hasty steps, which frequently broke into a trot, we turned our backs on the waves. Where there was the slightest depression in the sands the waters rushed forward and seemed to take a malicious delight in sending us out of our way. These obstacles soon became so numerous and so deep that we were obliged to hastily strip off the lower part of our dress and then make our way through the watery barriers. In an incredibly short time, ponds of alarming extent stretched themselves in all directions, while a broad and deep stream, which had set in towards the land, completely cut off our retreat in that direction. Finding that this was a creek running to the shore, we ran by the side of it, and to our delight reached a place where a boat was gradually rising with the waters and preparing for setting out on a fishing excursion. The fishermen perceiving our condition kindly helped us over the creek, and directed us how to reach a place of safety. I never think of the danger into which my imprudence had led me, and the unexpected means by which I escaped, without feeling a firmer confidence in that divine Providence which watches all our steps and overrules all our actions. On reaching Cleethorpes, we took our places on the top of one of the omnibuses which run to Grimsby, from which place we took the train to Barton-on-Humber, a distance of about twenty miles. The railway from Grimsby gradually leaves the banks of the Humber till it reaches Ulceby, five miles from the coast, and afterwards runs in a straight line down to the very water's edge at New Holland................

"Timetable" of railways in Lincolnshire that are of use in reaching Cleethorpes

To set the scene, here are the opening dates of some railways of use in reaching Cleethorpes. 

Date line opened

RouteComment 　　　 1 March 1848 Grimsby Town to New Holland 　 1 March 1848 Grimsby Town to Louth　 1 November 1848 Ulceby to Brigg　 1 November 1848 Barnetby to Market Rasen　 18 December 1848 Market Rasen to Lincoln　 2 April 1849 Brigg to Gainsborough　 16 July 1849 Gainsborough to Sheffield　 16 July 1849 Brocklesby to Habrough　 1 August 1853 Grimsby Town to Grimsby Docks and Grimsby Pier　 　　　 6 April 1863 Grimsby Docks to Cleethorpes　 　　　 1 July 1875 New Clee Station opened, between Cleethorpes and Grimsby Docks　 　　　

"Eastern England from the Thames to the Humber" by Walter White

Some extracts from:-"Eastern England from the Thames to the Humber" by Walter White, London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1865. 

Walter White walked to Cleethorpes from the south.  The book was published in 1865, but the trip may have been before Cleethorpes Railway Station was opened in 1863. 


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Farther on we ascended to a firm road; and crossed the haven by the clough, and so came to Saltfleet; a dull village on elevated ground, where the courtyard of the inn is overgrown with grass, and general stagnation appears to prevail. ..........

The New Inn, where the only viands were eggs and bacon, echoed hollow and empty to our footfall, and looked somewhat desolate. But we found in that grassy court-yard a spring of excellent water, which on a coast where good water is scarce gave us no little satisfaction.
Having no desire to see more of the saltmarsh, I resolved on continuing my walk by a road within the sea-wall.........to get as far as I could on the way to Cleethorpes by eventide.

The road soon led me into rural scenes, where the only signs of the sea are occasional glimpses of a shaggy sand-hill or of the distant level of the sea-wall: where you meet bright red carts, or black carts with bright red wheels, and wagons which exhibit on their yellow front three oval shields bearing the name and address of the owner and maker: where the rick-thatch is kept from blowing away by a number of cords thrown across weighted at each end with a brick, and the stacks look curious with a row of bricks dangling on each side; and where rustic damsels shout to the loiterer of their party, "Naw then, ur ye coomin' hoam? ye silly-lookin' mawkin."

So to North Somercotes, where "ye want to goo by that guide-post, and thruff the ma'shes by the fut-road," informed me at once as to the route to Grainthorpe, and as to a way of pronouncing through which I had never before heard. "Thruff the ma'shes," for through the marshes, might make once fancy that Anglo-Saxon churls are not yet extinct.

From Grainthorpe onwards my view was spoiled by heavy driving rain, which made the landscape look very dreary, and prepared me to appreciate the kitchen fire of the Crown and Anchor at Tetney Lock, where I arrived wet and cold an hour before sunset. The house is one of half a dozen situate a mile from the haven on the canal by which Louth communicates with the sea, and is frequented by boatmen and rustics, in whose talk a curious stranger will discover evidence of nearness to Yorkshire, and somewhat of local peculiarity. To lie is to lig: "She'll lig there a month," said a tough old fellow, speaking of his boat, "now that I hev hugged all the coal mysen;" meaning that he had carried it ashore on his own back. .....................

The country hereabouts is parcelled into numerous small holdings, and population is pretty thickly sprinkled, and cottages extend so far along the road, that it is not easy to tell where one village ends and the other begins. Some of the company boasted that the best feeding land in all Lincolnshire lay between Saltfleet and Grimsby. ........... It gladdened me to hear how the party warmed with their talk, and to observe how thoroughly they appreciated the advantage of living in a district where "a man could do some good for hisself with a bit o' land, and happen pay for moor 'n half on't with his fust 'ear's crop." The good old times when every rood of ground maintained its man, could hardly have been better. "They wuzzent so good," answered one of the men to whom I addressed the remark," 't wuzzent so easy to get 'ur crops to markut in them owd times. There wuzzent no railway 'ithin four or five mile on us uz there is now."
Tetney Lock is two miles from a church. "At winter time," said the hostess, "a clergyman comes here and preaches in the watch-house."

What a delightful morning saluted me when I looked forth on the morrow; and what a sense of freedom there was in the broad pastures across which runs the footway to Cleethorpes! How delightfully fresh and green the grass looked after the rain; and the air had that quickening influence which makes a wayfarer sing. With leagues of 'feeding land' far outspread, on which, sheep and cattle apart, nothing but a stripe of hedgerow, a shepherd's shed and three trees, there was full play for the sense of freedom. On I walked, crossing from pasture to pasture by the foot-bridges, while the tops of white sails appearing above the level bank a mile or two distant on the right, showed that I was not far from the northern limit of my journey. ..................

From the broad pastures the path led me to the bank, whence I looked upon the mighty Humber. There, far across the green expanse, I saw the tall red lighthouse of the Spurn; the distant lightship; the low wooded shores of Holderness, and all that interesting region .............
Here, between the bank and the broad saltmarsh, I saw patches of sea-holly. I had looked for the plant in all our journey from the Wash, but noticed only one solitary example of it near Saltfleet. It grows abundantly along the Yorkshire coast, while the sea-thorn appears to prefer Lincolnshire.

A little farther and there Cleethorpes opens in the view; red houses and a windmill crowning a bluff that seems to be the termination of a branch ridge running from the wolds to the Humber. Of this situation the growing village is not a little proud, for of all the Lincolnshire water-places it alone can boast of a cliff. From this modest elevation, which, as may be inferred from the term clee, is composed mostly of clay, the visitors who use it as their chief resort and lounging-place can overlook the beach, and the breezy common; the strollers and donkeys; the cocklers; bathing-machines, and all that sails the water between the two shores. Trips to Spurn, seven miles distant, are among its recreations for adventurous boating-parties.
From Cleethorpes it is about an hour's walk along the beach to Grimsby, where the tall tower of the docks rises conspicuously against the sky. The way is toilsome, and the neighbourhood of the town so unprepossessing that you will pity the troops of excursionists who are attracted thither by low fares, seductive advertisements, and hope of a view of the sea. The long dull walk from the railway station is enough to dishearten even the sanguine; but if that should fail, their first prospect of the beach will at once lower their tone. But there are loud noises near the docks and other signs of trade, and if you are curious to know who is the principal customer you may infer it from the number of German sailors who saunter about, or congregate where the Hamburg Borsenhalle is 'taken in.'

Grass grows in some of the old streets ...........

The market-place was thronged with country-folk, who amid their buying and selling found time to listen to the noisy babble of rival Cheap Jacks, and to Professor Gammon, Q.D., quack-doctor, from Hull, who stood on a chair to hold forth...............

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Prestigious forum reveals town's fishing virtues to the world | This is Grimsby

Prestigious forum reveals town's fishing virtues to the world | This is Grimsby

Cleethorpes Railway 1863-2013

Cleethorpes Railway Station opened on 6 April 2013.  I'll be adding some "Cleethorpes Railway 1863-2013" blogs to help celebrate 150 years of the railway in Cleethorpes.

Bear with me as I will be added the information bit by bit, and it will take a few days for a coherent history to appear!

Cleethorpes tourism mini-guide launched | Cleethorpes People

Cleethorpes tourism mini-guide launched | Cleethorpes People

Wonderland sale is 'great news for Cleethorpes' | This is Grimsby

Wonderland sale is 'great news for Cleethorpes' | This is Grimsby

BBC News - Grantham Museum confirms Thatcher statue plans

BBC News - Grantham Museum confirms Thatcher statue plans

Anger at irresponsible dog owners after attack on donkey in Immingham | This is Grimsby

Anger at irresponsible dog owners after attack on donkey in Immingham | This is Grimsby

BBC News - Plans for national beach sports stadium in Skegness

BBC News - Plans for national beach sports stadium in Skegness