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Coordinates: 53°36'50?N 0°13'06?W? / ?53.6139, -0.2183
Immingham (sometimes known locally as Ming Ming[1]) is a town in North East Lincolnshire, located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary. It is six miles (10 km) north west of Grimsby.
[edit] Etymology
Although the origin of the name of the town is uncertain it is believed to derive from the Immingas, a tribe who followed an Anglo-Saxon leader by the name of Imminga.[citation needed]
The suffix -ham is Anglo-Saxon for hamlet or town.[citation needed]
[edit] History
The town contains a memorial marking the site of the 1608 departure of the Pilgrim Fathers to Holland. The vessels sailed to Boston (Lincolnshire) and on to Holland, then to Southampton and finally Plymouth, from where history records the sailings of the Mayflower.
During the Second World War, Immingham became the shore base (for a time) of Lord Mountbatten and the docks hosted his famous vessel, HMS Kelly. He roomed at the County Hotel.[citation needed]
Up until the turn of the 20th century Immingham was a rural village, dependent on agriculture. The advent of the railways encouraged speculators to utilise its location on the coast to build a deep-sea dock to rival that in nearby Kingston upon Hull.
This caused the area to grow as workers moved in; much of the growth in living accommodation was centred around in a narrow strip (now known as Pelham Road) between two public houses at opposite ends of the town, the Bluestone and the County Hotel. The advent of the First World War caused the area to suffer some decline: This was not reversed until the 1950s.
In that decade the docks began to grow as the country recovered from the austerity of the Second World War and the post war years. The expansion of chemical and petroleum industries along the Humber Bank over the next twenty years also fuelled the economic growth and level of population of the town, evident in the architectural style of many houses. This new residential growth expanded on both sides of Pelham Road and in the 1960s a comprehensive school and shopping centre/office complex (Kennedy Way) were opened to facilitate this increase.
In the beginning the Kennedy Way centre was host to a supermarket, many independent traders and several banks; In 1979 it was extended to house a further supermarket and other shop units. However in recent years the centre has been in decline with several outlets remaining empty for many years. Both supermarkets have moved out along with some banks, although a further supermarket development (Somerfield) on Washdyke Lane is still operational.
[edit] Sport and leisure
Immingham has a sports centreand swimming pool.
Public houses include the County Hotel and the De Kyme Hotel, as well as smaller establishments such as the Mayflower and Bluestone Inn.
[edit] Transport
Immingham is served by the number 45 bus to Grimsby. During the day, there is a bus every 20 minutes. In the evening and on Sundays, the number 46 runs every hour with the service extended to Cleethorpes.
The nearest railway station is at Habrough, approximately three miles away on the Cleethorpes to Manchester line.
[edit] Local industry
Close to Immingham, oil is refined at the Lindsey (at North Killingholme) Oil Refinery by TOTAL and at the Humber Refinery (at South Killingholme) by ConocoPhillips. They both own the Associated Petroleum Terminals. Oil began to be imported in 1970. The Killingholme Refineries opened in 1969, owned by Total and PetroFina. The refined fuel was transported to the rest of the UK by rail. 70% of the refined oil from the Humber Refinery goes to the UK, the rest is for Europe. It is the only coking refinery in Britain, produced by catalytic cracking.
In the second half of 2007, an £80m bioethanol fuel plant will be constructed close to the town. The plant will use locally-grown wheat from which to synthesise fuel.[2]
The first sod of Immingham Dock was cut in 1906, and was opened by King George V on 22 July 1913. In part funded by the Great Central Railway, the dock property was 2.5 miles (4.0 km) by 1-mile (2 km); covering 1,000 acres (4 km²), with 45 acres of water.[3]
The docks were connected to the town and mainline by the Grimsby & Immingham Electric Railway, with locomotive servcing at Immingham TMD.
Now owned by Associated British Ports, Immingham is home to the largest deep-sea docks in the country.[citation needed] A large port and industrial complex, coal is imported through the port by SSM Coal Ltd. The port partnership of Grimsby & Immingham is the largest port in the UK in terms of tonnage, with a total traffic of 57 million tonnes, 10% of the total, in 2006.
The large Immingham Railfreight Terminal to service the docks, also acts as a storage point for excess locomotives and wagons, as well as a scrapping location.[citation needed]
[edit] Schools
Oasis Academy, Immingham, formerly known as The Immingham School, was opened in the 2007/08 academic year. A new building for the Academy is currently being constructed adjacent to the current site, and should be ready for use in 2009.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
(Source: Wikipedia) |