Lincolnshire coast
Encyclopedia
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
runs for more than 50 miles (80.5 km) down the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
coast
Coast
A coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...
of eastern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, from the estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
of the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
(which divides it from East Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
) to the marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
lands of the Wash
The Wash
The Wash is the square-mouthed bay and estuary on the northwest margin of East Anglia on the east coast of England, where Norfolk meets Lincolnshire. It is among the largest estuaries in the United Kingdom...
, where it meets Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. This stretch of coastline has long been associated with tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
, fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
and trade
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
.
Towns and villages
Major settlements on the Lincolnshire coast include the ports of GrimsbyGrimsby
Grimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996...
and Immingham
Immingham
Immingham is a town in North East Lincolnshire, located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary...
, and the seaside resort
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
s of Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes is a town and unparished area in North East Lincolnshire, England, situated on the estuary of the Humber. It has a population of 31,853 and is a seaside resort.- History :...
, Mablethorpe
Mablethorpe
Mablethorpe is a small seaside town in East Lindsey on the coast of Lincolnshire, England.-Geography:Several small caravan parks exist around Mablethorpe. The town is administered with Sutton-on-Sea and Trusthorpe, as the civil parish of Mablethorpe and Sutton...
(with Sutton on Sea), Ingoldmells
Ingoldmells
Ingoldmells is a coastal village, civil parish and resort in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, on the A52.-Geography:In terms of villages it is relatively large, and receives a lot of tourism yearly due its close position to Skegness. Most housing is found in the west of the...
and Skegness
Skegness
Skegness is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Located on the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, east of the city of Lincoln it has a total resident population of 18,910....
.
Smaller towns and villages on the coast include South Ferriby
South Ferriby
South Ferriby is a village in North Lincolnshire, England situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary 5 km west of the Humber Bridge and directly opposite North Ferriby on the Estuary’s north bank. It currently has a population of around 600 people.-History:It dates back at least to Roman...
, Barton
Barton-upon-Humber
Barton-upon-Humber or Barton is a small town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary, and at the end of the Humber Bridge. It lies east of Leeds, southwest of Hull and north northeast of the county town of Lincoln...
, Barrow
Barrow upon Humber
Barrow upon Humber is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. Many of the buildings in the centre of the village are of 18th and 19th century origin. There are several buildings of note including Down Hall, Barrow Hall, Forester's Hall and West Cote Farm. There are two public...
, New Holland
New Holland, North Lincolnshire
New Holland is a small village, civil parish and port on the Humber estuary in the Borough of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England. It has a population of 955.-History:...
, Saltfleet
Saltfleet
Saltfleet is a coastal village in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Situated approximately north of Mablethorpe and east of Louth. The village is part of the civil parish of Skidbrooke with Saltfleet Haven, which had a population of 523 at the 2001 Census.Saltfleet has a 19th century...
& Saltfleetby
Saltfleetby
Saltfleetby is a village and civil parish in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Situated approximately east of Louth, north of Mablethorpe and on the coast of the North Sea, the village had a population of 599 at the 2001 Census....
, Theddlethorpe
Theddlethorpe
Theddlethorpe comprises two close villages and civil parishes, Theddlethorpe St Helen, and Theddlethorpe All Saints, in the East Lindsey district of the county of Lincolnshire, England. These two villages have operated as one entity for many years...
, Trusthorpe
Trusthorpe
Trusthorpe is a small village on the east coast of England. It is in the county of Lincolnshire and is south of Mablethorpe and north of Skegness...
, Sandilands, Anderby
Anderby
Anderby is a civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It has a population of 335, according to the 2001 census.The main village in the parish is called Anderby, and consists mainly of a stretch of housing just off the main A52....
Creek, Chapel St Leonards
Chapel St Leonards
Chapel St. Leonards is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, situated to the north of the resort of Skegness....
and Freiston Shore
Freiston Shore
Freiston Shore is a village in the civil parish of Freiston, approximately east of Boston, Lincolnshire. In Victorian times the village enjoyed a boom, with visitors looking to enjoy the healthy unindustrialised atmosphere of the area.-History:...
.
The port of Boston
Boston, Lincolnshire
Boston is a town and small port in Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England. It is the largest town of the wider Borough of Boston local government district and had a total population of 55,750 at the 2001 census...
, though some six miles (10 km) from the open sea
Sea
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...
, is often considered a coastal town. Boston Haven
The Haven, Boston
The Haven is the tidal river of the Port of Boston, Lincolnshire in England. It provides access for shipping between Boston Deeps in The Wash and the town, particularly, the dock. It also serves as the outfall into the sea, of the River Witham and of several major land drains of the northern Fens...
, a tidal
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
stretch of the River Witham
River Witham
The River Witham is a river, almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire, in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham, at SK8818, passes Lincoln at SK9771 and at Boston, TF3244, flows into The Haven, a tidal arm of The Wash, near RSPB Frampton Marsh...
, made Boston one of the most significant ports in England between the 11th-17th centuries. Boston was a "staple town" and a member of the Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
.
Geography
The character of Lincolnshire as it meets the sea is overwhelmingly flat. In the north of the county, the Humberhead LevelsHumberhead Levels
The Humberhead Levels cover a large expanse of very flat, low lying land towards the eastern end of the Humber estuary in northern England. The Levels occupies the area of the former Glacial Lake Humber...
and the land reclamation
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
reclaimed Lincolnshire Marsh
Lincolnshire Marsh
The Lincolnshire Marsh is a belt of reclaimed salt marsh and sand dune in Lincolnshire, England and between the Lincolnshire Wolds and the North Sea coast. It is up to seven kilometres wide.-Geology:...
are pretty much at sea level, while in the south the Fens
The Fens
The Fens, also known as the , are a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region....
give way to acres of salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
es. The tide is prevented from re-flooding the land by miles of man-made earth sea banks
Coastal management
In some jurisdictions the terms sea defense and coastal protection are used to mean, respectively, defense against flooding and erosion...
.
Looking inland from any point on the coast between Grimsby and Boston, the nearest visible geographical feature is a low line of hill
Hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills...
s, the Lincolnshire Wolds
Lincolnshire Wolds
The Lincolnshire Wolds is a range of hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , and the highest area of land in eastern England between Yorkshire and Kent...
.There are more than thirty miles of sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
y beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es (in an unbroken line from Cleethorpes to Gibraltar Point
Gibraltar Point
Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve is an area of approximately in Lincolnshire, England.The reserve is owned by Lincolnshire County Council and East Lindsey District Council and is administered by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust...
), which give way in the north and south to acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s of salt marsh and estuarine mud
Mud
Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...
.
The rivers Great Eau, Lud, Nene
River Nene
The River Nene is a river in the east of England that rises from three sources in the county of Northamptonshire. The tidal river forms the border between Cambridgeshire and Norfolk for about . It is the tenth longest river in the United Kingdom, and is navigable for from Northampton to The...
, Steeping, Welland
River Welland
The River Welland is a river in the east of England, some long. It rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally northeast to Market Harborough, Stamford and Spalding, to reach The Wash near Fosdyke. For much of its length it forms the county boundary between...
and Witham
River Witham
The River Witham is a river, almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire, in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham, at SK8818, passes Lincoln at SK9771 and at Boston, TF3244, flows into The Haven, a tidal arm of The Wash, near RSPB Frampton Marsh...
all drain into the North Sea from Lincolnshire. The Humber (and its tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
the Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
) form the northern and western boundaries of the county.
Owing to the combined sediment
Sediment
Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....
carried by the Humber and the rivers of the Wash, and to the muddy clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
sea floor, the waters off Lincolnshire are usually an opaque
Opacity (optics)
Opacity is the measure of impenetrability to electromagnetic or other kinds of radiation, especially visible light. In radiative transfer, it describes the absorption and scattering of radiation in a medium, such as a plasma, dielectric, shielding material, glass, etc...
brown
Brown
Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....
.
History
From prehistoryPrehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
, the Lincolnshire coast was an important centre for the production of salt. At its peak in the 1950s, Grimsby was the largest and busiest fishing port in the world.
In 1953, a storm tide
Storm tide
A storm tide is a tide with a high flood period caused by a storm. Storm tides can be a severe danger to the coast and the people living along the coast. The water level can rise to more than 5 meters above the normal tide....
overwhelmed Lincolnshire's sea defences, and the county was flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
ed as far inland as Alford
Alford, Lincolnshire
- Notable residents :* Captain John Smith who lived in nearby Willoughby* Anne Hutchinson, pioneer settler and religious reformer in the United States* Thomas Paine, who was an excise officer in the town....
. More than 300 people were killed in Lincolnshire and neighbouring counties. Coastal defences
Coastal management
In some jurisdictions the terms sea defense and coastal protection are used to mean, respectively, defense against flooding and erosion...
(sea banks) were extensively rebuilt after 1953, but the threat of inundation of low-lying areas by a rising sea in an era of global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
worries many residents of the Lincolnshire coast.
In an effort to combat this threat (and that to wildlife of coastal squeeze), parts of the sea bank are deliberately being breached, and areas of the coast converted back to salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
in a process of "managed retreat".
From the shoreline of Sutton on Sea and various other places along the coast it is possible to see the curvature of the earth's surface.
- See also: North Sea flood of 1953North Sea flood of 1953The 1953 North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm, that occurred on the night of Saturday 31 January 1953 and morning of 1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Scotland.A combination of a high spring tide and a severe European windstorm caused a...
.
The Lincolnshire coast today
Tourism is still important for the area around Skegness - tens of thousands of (mainly working-class) holiday-makers and day-trippers from the industrial East MidlandsEast Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
(Mansfield
Mansfield
Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....
; Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
) and South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
visit the town each year. The town has been home - since 1936, to Sir Billy Butlin
Billy Butlin
Sir William Heygate Edmund Colborne Butlin, , was a British, South Africa-born entrepreneur whose name is synonymous with the British holiday camp.American Heritage Dictionary 2004, p. 135.Scott 2001, p. 5...
's first Butlins
Butlins
Butlins is a chain of large holiday camps in the United Kingdom. Butlins was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families....
holiday camp
Holiday camp
Holiday camp, in Britain, generally refers to a resort with a boundary that includes accommodation, entertainment and other facilities.As distinct from camping, accommodation typically consisted of chalets – small buildings arranged either individually or in blocks. Some had three or four storeys,...
, and the stretch of coast just north of Skegness holds the honour of the greatest concentration of static caravans
Mobile home
Mobile homes or static caravans are prefabricated homes built in factories, rather than on site, and then taken to the place where they will be occupied...
in the whole of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Farming
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, the mainstay of the Lincolnshire economy, takes place right under the shadow of the sea walls.
Grimsby is a centre for the UK's frozen food
Frozen food
Freezing food preserves it from the time it is prepared to the time it is eaten. Since early times, farmers, fishermen, and trappers have preserved their game and produce in unheated buildings during the winter season. Freezing food slows down decomposition by turning water to ice, making it...
import and processing industry. It is known colloquially as The UK's (or Europe's) Food Town. Though the fishing industry has declined since the 1970s, Grimsby still boasts the UK's largest fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
in the UK, though little of the fish sold there is landed at Grimsby Docks.Despite the decline in fishing, the ports of Grimsby and Immingham are still a vital link in the UK's transport infrastructure (see below).
There is a wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
near Mablethorpe, which generates 0.6MW of electricity.
Transport
Lincolnshire's only stretch of motorway, the M180M180 motorway
The M180 motorway is a short but major motorway in England from junction 5 on the M18 motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster to a point close to Humberside Airport some from the ports of Immingham and Grimsby and the east coast and provides access for major routes to Cleethorpes,...
, terminates near the village of Barnetby le Wold
Barnetby
Barnetby is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England, between Scunthorpe and Grimsby. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,593. Barnetby railway station serves the village and surrounding area...
, but the road continues as the A180
A180 road
The A180 is a primary route in northern England, that runs from the M180 motorway to Cleethorpes. The road is a continuation of the M180, but built to lower specifications: it is mainly dual two-lane without hard shoulders. The road is dual carriageway for from the M180 to Grimsby, and is a...
to Grimsby, thus linking the docks with Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe is a town within North Lincolnshire, England. It is the administrative centre of the North Lincolnshire unitary authority, and had an estimated total resident population of 72,514 in 2010. A predominantly industrial town, Scunthorpe, the United Kingdom's largest steel processing centre,...
and the industrial towns and cities of South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
. The A16 joins Grimsby with Boston (via Louth
Louth, Lincolnshire
Louth is a market town and civil parish within the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.-Geography: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.The Greenwich...
), while the A52 links Boston and Skegness. Skegness itself lies at the eastern end of the A158
A158 road
The A158 road is a major tourist route that heads from Lincoln in the west to Skegness on the east coast. The road is located entirely in the county of Lincolnshire and is single carriageway for almost its entirety. The road is approximately long...
to Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
.
The coast is served by the Grimsby branch of the Sheffield to Lincoln line
Sheffield to Lincoln Line
The Sheffield to Lincoln line is a railway line in England. It runs from Sheffield east to Lincoln via Worksop, Retford and Gainsborough Lea Road. The route comprises the main line of the former Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, to Gainsborough, Trent Junction, where it then follows...
, the Cleethorpes-Barton line
Barton Line
The Barton Line is a railway line in North and North East Lincolnshire. It runs from Barton-upon-Humber south east to Cleethorpes and was designated by the Department for Transport as a community rail line in February 2007....
, and the Grantham to Skegness line. There are railway stations at Barrow
Barrow Haven railway station
Barrow Haven railway station serves the village of Barrow Haven in North Lincolnshire, England. Stopping services from Barton-on-Humber to Cleethorpes call at the station...
, Barton
Barton-on-Humber railway station
Barton-on-Humber railway station serves the town of Barton-upon-Humber in North Lincolnshire, England.The station, which was once the terminus of a branch line from New Holland, is nowadays the terminus of the Barton Line services operating from Cleethorpes. It is situated west of the resort...
, Boston
Boston railway station
Boston railway station serves the town of Boston in Lincolnshire, England. Services are operated by East Midlands Trains.-History:The station has declined in importance since the 1960s. In its heyday the station employed over 50 staff and had two through tracks and cover over the platform tracks...
, Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes railway station
Cleethorpes railway station is a rail terminus serving the seaside town of Cleethorpes in North East Lincolnshire. The station is operated by First TransPennine Express, and is also served by Northern Rail and East Midlands Trains....
, Grimsby (docks
Grimsby Docks railway station
Grimsby Docks railway station serves the Freeman Street area of Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire, England. This is one of the oldest parts of the town, close to the Freeman Street Market and the town's docks both commercial and fish, the railway entrance to both being over the level crossing at...
and town
Grimsby Town railway station
Grimsby Town railway station serves the town of Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire, England. It is currently operated by First TransPennine Express, and is also served by Northern Rail and East Midlands Trains...
), New Holland
New Holland railway station
New Holland railway station is a single platform station which serves the village of New Holland in North Lincolnshire, England. The station is situated on the Barton-on-Humber line west of , and all trains serving it are operated by Northern Rail.-History:...
and Skegness
Skegness railway station
Skegness railway station serves the seaside resort of Skegness in Lincolnshire, England.Services are operated by East Midlands Trains which run to and from Nottingham, where services originate or terminate.-History:...
.
Lincolnshire RoadCar (now owned by Stagecoach
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
) runs regular InterConnect buses linking the towns of the east coast with the other major population centres of Lincolnshire - the bus network is of vital importance in a rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
county poorly-served by the railway network, and with an elderly
Old age
Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span of human beings, and thus the end of the human life cycle...
population living in remote, scattered villages.
Grimsby and Immingham are major ports (together, they handle some 55.9 million tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s of cargo per annum - the largest port in the UK in terms of tonnage); The port of Boston is less important than it was (though it still handles upwards of 1.5 million tonnes p.a.).
Humberside Airport
Humberside Airport
-Cargo flights:Icelandair Cargo operate a weekly Sunday flight from Keflavík which then departs to Liege-Passenger statistics:-Bus service:An hourly daytime bus service runs from Grimsby and Hull to the airport from Monday to Saturday.-External links:**...
is ten miles (16 km) west of Grimsby.
Nature
The marshes and reedbedsReed bed
Reed beds are natural habitats found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions andestuaries. Reed beds are part of a succession from young reed colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground...
of the Wash and Humber are some of the most important areas for wading birds
Wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
in the UK.
Lincolnshire's coastal nature reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
s include: Gibraltar Point
Gibraltar Point
Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve is an area of approximately in Lincolnshire, England.The reserve is owned by Lincolnshire County Council and East Lindsey District Council and is administered by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust...
National Nature Reserve
National Nature Reserve
For details of National nature reserves in the United Kingdom see:*National Nature Reserves in England*National Nature Reserves in Northern Ireland*National Nature Reserves in Scotland*National Nature Reserves in Wales...
(NNR) south of Skegness, the Far Ings NNR on the Humber, Donna Nook
Donna Nook
Donna Nook is a bombing range on the coast of Lincolnshire, England, north of the village of North Somercotes. The area is salt marsh, and is used by a number of Royal Air Force bases in Lincolnshire for bombing practice. The site was also made available to commercial organisations such as BMARC...
NNR (a major pup
Pup
Pup may refer to:In zoology:*Puppies, younger dogs*Pinniped young*Shark young*Rodent youngIn other uses:* Sopwith Pup, an aircraft used by the British in World War I* Beagle Pup, a 1960s British light aircraft...
ping ground for Britain's Grey Seal
Grey Seal
The grey seal is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a large seal of the family Phocidae or "true seals". It is the only species classified in the genus Halichoerus...
population), Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR
Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe Dunes National Nature Reserve
Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe Dunes is a National Nature Reserve on the coast of Lincolnshire, England, in the parishes of Saltfleetby and Theddlethorpe...
(all managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the whole ceremonial county of Lincolnshire England...
), and Frampton Marsh and Freiston Shore RSPB reserves.