A Tour of Grantham
Grantham, with its population of about 33,000 people, stands on the River Witham
in south west Lincolnshire. The town has a history of engineering, now augmented
by light industry, health, public service, and agriculture. There are good transport
links - London is only an hour away by rail, the A1 road provides good north/south
links and the A52 trunk road links the town to Nottingham and the rest of the
East Midlands.
North Parade was the childhood home and birthplace of Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first woman Prime Minister. Baroness Thatcher was born Margaret Hilda Roberts on 13th October 1925. Her father took over the property in 1919 and used the ground floor as a grocery and sub-Post Office. Today, a wall plaque denotes the building as her birth place, and can be seen from Beechleigh House.
History
Grantham is an ancient market town believed to have originated as a Saxon settlement. It is recorded in the Doomsday Book as a Royal Manor, belonging at one time to Queen Edith, wife of Edward the Confessor, and it remained in Royal possession until 1696.
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By the 13th century, Lincolnshire was prospering through
the wool trade. The port of Boston was the gateway to continental Europe,
and carried more traffic than London. Grantham prospered too, and it was
at this time that the magnificent spire of St. Wulfram's (left) was built.
The importance of Grantham grew following the bridging of the River Trent
at Newark in the late 12th century. This altered the main route between
London and the north, bringing traffic through the town as part of the
Great North Road. |
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Belton House Belton House is a National Trust property set in 1000 acres of wooded deer park & landscaped gardens. The house has 25 rooms to view, that are dressed with arts and treasures from around the world. |
Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton was educated at the Kings School, and the old school used in Newton's day still survives as a library. Newton's signature can be seen carved on a window sill.
A monument of Grantham's most famous son stands before the Guildhall, cast
in bronze from a Russian cannon captured during the Crimea War.
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Golf Courses Belton Woods Country Club has two 18 hole and a 9 hole course, Belton
Park and Stoke Rochford golf clubs are both 18 hole and Sundbrook Moor
at Carlton Scroop is a 9 hole course. Grantham is edged in parts by open park land and the River Witham. There are many walks around the area including the Riverside Walk, The
Gingerbread Way and the Viking Way |
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