Friday 5 November 2010

Sunny Cleethorpes...

Histories of the Lincolnshire coast make much of John Byng’s comments made on his visit to Cleethorpes with Colonel Bertie in 1791 as part of a tour of the east coast resorts.  Byng appears to have thought Cleethorpes a more salubrious resort than the others he had visited on the Lincolnshire coast , having described Skegness as “vile and shabby”  he described Cleethorpes as of “a better complexion than the two others we have seen upon this coast” and where it was possible to eat “tolerable victuals”.  The Lincolnshire coast was still a relatively little visited part of the country in Byng’s day, but was to slowly develop as a location for sea-bathing until the arrival of the railway from Grimsby in 1848. Between 1851 and 1911 Cleethorpes became one of the fastest growing resorts not only in Lincolnshire, but in the country as a whole. This rapid development was due to two main factors; the expansion of the rail network from Grimsby, and the growth of suburban housing which linked the resort with Grimsby.  Although the resort was regarded as highly suitable for invalids and convalescents, and the town promoted its safe bathing and high levels of ozone, no specific convalescent or holiday homes appear to have been set up at Cleethorpes.
Medical science has declared the true way to health lies in the absorption into our bodies of the Ultra-Violet Rays which are present in our sunshine.  The SUNLIGHT LEAGUE of Great Britain in 1930 caused measurements to be taken at forty centres, over a period June 1st to September 30th, it was found that Cleethorpes held the record with an average daily percentage of 8.6...  Special facilities for sunlight bathing have been installed this year at the Bathing Pool.

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