Editing Mablethorpe

{{Short description|Seaside town in East Lindsey, Lincolnshire}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England
|coordinates = {{coord|53.3409|0.261|display=inline,title}}
|label_position = left
|official_name = Mablethorpe
| static_image_name = {{multiple images
| image1 = St. Mary's Parish Church, Mablethorpe - geograph.org.uk - 143686.jpg
<!--please crop me at the top and bottom-->
| image2 = Mablethorpe sandtrain - geograph.org.uk - 4099475.jpg
| image3 = Mablethorpe High Street - geograph.org.uk - 3723723.jpg
| image4 = Seats on ramp to beach from Mablethorpe town centre - geograph.org.uk - 3386601.jpg
| image5 = Promenade, Mablethorpe - geograph.org.uk - 4377156.jpg
| image6 = Mablethorpe on a January afternoon, aerial 2015 - geograph.org.uk - 4304729.jpg
|align = center |total_width = 250|perrow=1 2
}}
| static_image_caption = Clockwise from top: [[St Mary's Church, Mablethorpe|St Mary's Church]], Sandtrain on Mablethorpe Beach, High Street, Seats on ramp looking towards town centre, Promenade and aerial view of Mablethorpe
|population = 12,668
|population_ref = (2011. with [[Sutton-on-Sea]])
|civil_parish =           [[Mablethorpe and Sutton]]
 | parts_type               = Areas of the town
 | p1                       = Miami Beach
 | p2                       = [[Saltfleetby]]
 | p3                       = [[Saltfleetby All Saints]]
 | p4                       = [[Saltfleetby St Clements]]
 | p5                       = [[Saltfleetby St Peter]]
 | p6                       = [[Sandilands, Lincolnshire|Sandilands]]
 | p7                       = [[Sutton-on-Sea]]
 | p8                       = [[Theddlethorpe]]
 | p9                       = [[Theddlethorpe All Saints]]
 | p10                     = [[Theddlethorpe St Helen]]
 | p11                     = [[Thorpe. Lincolnshire|Thorpe]]
 | p12                     = [[Trusthorpe]]
|shire_district = [[East Lindsey]]
|shire_county = [[Lincolnshire]]
|region = East Midlands
|constituency_westminster = [[Louth and Horncastle (UK Parliament constituency)|Louth and Horncastle]]
|post_town = MABLETHORPE
|postcode_district = LN12
|postcode_area = LN
|dial_code = 01507
|os_grid_reference = TF506850
|london_distance_mi = 130<!-- straight line per MOS – constant and comparable with other place distances -->
|london_direction = SSW
}}
'''Mablethorpe''' is a [[seaside town]] in the [[civil parish]] of [[Mablethorpe and Sutton]], in the [[East Lindsey]] district of [[Lincolnshire]], England.<ref name=EX283>OS Explorer map 283:Louth and Mablethorpe: (1:25 000):{{ISBN|978 0319238240}}</ref> In 1961 the civil parish had a population of 3,611.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10434774/cube/TOT_POP |title=Population statistics Mablethorpe AP/CP through time|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=7 September 2023}}</ref> On 1 April 1974 the parish was changed to form "Mablethorpe and Sutton".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/louth.html|title=Louth Registration District|publisher=UKBMD|accessdate=7 September 2023}}</ref> The population including nearby [[Sutton-on-Sea]] was 12,531 at the 2011 census and estimated at 12,633 in 2019.<ref>[https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/eastmidlands/lincolnshire/E34000776__mablethorpe/ City Pop site. Retrieved 13 April 2021.]</ref>

The town was visited regularly by [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]], a 19th-century [[Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom]]. Some town features have been named after him, such as Tennyson Road and the now closed Tennyson High School.

==History==
===Roman Empire===
A hoard of [[Roman Empire|Roman]] treasure was found in Mablethorpe in the 1980s, as were a Roman brooch and pottery.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HeritageGateway - Home * |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/gateway/default.aspx |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=www.heritagegateway.org.uk}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20231013120602/https://www.digital-documents.co.uk/cgi-bin/web-archi.pl?ARCHIFormNGRLetter=TF&ARCHIFormNGR_x=50&ARCHIFormNGR_y=85&password=freesearch@freesearch.com&TownName=MABLETHORPE&county=Lincolnshire&distance=10000&period=&font_size=&placename=Mablethorpe&info2search4=archi_town_search&keywords=Archi UK.]</ref>

===Mablethorpe Hall===
Mablethorpe has existed as a town for many centuries, gaining its market town charter in 1253. [[Coastal erosion]] means some of it was lost to the sea in the 1540s. Records of the Fitzwilliam family of Mablethorpe Hall date back to the 14th century. In the 19th century, it was a centre for [[ship breaking]] in the winter. Mablethorpe Hall is to the west of the town along Alford Road near the [[St Mary's Church, Mablethorpe|Church of St Mary]].<ref>[https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/771806 St Mary's church] geograph.org.uk</ref> The Mablethorpe church parish includes [[Trusthorpe]].

===Town lifeboats===
{{main|Mablethorpe Lifeboat Station}}
Mablethorpe's first [[Lifeboat (rescue)|lifeboat]]station was built in 1883. It was closed temporarily in 1917 due to crew shortages in the [[First World War]] but the closure was made permanent in 1920. It reopened as an inshore lifeboat station in 1965. It operates two lifeboats, an {{Lbb|Atlantic 85}} and a smaller  [[D-class lifeboat (IB1)|D-class]].<ref>{{cite web| title = Mablethorpe station history | website = RNLI | url = https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/mablethorpe-lifeboat-station/station-history-mablethorpe | access-date = 18 February 2024}}</ref>

===East Coast floods===
In 1953, Mablethorpe was hit by the disastrous [[North Sea flood of 1953|East Coast floods]]. The seawall was breached on 31 January. A granite rock memorial was unveiled on the coast on 31 January 2013 on the 60th anniversary of the disaster, in memory of the town's 42 victims.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-20995461 BBC News. Retrieved 16 June 2019.]</ref><ref>[https://www.mablethorpe.info/news/memorial-for-1953-flood-victims Mablethorpe info. Retrieved 16 June 2019.]</ref>

===In literature===
[[Image:Alfred Tennyson..jpg|thumb|220px|right|One of Britain's most renowned historical poets, [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]], once frequented Mablethorpe. It is said that he used to shout his poetry aloud towards the sea.]]

Mablethorpe is the destination for the fictional Morel family's first holiday in the still popular [[D. H. Lawrence]] 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 Morels' house rang with excitement."

Mablethorpe is the seaside setting for the [[Ted Lewis (writer)|Ted Lewis]] crime novel ''GBH'', published in 1980.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2015/05/07/404415996/gangsters-goons-and-grievious-bodily-harm-in-ted-lewis-london |title=Gangsters, Goons And 'Grievous Bodily Harm' In Ted Lewis' London |author=Powers, John |date=7 May 2015 |website=NPR.org |access-date=1 July 2020}}</ref> The novel was his last and has been described as a "lost masterwork".<ref>[https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/243527/gbh-by-ted-lewis/ About ''GBH''], [[Penguin Random House]]. Retrieved 28 June 2020.</ref>

==Transport==
Mablethorpe and much of east Lincolnshire lost its [[Mablethorpe railway station|rail service]] in 1970 to the [[Beeching Axe]], despite its [[Mablethorpe loop railway|long history]].<ref>Stewart E Squires, ''The Lost Railways of Lincolnshire'', Castlemead Publications, Ware, 1986 {{ISBN|0-948555-14-9}}, pp. 38–39.</ref> The station site is now the town's sports centre.

[[Stagecoach in Lincolnshire|Stagecoach]] operate an hourly service to Skegness, as well as a service to Louth and Lincoln. Grayscroft Coaches operates several services from a base in Victoria Road. Brylaine runs a service between Mablethorpe and [[Alford, Lincolnshire|Alford]] and [[Spilsby]], usually every two hours.<ref>[https://www.grayscroft.co.uk/ Grayscroft services. Retrieved 7 May 2020.]</ref>

Lincolnshire County Council operates a demand-responsive CallConnect service linking remoter areas to connection points at Alford, Chapel St Leonards and Mablethorpe for mainline bus services.<ref>[https://www.mablethorpe.info/info/mablethorpe-transport Mablethorpe Transport. Retrieved 7 May 2020.]</ref>

==Geography==
Mablethorpe, in the East Lindsey council district, is administered with Sutton-on-Sea and Trusthorpe as the [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] of [[Mablethorpe and Sutton]]. The original parish of Mablethorpe covers a rectangular area inland along Alford Road towards [[Maltby le Marsh]], as far as Grange Leisure Park, where Earl's Bridge crosses West Bank.<ref>[https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/520401 A1104.]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.grangeleisurepark.co.uk |title=Grange Leisure Park |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223191100/http://www.grangeleisurepark.co.uk/ |archive-date=23 December 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/520429. |title=Geograph:: Earl's Bridge © Stephen Horncastle}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/520807. |title=Geograph:: West Bank © Stephen Horncastle}}</ref> The south of the former parish follows the Trusthorpe Drains, which are crossed at Bamber's Bridge on ''Mile Lane''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/216902. |title=Geograph:: Trusthorpe Drains and the Wind Farm © Geoff Pick cc-by-sa/2.0}}</ref> Out towards [[Alford, Lincolnshire|Alford]] lies [[RAF Strubby|''Strubby Airfield'']], with the Strubby Aviation Club and Lincs Gliding Club. To the north is the large parish of [[Theddlethorpe|Theddlethorpe St Helen]], which extends to the River Great Eau at [[Saltfleetby]]. The town is the eastern terminus of the [[A52 road|A52]]. The town is also accessed by the A1104 and [[A16 road (England)|A16]] through Alford. The A157 heads west towards [[Louth, Lincolnshire|Louth]]  and is said to be the "sixth bendiest A-road in the UK".<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/4683276.stm |title=BBC NEWS – UK – England – Dorset – Bendiest roads in the UK revealed |date=6 February 2006}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
{{main|Mablethorpe and Sutton#Demographics}}
At the 2021 census, Mablethorpe and Sutton had a population of 12,668.

==Commerce==
The town's one retail bank branch, [[Barclays]], closed in July 2019.<ref>[https://www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/article/10881/Closure-of-Barclays-branch-in-Mablethorpe East Lindsey District Council site. Retrieved 07 October 2019.]</ref> There are four supermarkets – a [[Co-op Food|Co-op]] (which also includes a branch of [[Boyes (retailer)|Boyes]]), [[Lidl]] and from October 2021 the very first [[Tesco]] opened its doors. 'Lord Bros' an independent supermarket on Victoria Road has been open since the early 1960s. Branches of some high street chains are present, but most shops in Mablethorpe are independently operated. Market days vary through the year: Monday (Summer), Thursday (year round).
[[File:Lincolnshire Time and Tide Bell (2) (geograph 6926857).jpg|thumb|right|alt=A bell in a complex wooden framework, on the beach at the edge of the sea|The [[Time and Tide Bell]]]]

===Leisure===
Family attractions include a small [[Funfair|fairground]] and an award-winning beach with traditional seaside [[amusement arcades]] and one of the largest family entertainment centers in England named The Mirage. One of Mablethorpe's long-standing features, its sand train, takes visitors to and from the northern end of the beach.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/272023.|title = Geograph:: The train calling at platform 6 © Rog Frost}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/211670.|title = Geograph:: Tracks of the Sand Train, Mablethorpe © Tim Hallam cc-by-sa/2.0}}</ref> [[Mablethorpe Seal Sanctuary and Wildlife Centre]] is also north of the town.

A [[Time and Tide Bell]] installed on the beach near the Seal Sanctuary in 2019 is one of a series around the UK, rung by high tides.<ref name="tandt">{{Cite web |title=The Mablethorpe Bell |url=https://timeandtidebell.org/mablethorpe-lincolnshire/ |website=Time and Tide Bell |access-date=30 September 2021}}</ref><ref name="bell">{{Cite web |title=Mablethorpe hosts the latest Time and Tide Bell for Lincolnshire |url=http://transitiontownlouth.org.uk/bell.html |publisher=Transition Town Louth |access-date=30 September 2021}}</ref>

Mablethorpe's cinema, the ''Loewen'' in Quebec Road, was previously known as the ''Bijou''. ''The Dunes'' leisure complex lies on Mablethorpe's seafront. The seafront also gained a [[skatepark]] in 2008, which includes a small [[funbox]], a spine and two [[quarter pipes]].

Several small [[caravan park]]s and guest houses provide tourist accommodation.
{{clear left}}

==Electric power==
Just over a mile north-east of the town, near the Seal Sanctuary, was the now-closed [[Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal]], which supplied 5 per cent of the UK's gas. To the west is the Bambers [[wind farm]], housing eight [[turbines]] and producing five [[Megawatts|MW]] of power since November 2004. An extension called Bambers II opened in November 2006 and produces an additional five MW of power.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1003427.|title = Geograph:: Wind Farm near Mablethorpe © Ian Paterson}}</ref> The two turbines of Mablethorpe wind farm, which produce 1.2 MW of power, were the first such in Lincolnshire when built in July 2002. All three wind farms are owned by [[Ecotricity]] and stand at the corner of West Bank and the Trusthorpe Drains. Mablethorpe's ''Star of the East'' is on the seafront.

==Media==
The local weekly [[newspapers]] are the ''Mablethorpe Leader'' and ''The East Lindsey Target''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.louthtoday.co.uk/newsfront.aspx?sectionid=3702 |title=Louth Leader }}</ref>

Local news and television programmes are provided by [[BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire]] and [[ITV Yorkshire]] & [[That's TV|That’s Tv Humber]], Television signals are received from the [[Belmont transmitting station|Belmont]] TV transmitter.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Belmont | title=Belmont (Lincolnshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter | date=May 2004 }}</ref>

[[Coverage (telecommunication)|Radio coverage]] for Mablethorpe is provided by [[BBC Radio Lincolnshire]] and [[Hits Radio Lincolnshire]].

==Education==
The community's primary school is Mablethorpe Primary Academy School.<ref>[http://www.mablethorpe.lincs.sch.uk/ Mablethorpe Community Primary School.]</ref> The Mablethorpe site of [[Monks' Dyke Tennyson College]] closed in August 2016.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cgpartnership.com/learning-centres/mablethorpe.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126143814/http://www.cgpartnership.com/learning-centres/mablethorpe.html | archive-date=26 January 2018 | title=Mablethorpe &#124; CLIP }}</ref>

==Events==
[[Image:Beach hut on Sandilands foreshore - geograph.org.uk - 1401544.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A decorated [[beach hut]] on Mablethorpe's seafront]]
Mablethorpe hosts a unique beach-hut festival each September.<ref>[http://www.bathingbeautiesfestival.org/ ''Bathing Beauties'']</ref> Privately owned beach huts compete in outward design, amidst a backdrop of poetry, music, and drama.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7008097.stm |title=BBC NEWS – In Pictures – Picture Gallery: Mablethorpe huts|date=22 September 2007}}</ref>

Mablethorpe has long hosted motorbike sand racing each winter and spring. This has inspired the Lincolnshire Bike Week, following the Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea Bike Nights.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20191004094536/http://www.lincolnshirebikeweek.co.uk/ Lincolnshire Bike Week homepage] archived from [http://www.lincolnshirebikeweek.co.uk the original] on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2022</ref>

Each summer Mablethorpe hosts an illuminations event (a "switch on"), for which a celebrity is invited. Those officiating have included [[Barbara Windsor]], [[Timmy Mallett]] and [[Michael Van Wijk|Wolf]] and Hunter of ''[[Gladiators (1992 British TV series)|Gladiators]]''.

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*Winston Kime, ''Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea in Times Past'', Skegness: C. H. Major & Co., 1990
*Alfred J. Ludlam, ''Louth, Mablethorpe and Willoughby Loop'', Locomotion Papers, no. 162, Oxford: Oakwood Press, 1987
*Jeff Morris, ''The Story of the Mablethorpe and North Lincolnshire Lifeboats'', Coventry: Lifeboat Enthusiasts' Society, 1989
*A. E. B. Owen, "Coastal Erosion in East Lincolnshire", ''The Lincolnshire Historian'', vol. 1, no. 9, 1952, pp.&nbsp;330–341
*A. E. B. Owen, "Salt, Sea Banks and Medieval Settlement on the Lindsey Coast", N. Field and A. White, eds, ''A Prospect of Lincolnshire'', Lincoln: privately published, 1984, pp.&nbsp;46–49
*A. E. B. Owen, [http://slha.org.uk/downloads/publications.php?filename=LHA21-Owen.pdf "Mablethorpe St Peter's and the Sea"], ''Lincolnshire History and Archaeology'', vol. 21 (1986), pp.&nbsp;61–62
*T. S. Patchett, ''The History of Mablethorpe County School'', Mablethorpe: Mablethorpe County Primary School, 1968
*Simon Pawley, [https://figshare.com/articles/Lincolnshire_coastal_villages_and_the_sea_c_1300_-_c_1600_economy_and_society/10176488 "Lincolnshire Coastal Villages and the Sea c. 1300–c. 1600: Economy and Society"], PhD thesis, University of Leicester, 1984
*R. E. Pearson, "Railways in Relation to Resort Development in East Lincolnshire", ''East Midlands Geographer'', vol. 4, 1968, pp.&nbsp;281–295
*David N. Robinson, ''The Book of the Lincolnshire Seaside: The Story of the Coastline from the Humber to the Wash'', Barracuda, 1981
*David N. Robinson, "The Changing Coastline", Dennis R. Mills (ed.), ''Twentieth Century Lincolnshire'', History of Lincolnshire, no. 12, Lincoln: History of Lincolnshire Committee of the Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, 1989, pp.&nbsp;155–180
*Ruth N. Neller, ''The Growth of Mablethorpe as a Seaside Resort, 1800–1939'', Mablethorpe: SBK Books, 2000
*Ruth N. Neller, "Skegness, Mablethorpe and Cleethorpes: contrasts of land ownership and investment in the development of seaside resorts", ''Lincolnshire History and Archaeology'', vol. 47, 2012, pp.&nbsp;35–47
*Sally Scott, "The early days of planning", Dennis R. Mills, ed., ''Twentieth Century Lincolnshire'', History of Lincolnshire, no. 12, Lincoln: History of Lincolnshire Committee of the Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, 1989, pp.&nbsp;181–211

==External links==
{{commons category-inline|Mablethorpe}}
{{Wikivoyage|Mablethorpe}}
*[http://parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/MablethorpeandSutton/ Mablethorpe and Sutton Town Council]

===News items===
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/6266097.stm Star of the East in January 2007]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/3985683.stm Bambers Wind Farm opens in November 2004]

===Video clips===
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_ajzqE8THI Seal sanctuary]
*[http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=53939 Pathe newsreel, 1953, Flood victims evacuated to Mablethorpe]
*[http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=30723 Pathe newsreel, 1953, Queen visiting flood victims in Tilbury & Mablethorpe]
*[http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=63281 Pathe newsreel, 1955, Duke of Edinburgh visits flood defences]

{{Portal bar|England|United Kingdom}}
{{Lincolnshire|state=collapsed}}
{{East Lindsey (district) |state=collapsed}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Mablethorpe| ]]
[[Category:Seaside resorts in England]]
[[Category:Towns in Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:Former civil parishes in Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:Beaches of Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:Wind farms in England]]
[[Category:East Lindsey District]]