Alford, Lincolnshire

Alford (pronounced /ˈɒlfərd/ OL-fərd) is a town in Lincolnshire, England, about 11 miles (18 km) north-west of the coastal resort of Skegness, at the foot of the Lincolnshire Wolds, which is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The population was recorded as 3,459 in the 2011 Census.[1]

Alford

Alford Windmill
Alford
Location within Lincolnshire
Population3,459 (2011)
OS grid referenceTF454758
• London120 mi (190 km) SSW
Civil parish
  • Alford
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townALFORD
Postcode districtLN13
Dialling code01507
PoliceLincolnshire
FireLincolnshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament

Governance

An electoral ward of the same name exists. It stretches east to the coast, with a population of 4,531, as recorded in the 2011 census.[2]

Amenities

Alford's retail outlets cater mainly for local demand. Shops include a pharmacy, a grocery, two butchers (the later one opened in November 2016) and DIY and hardware stores. There are three supermarkets, in Church Street, West Street and Hamilton Road. The five public houses are the Half Moon Hotel, Windmill Hotel, George,[3] Anchor and White Hart. Four of these still operate as such – the Half Moon has a tea shop attached and is a venue for local activities. The Anchor has been renovated as a bed-and-breakfast establishment. The Windmill is a hotel, while the White Hart is still a traditional pub.

The town has no banks, as the last, Lloyds Bank, closed in September 2018. There is still a Yorkshire Building Society office. Banking facilities are available at the Post Office, which is now incorporated into the Quicky Supermaket in West Street.

H & M Ducos Pottery, established in London in 1972, moved to Alford in 1973 and became the Alford Pottery. It acquired premises in Commercial Road in 1978 to manufacture tableware that is exported worldwide. The firm set up the Alford Craft Market, the Alford Festivals of arts and crafts, the Alford Folk Club (now an acoustic club), the Alford Morris Dancing club, the former Alford Jazz Festival, the former Alford Film Society, and other organisations. Alford Craft Market Centre is a cooperative venture selling works from local and regional craftsmen. With help from a substantial National Lottery grant, it provides various classes and workshops to allow the public to experience art and craft activities on a regular basis.

There are National Health private dentists located in South Street and the Doctor's surgery in West Street. A crematorium opened at the entrance to the town in 2008.

The charter market day is Tuesday. The main market is run by the town council in the Market Place, with stalls for groceries, greengroceries and fishmongery and other items, as well as a popular auction. The Alford Craft Market has been held on the Market Place since 1974 every late Spring Bank Holiday and August bank holiday since 1975, in the grounds of the Alford Manor House. The summer weekly Craft Market is now held in the Corn Exchange and the Christmas Extravaganza at the Manor House on the first Friday in December. The cattle market closed in 1987 and the site is now the Co-op Car Park. In February 2019, the Alford Promotions group was set-up by shop-owners and councillors to organize community events including a Christmas Market, the first of which took place on 30 November 2019.

A new event will happen over the weekend of the 15–16 August 2020. This will be the Alford 1940s Weekend held to commemorate the 75th anniversary of VJ-day.[4]

Employment and transport

Most factories have closed in the last few years. The main sources of employment are newer businesses on the Safelincs industrial estate in West Street and the schools, nursing homes and smaller firms.

Former railway station

Beeching's Way Industrial Estate in the south-west of the town includes printing and manufacturing firms, a builders' merchant, and a postal sorting office. It was built on the line of the East Lincolnshire Railway from Grimsby to Boston, which closed on 5 October 1970, along with the local station. The naming of the industrial estate as Beeching's Way is a wry reminder of Richard Beeching, who masterminded the nationwide rail cutbacks under publicly owned British Railways.

The town's previous largest employer was C. S. Martin, later Finnveden Powertrain Ltd, closed its doors in 2010. After redundancies, the factory now operates as Gnutti Carlo UK Ltd.

There is a daytime Monday-to-Friday bus service to Skegness,[5] a single Wednesday service to Boston,[6] and occasional local and school bus services open to other passengers.[7]

Alford has bus connections to Skegness, Mablethorpe and Spilsby. Although it only has one service to Louth a day from and to. As well as Boston and York on certain dates a year. The nearest railway station is in Skegness.

Population
Population of Alford Civil Parish
Year 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1951 1961 2001 2011
Population[8] 2,894 2,843 2,478 2,394 2,194 2,227 2,218 2.139 3,231 3,459

Landmarks

Windmill
Main article: Alford Windmill
Windmill

Alford is known for its Grade I listed five-sailed windmill, a tower mill built in 1837 by Sam Oxley, an Alford millwright. In its heyday it could grind 4–5 tons of corn a day. It ceased to operate in 1955, but after two years' idle, it was restored to full working order in 1957. It is now used commercially to produce stone-ground organic flour and cereal, as the only surviving windmill in the town. In 1932 there were still three, each with a different number of sails (four, five and six).[9][10] Other working windmills in the county can be found at Lincoln, Heckington, Boston, Waltham, Kirton in Lindsey, Sibsey, Moulton, and Burgh le Marsh.

Manor House
Alford Manor House

The town's Manor House is one of the largest thatched buildings of its kind in the country. manor houses. In 2006 it was refurbished with National Lottery funding in association with English Heritage. Interactive exhibits were installed and accessibility increased for disabled visitors. The manor house also has a tea room and open gardens.[11]

The Manor House has two permanent exhibitions. Alford Remembers has First World War memorabilia and a photography exhibition by Edwin Nainby, who was born in Gedney in January 1842 and died in Alford in July 1908. The youngest son of a Quaker he was first in business as a photographer in Long Sutton and then in 1873 moved to Alford. There are over 750 glass photography plates exhibited. There are a number of annual events such as the Christmas Tree exhibition, a tractor rally and a threshing day. There is a local museum at the back of the Manor House (Hackett's barn) which has many exhibits from the time when Alford was a thriving Victorian market town.

Corn Exchange

The Alford Corn Exchange was given by East Lindsey District Council to a specially instituted CIC composed solely of volunteers and is now a centre for cultural, social and community.[12]

Education

Primary education is provided by Alford Primary School.[13] In secondary education, Alford has one of England's few remaining grammar schools, Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School and John Spendluffe Technology College.[14] The grammar school was judged "Outstanding" in an Ofsted inspection of 2007; the Technology College received an "Outstanding" report from Ofsted in 2010.

Religious sites
St Wilfrid's church

The medieval Anglican parish church of Alford is dedicated to St Wilfrid, a 7th-century English bishop. Built in the 14th century, then restored with additions from 1860, it stands at the junction between Church, South and West streets. It includes St Lawrence's Chapel. The original features include a 14th-century screen, a Jacobean pulpit, traces of 16th-century glass, and a 17th-century tomb in the chancel. The church founded a school in the Elizabethan period.[15]

The church holds regular services and some annual community events such as a flower show. The war memorial in the churchyard commemorates local people who died in the two world wars and in Northern Ireland.[16]

Alford has a Methodist church, an Independent Congregational church, and Alford Christian Fellowship.

Some 4 miles (6 km) from Alford, in the village of Markby, is St Peter's Church, the one remaining thatched church in Lincolnshire.[17]

Notable people

In order of birth:

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See also

References
  1. "Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  2. "Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  3. George.
  5. Bus Times. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  6. Hunt's Retrieved 22 August 2016. Archived 23 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Hunt's Retrieved 22 August 2016. Archived 23 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Vision of Britain". Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  9. Family Services Directory site. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  10. Town commercial website. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  11. Museum site. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  12. Corn Exchange site. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  13. Alford Primary School
  14. John Spendluffe Technology College
  15. "St Wilfrid's Church, Alford" (includes photos), Alford Group of Parishes, 2010-2014, accessed 7 August 2014.
  16. Roll of Honour Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  17. Retrieved 11 October 2018. A short history of Markby Church with photographs.
  18. Barbour, Philip L: The Three Worlds of Captain John Smith, pp. 5–7. Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 1964.
  19. Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.
  20. ODNB Retrieved 15 May 2014, pay-walled.

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