Louth, Lincolnshire

Louth /ˈlaʊθ/ ^ⓘ is a market town and civil parish within the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.

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.^[1]

The Greenwich Meridian crosses Eastgate and this point is marked with a plaque on the north side of the street, just east of the junction with Northgate. The three-mile (5 km) £6.6m A16 Louth Bypass opened in August 1991. The former route is the B1520.

Historically, the town is most noted as the origin of the Lincolnshire Rising, the forerunner of Pilgrimage of Grace, on 1 October 1536, starting in St. James Church, Louth.

A flood occurred in the town on 29 May 1920, causing 23 deaths. Several stone plaques in the town show the high water level reached. Other, less devastating floods occurred on 25 June and 20 July in 2007.

Margaret Wintringham succeeded her dead husband at the Louth by-election in September 1921, to become the Liberals' first woman MP, and Britain's third woman MP.

Much of the town centre is lined with brick buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries and the town's skyline is dominated by St. James' Church, the spire of which is 295 feet (90 m) tall, though shorter than both Norwich Cathedral (315 feet (96 m)) and Salisbury Cathedral (404 feet (123 m)) in terms of spire height, it is reputedly the tallest Anglican parish church in the United Kingdom. Louth museum has a Panorama Gallery which features two back-lit replicas of William Brown’s Panorama of Louth viewed from the top of St James’s spire in 1844. The two original paintings that together form the panorama hang side-by-side in the Council Chamber of the Town Hall on Little Eastgate. The panorama gives a unique and vivid representation of the streets, businesses, homes and people of the town and the landscape as far as the North Sea to the east and northwards to the Humber estuary and beyond.^[2] The church was built in 1515.

One of the tallest structures in the European Union, the Belmont television and radio mast, is situated in the nearby village of Donington on Bain, five miles (8 km) west of the town.

ABM Pauls used to have a large maltings, which is now derelict.

Mike's Car used to be near Louth.

Louth's twin town is La Ferté-Bernard, close to Le Mans in Pays-de-la-Loire, France.  

Louth is noted for the wide selection of independent retailers in the town, in particular specialist grocers.^[3] Louth is also home to The Cheese Shop, which has gained nationwide recognition from features in The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Hairy Bikers' Food Tour of Britain, BBC Lincolnshire, BBC Look North, and being mentioned in works by Mary Portas and Rose Prince.

Just off the Market Place is the department store Eve and Ranshaw, whose history can be traced back to 1781 [1] whilst Eastgate is noted for its range of local shops including award winning butchers and an independent chain of 'Dragonfly' shops.

Major retailers have failed to make an impact in Louth. Boots the Chemist, Argos, New Look, Wilkinsons, Greggs, Subway, WHSmith and Holland & Barrett have small outlets in the town. The Woolworth's store closed in early 2009 as a result of the company's demise. Halfords opened a store in the Fairfield Industrial Estate in April 2009. There is a branch of Focus DIY on the same estate. Banks have a significant presence in the town; NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds TSB, Halifax, HSBC and Santander all have branches in the town centre. The town's first Building Society branch office was opened by the Peterborough Building Society (now Norwich & Peterborough) in 1973. The town was also the headquarters of the former Louth, Mablethorpe and Sutton Building Society, a local society with several branches and agents in Lincolnshire but this was taken over by the Bradford & Bingley in 1990.

The large number of independent food outlets may be due to the lack of any major supermarket chain in the area. Some argue that this is due to vociferous opposition over many years by elected representatives and others to major supermarket chains developing in the town, which has protected those independent outlets from competition. Louth currently has two supermarkets. The first is a small Morrisons which was converted from a Somerfield store under competition rules when the Co-op bought Somerfield. It originally opened in 1985. The other is a Co-operative supermarket which is similar in size and opened in 1989. However, a third retailer, Sainsbury's, owns a substantial area of land in the town centre, virtually next door to the Co-op store, and is presently submitting an application for a new 30,000 square feet (2,800 m²) store.^[4] It is estimated that around 80% of Louth food expenditure is spent outside of the town, mainly in Grimsby and Cleethorpes which are about 16 miles (26 km) away, but also Lincoln, 25 miles (40 km) away, and major supermarket chains from these areas regularly deliver in the town. Heron Foods has one of its largest branches in the town, which opened in 2009. It escaped the protesters' attention, possibly by moving from smaller premises where they had traded since the early 90s.

There is also speculation as to the site of the former cattle market which had been linked to an application from Sainsbury's and is now linked to a bid from Tesco. Lidl have applied for planning permission for a store on the Fairfield Industrial Estate despite protest from the 'Keep Louth Special' pressure group.

Market times

Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays are all market days, with a farmers' market on the fourth Wednesday of each month. A cattle market is held each Thursday at the Louth Livestock Centre on Newmarket.

A new leisure centre opened in February 2010, named "Meridian Leisure Centre". It cost £12m and consists of an 8 lane, 25 metre swimming pool and a two level gym with over 80 pieces of equipment, along with a sports hall and other facilities.

Primary schools

• Kidgate Primary School
• Lacey Gardens Junior School
• St. Michael's C of E Primary School
• Eastfield Infants and Nursery School

Secondary schools

• The Cordeaux School
• Monks' Dyke Technology College
• King Edward VI Grammar School

Further education

A new £3m further education college, called Wolds College, was built next to the Cordeaux School. Construction by the Lindum Group started in November 2007, and the college officially opened in October 2008. Unlike many Lincolnshire secondary modern schools, both Cordeaux and Monks' Dyke have their own sixth forms; East Lindsey's only other secondary modern with a sixth form is at Skegness. Although the town is well served for A-level provision, vocational courses were less well served until the college opened in this part of East Lindsey in September 2008, although there is the Grimsby Institute some fifteen miles (24 km) away.

Hubbard's Hills is one of the town's main attractions. It was opened to the public in 1907. The park is dedicated to the memory of Annie Pahud, the central character of a beautiful but tragic real-life love story. The park is situated in a glacial overspill channel that forged the course for a small river, the Lud. It meanders along the deep, flat valley bottom between steep, wooded slopes on either side.

Cadwell Park motor racing circuit is around four miles (6 km) south of the town, between the villages of Scamblesby and Tathwell.

Louth will be the eventual southern terminus of the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway, based at nearby Ludborough. The town was formerly on the East Lincolnshire Railway from Peterborough to Grimsby, an important north-south route, which opened in 1848, especially for holidaymakers in the summer. The line to Mablethorpe also started in the town from 1877, closing in 1960. The section to Wainfleet closed in 1961, with the Louth to Grimsby section later continuing for passengers until October 1970 with freight stopping in 1980. The former station is now residential flats; there are other reminders still standing.

Alfred Lord Tennyson was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School and a stone inscription to commemorate this forms part of a wall on Schoolhouse Lane in Louth.

The town's Playhouse Cinema is on Cannon Street, and is home to Louth Film Club, which won the British Federation of Film Societies' Film Society of the Year Award in 2008.^[5] The Riverhead Theatre is on Victoria Road, to the east of the town.

There are several local bands, especially jazz, in and around the town. Corinne Drewery of Swing Out Sister, grew up in the area.

Many national food campaigning organisations are based on Eastgate under the umbrella organisation the Processed Vegetable Growers Association, notably:

• The Asparagus Growers Association
• The British Onion Producers Association
• The British Herb Trade Association
• The Brassica Growers Association
• The Leek Growers Association
• The Radish Growers Association
• The Turfgrass Association

Transition Town Louth is a community project, who organize various events in and around the town aimed at promoting awareness of climate change and unsustainable resources. Part of a large social movement, many Transition Towns are now developing. Also sub-groups like the time-sharing project and the community food gardens are encouraging a shift towards sustainable communities.

Inhabitants of Louth are known as Ludensians, taken from the Latin name of the town (Lude, Luda).

• Jeffrey Archer was elected the town's Member of Parliament in a by-election in 1969. He stood down at the October 1974 general election.
• Jim Broadbent, actor, lives in a small village just outside Louth.
• Roy 'Chubby' Brown, adult comedian, (real name Royston Vasey) lives in nearby Fulstow.
• Leanda Cave, triathlete, was born in Louth
• George Davenport, Anglo/American frontiersman, US Army officer, was born in Louth
• Barbara Dickson, singer and actress, lives in Louth
• Corinne Drewery, lead singer of the band Swing Out Sister, attended schools in the town whilst growing up in the village of Authorpe, between Louth and Alford.
• Edward John Eyre (5 August 1815 - 30 November 1901) was an English explorer of Australia and a controversial Governor of Jamaica. He was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School. ^{[citation needed]}
• Graham Fellows, also known as John Shuttleworth and Jilted John, a singer-songwriter and comedian lives in the town.
• Michael Foale, the first British-born astronaut, was born at the Crowtree Lane Hospital (now the sixth-form and IT block of King Edward VI Grammar School) in the town (his father was stationed at the nearby Royal Air Force base at Manby).
• Sir John Franklin FRGS, (April 15, 1786 – June 11, 1847), English sea captain and Arctic explorer was also educated at King Edward VI Grammar School. ^{[citation needed]}
• James Gillick Figurative artist, works from his studio in Louth and lives nearby.
• Ron Grant (motorcyclist), former motorcycle road racer and tuner.
• Dan Haigh, bass guitarist in rock band Fightstar, born in Grimsby, was brought up near the town.
• Augustus Charles Hobart-Hampden, (April 1, 1822 - June 19, 1886), English naval captain and Turkish admiral, was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School. ^{[citation needed]}
• Thomas Kendall, Vicar of Louth, Leader of the Lincolnshire rebellion
• Cate Kennedy, author
• Matthew Macfadyen, actor, spent his childhood in the town.
• Harry Mallett, cricketer, was born in Louth.
• Patrick Mower, actor, currently seen in TV soap-opera Emmerdale lives in the area in Little Carlton.
• Philip Norton, Baron Norton of Louth (born 5 March 1951), leading expert on the British Parliament, Conservative politician, author and Professor of Politics at the University of Hull
• Adrian Royle, retired long distance runner, lives in Louth.
• Ted Savage, footballer, was born in Louth.
• Captain John Smith, English, soldier, sailor and founder of the Commonwealth of Virginia, although born in Willoughby, attended the King Edward VI Grammar School, where his name is adorned upon a tablet in the school's 'Edward Street Hall'. A cast iron bust of him also stands within the school's canteen.
• Stuart Storey - BBC sports commentator.^[6]
• Alfred Lord Tennyson was born in Somersby, between Louth and Horncastle, and was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School.
• Graham Winteringham, architect, was born in Louth.
• Robert Wyatt, English musician and former member of Soft Machine, now lives in Louth.

• Louth Town Partnership
• Louth official website
• Louth Leader
• Louth Museum
• Transition Town Louth
• St. James' Church
• Hubbard's Hills
• Louth Town Council
• Louth Navigation Trust
• Louth Directory
• Shopping in Louth
• Poacher Country
• WikiTravel
• Louth eye
• Louth Choral Society
• Louth Film Club
• Louth Town FC
• Louth Community Food Gardens