The town of Grimsby shares the misfortune of Hartlepool, Worksop, Barrow, Smethwick, Middlesbrough, Bootle, Workington, Bridgwater, Merthyr Tydfil, of being lazily stereotyped as a town entirely lacking in merit – an antithesis of Winchester, Cheltenham, Bath, Salisbury, Harrogate, Beverley, Ludlow or Hexham. In every region there’s a tendency for local opinion to agree on one particular town to which everyone residing elsewhere can feel superior. I am instinctively drawn to this sort of town in the certainty that it will possess unsuspected and unappreciated qualities and delights – no place is boring, as Jonathan Meades has written. Back to Grimsby where today’s postcard shows the populace in their finery clambering aboard a tram bound for the seaside at Cleethorpes – there’s an air of Sunday-best about this crowd and a determination to make the most of their brief and hard-won hours of weekend leisure. The second card is a multi-view of Grimsby’s attractions including the famous Dock Tower, Fish Docks and Blunden Park where Grimsby Town, currently languishing in the Conference, once played First Division football. Indeed at the time of this card the Mariners were embarked upon the first of several precipitous falls from the top division to non-league obscurity. In the final card we see a glimpse of the pleasures our tram passengers can look forward to on their arrival in Cleethorpes.
No comments:
Post a Comment