Freeman Street Market in Grimsby ~ The Decline & Fall
The Decline of Freeman Street in Grimsby
A look at the sad decline of a once important part of a town that was once the largest fishing port in the world
Freeman Street in Grimsby is known to to Grimbarians everywhere, once as a vibrant integral part of the town and now sadly for quite the opposite.
It’s a modern tale, which could be told in many other towns, and a sad tale as it’s one of irrevocable decline.
It owed its initial success to its location, right next to the Fish Docks, and the famous Freeman Street Market . . .
As Freeman Street Once Was
Whilst I don’t personally remember it in during the best of times I certainly recall it when it still relatively thrived, despite the Decline of the Grimsby Fishing Industry. The , by now, indoor market was very popular and the numerous shops along both sides of the long street thrived.
The cinema was there, record shops were there and Marks and Spencer was there - plenty of reasons to still visit despite the modernisation and expansion of the Top Town shopping centre.
I may be wrong here but I think the terminal decline came when M&S pulled out, they even took the clock which wasn’t theirs to take I believe.
Their move to the Riverhead Shopping Centre (now Freshney Place) brought about a terminal decline in the fortunes of Freeman Street.
As Freeman Street is Today
My theory is the Marks & Spencer store drew a lot of people to the street which in turn helped support many of the other businesses, once they pulled out a lot of people no longer needed to go and it wasn’t long before shops began to close, each one another nail in the coffin, and it started the journey to where it is today.
If you wanted a film location for a run down area in a ‘Grim Up North’ style location then it’s, sadly, perfect !
It’s populated now by boarded and shuttered up shops, charity shops, a few hopeful businesses which appear to run on a shoestring and the few people about appear beleaguered and thoroughly beaten by life and surroundings - it’s a place that people who make the decisions and those that comment on them in the media should visit - it’s a long way from the square mile of Westminster!
I’d venture to suggest that not only would it be sobering for them but it may also be a chance to do something brave . . . and that is tell the truth.
I cannot help but feel it’s beyond hope, time and time again we hear of a new scheme to regenerate the area, they never work and I don’t think they ever will, the place, as it stands today has had its time - truth be told it had its time some years ago !
As Freeman Street is Today
Freeman Street Market is still there but even less than a shadow of its former self, much like the market at Freshney Place it is another victim of changing times, hanging on by their finger tips and surviving thanks to a generation of people which is, quite literally, dying out.
I should declare an interest here as a Freeman of the Borough of Great Grimsby I own a share of the market and get a dividend from the rents, and other rents, every 6 months, the cheque, like the street, dwindles every year.
It’s a sad sight to see, it’s devoid of the opportunity for hope and the chance of making a life for oneself rather than being a slave to the government.
I really cannot think of anything at all which would turn it round, I wonder if the only approach is to start again, lose most of the shops and simply build some much needed public housing.
I think we can go into thoughts, opinions, reminiscences and historical facts below - all comments related to Freeman Street warmly welcomed
Sadly, but realistically, yours,
Rod
jean said,
February 14, 2013 @ 8:24 pm
Rod like you I found Freeman Street heartbreaking,I do remember the good days,but this summer when we were back I was shocked how run down the whole place was,and thought most of the buildings should be pulled down .
I love old buildings and think they should be preserved as much as possible,Freeman St’s buildings have been neglected for so long most just need pulling down.One of the few businesses that seems to do well there is Asda.One of the problems is inadequate parking.The area has to be redeveloped ,shops,parking,and apartments above;however in the current economic situation the is not money to build or the cash from shoppers,it needs somebody with vision,the dock area needs linking in making the area a place of beauty.Ipswich had an area similar in the docks that was run down,now a penthouse cost close£1 million.Liverpool,Gloucester are a couple of places its been done and its worked bringing life to something thought lost.Does the Freemen of Grimsby have that vision
Jean
Rod said,
February 14, 2013 @ 8:33 pm
Jean,
I couldn’t agree more. Like you I think most needs to go, I hinted at housing in the article but I think your idea of linking housing into the dock area is excellent.
We’re constantly told we need more reasonably priced housing, well the area around Freeman St offers this potential - that said I can’t see it happening.
They’ll try a regeneration scheme which will involve some block paving somewhere in the ridiculous belief that that will bring people back.
Best
Rod
v said,
February 14, 2013 @ 9:11 pm
Jean, quite right
I think Liverpool is a fine example of what can be done in a city. It s a fabulous city now. In my student days It was a dirty, hideous hovel and now look at it , a clean, bright tourist city .
Liverpool could teach the rest of the country a lesson. I hope Grimsby improves these forgotten gems. The old postcard is a fabulous example.
Craig Knighton said,
February 14, 2013 @ 9:41 pm
I grew up in Doncaster, and the market there was such an important part of the town’s shopping that it has it’s own mascot. It is however a former shadow of itself. The last time I visited, I was shocked by the amount of empty stalls. I remember going to meet my grandmother (who lived in Bawtry but came to Doncaster every Friday to do her vegetable shopping from the market) and every stall was taken, and the whole market was heaving.
Craig Knighton said,
February 14, 2013 @ 9:42 pm
Need an edit button - shadow of its former self -
DavidE said,
February 14, 2013 @ 11:06 pm
Rod,
Both my Parents and all four Grandparents were from the East Marsh so as a child shopping trips invariably meant going down Freeman Street but the one thing I never could understand as a child was why the toilets on Nelson Street next/near to Cox’s Restaurant were signposted in German ‘Herren’ instead of English.
David.
Little Brother said,
February 15, 2013 @ 8:16 am
Rod,
A great read, I couldn’t believe the state of the place either, young couples drinking strong lager on the street at ten in the morning only added to the misery. It’s a catch 22 in as much as there is no shopping incentive for anyone with reasonable funds, much can be said of the Riverhead precint too.
When you look around you wonder why anyone would invest in the place. Sad but true.
Rod said,
February 15, 2013 @ 8:30 am
Craig,
I think the market issue is countrywide, supermarkets have seen them off, as they have so many outllets.
I don’t blame the supermarkets of course, it’s a consumer choice issue.
Best
Rod
Rod said,
February 15, 2013 @ 8:31 am
David,
that’s a great memory, I like that, I wonder whether it is related to the docks, but then why specifically German ?
Strange one that
Best
Rod
Rod said,
February 15, 2013 @ 8:34 am
LB,
the area is indeed in a downward cycle, I saw much the same when I went to take these photos, some of the people you see there live in another world and you wonder what chance children have who are born into it !
Rod
swin said,
February 15, 2013 @ 11:04 am
Rod
I have to say that on my now infrequent trips ‘home’ I avoid Freeman Street as its just heartbreaking to see the once great thriving artery of the world’s greatest fishing port in such a state.
I recall in the late 1950s and early 1960s visiting a great aunt who lived in a two uo two down terraced house in Garabaldi Street. The street was demolished and she was rehoused in Thesiger House one of the hideous tower blocks which ripped the heart out of the densely packed communities in all those little side streets that regarded Freeman Street as home and started the downfall of the area.
I recall there was a huge Co-op at the side of and behind the Regal cinema as well as Woolies, Marks and Sparks and dozens of other local shops. The building of the precinct (I think that’s a very 1970s word) on the left halfway down was really a desperate effort to keep the area going and up to date and really was doomed to failure as the decline had already started, it never really took off despite the Green Shield stamp shop there (anyone remember that or am I mistaken?)
Incidentally my great aunt was a critic of all the ‘ale houses’ (and their customers) which stood on virtually every corner down Freeman Street, can anybody tell me please how many are still there and still open?
Swin
swin said,
February 15, 2013 @ 11:06 am
Rod
An afterthought, the demolition of St Andrews church probably started the rot!
Swin
Barry de Graff said,
February 15, 2013 @ 11:31 am
You suggested Rod that M&S’s transfer to Victoria Street signalled the start of the decline. In fact, M&S maintained their presence in Freeman Street for some time after the Victoria Street branch opened, where Lawson & Stockdale once stood, Victoria Street focussing on clothing & Freeman Street retaining the food lines.
I do not deny that their eventual withdrawal from Freeman Street was a body blow, as indeed was the withdrawal of Woolworths further along Freemo (which company had, of course, the two shops for a very long time as well as the presence in Cleethorpes) but it is interesting that M&S initially had faith that the town could support two locations for their wares!
Rod said,
February 15, 2013 @ 3:06 pm
Swin,
I remember going to the Green Shield Stamp shop as a boy. My father used to get a load as a Christmas Bonus.
They were like bonds or share certificates and each was worth something like a 1,000 stamps.
My brother and I got one each - it felt, quite literally, like Christmas.
Not sure how many of the pubs are open Swin but most of them are and doing good early morning business I’m sorry to say.
Best
Rod
Rod said,
February 15, 2013 @ 3:13 pm
Barry,
not the start of the decline, but the start of the really bad decline to were it is now.
A lot of people simply no longer went there and that is when you really started to see shops closing and nobody wanting to take them on - it’s not the entire cause and effect of course but it felt like it.
I think there’s a background story to them not closing the old store myself, it never made any sense and I suspect there were other reasons for doing so.
Best
Rod
jean said,
February 15, 2013 @ 4:57 pm
Rod,in my younger days worked in The White Bear,no spirit licence but sold barrels of beer,beer was 1/8d a pint and it was not unusual to take £1000 a day if 3 trawlers landed.The fall of the fishing trade was a death knoll for Freeman St its where they bought their clothes and did their drinking.I remember counting all the bars and clubs from Riby Square to the Hainton pub and there were 77 just shows how much drinking was done in the area.The wealth of the town was linked into fishing.Reading about the east marsh housing so much of it was built by the Yarbourghers;my grandparents lived there and was offered to buy the property in 1980 for£1750 .My grandmother had lived in the house since 1935 and jumped at the chance.Jean
Rod said,
February 15, 2013 @ 7:45 pm
Jean,
that’s fantastic, love those figures, these snippets of history really appeal to me.
There’s a fortune that’s gone through Grimsby, non seemingly invested, most of it has goen the way of the beer at The White Bear !
Best
Rod
graham h said,
February 15, 2013 @ 8:34 pm
Rod and Jean.
Which White Bear are you talking about the present one or the old one as it seem the figures quoted and the number of pubs is going back to before the days of the present White Bear. As I remember the old one was on a street corner but I cant remember which street My grandmother lived in East Marsh Street roughly where the corner of asda’s carpark is nearest to Hainton Square. Saturday afternoon was errand day for me and I used to go to the market and Thomas’s Bread shop near Clyde Street was never allowed to go before 3 o’clock as that was when the y wanted to get rid of the bread for the weekend and you sometimes got sixpence knocked off the price of a loaf (bargain in those days). I have many childhood memories of that area and I could go on for hours. I had some great times there and it’s sad to see the state of it now and I can;t see it getting better.
Graham
Paul Rowe said,
February 16, 2013 @ 5:34 pm
Fascinating but sad! Can I ask a question about something from you folks much more knowledgeable than me I do not understand.Why did all the trawlers have to go because of Iceland expanding her fishing limits in the early seventies.Surely there are other fishing grounds like Bear Island and other parts of the North Atlantic and what about the Dogger Bank?
Rod said,
February 16, 2013 @ 6:43 pm
Paul,
I don’t know I’m afraid, perhaps somebody else may who sees it
Best
Rod
graham h said,
February 17, 2013 @ 9:08 am
Rod
It became a question of economics bear island and the north atlantic took to long to get to and the dogger bank wasnt realy a cod ground plus the fact its not that deep there and not always practicle to fish. Fuel prices and running cost such as trawls and warps maintainance ect eventually killed it off.
Regards.
Graham
pirates daughter said,
February 17, 2013 @ 3:11 pm
In the mid fifties to the early sixties a friend of my father had a small fruit and veg shop Hainton Sq end of Feeman the only reason he managed to keep his shop open until then was the trade he did with Icelandic ships he would have orders from the crew which he got ready for them anything they wanted he supplied Max factor face powder and lipstick by the dozen any shade, stocking again shade did not matter,boxes of washing powder, soap and jars of sweets and chocolates,and fruit and veg, I’m sure he was only one of many doing the same thing,when these item became more readily available in there own country he could not compete, by then of course Freeman St had got it’s first supermarket Fine Fayre which was located where Wilkinsons is now , shops like Burgons in Kent St and many other small local shops disappeared at this time.
Rod said,
February 17, 2013 @ 6:57 pm
Graham,
really appreciate this, many thanks indeed
Regards,
Rod
Rod said,
February 17, 2013 @ 6:59 pm
PD,
that’s really interesting and clearly shows the ‘Tesco Situation’ is nothing new at all.
I find comments such as yours truly fascinating, thank you.
Regards,
Rod
Faing (Rep of Ireland) said,
February 18, 2013 @ 8:26 pm
Here is a video that makes me sad when I look at the destruction of the town(s).
http://youtu.be/k_B0HJJrVH0
Paul Rowe said,
February 20, 2013 @ 9:09 pm
“Pirate’s daughter” I have been trying to remember the name of the first supermarket in Freeman Street for ages and your comment gave me the answer,”Fine Fayre!” I think that it was the first supermarket in Grimsby in the very early sixties.Probably 1961 0r 1962 . Its hard to believe now but then it was a totally new concept from America that we had only seen on films and t.v.and I remember being puzzled how it worked!
pirates daughter said,
February 21, 2013 @ 11:24 am
Paul, there was another supermarket that opened at about the same time 1961/62 it was located “up town” on the corner of George St and Bethlehem St ,I think it was called Waterworth not sure if it was a local company or national ,today we would think of it as more of a convenience store,the shops that suffered most at that time where the Home and Colonial and the Meadow , I can still remember my mother telling the shop assistant how thick she wanted her bacon cut (no 8 on the bacon slicer) sugar in blue bags and butter weighed and wrapped, every housewife then had her order book that she would write her weekly order in,which she would either collect later our have delivered not in a large van like today but by a lad on a bike!
Paul Rowe said,
February 21, 2013 @ 9:26 pm
“pirate’s daughter’ THANKYOU ! so much for your comment! I can remember the sugar in blue bags,the bacon slicer and the butter and cheese wire as at 14 years old I was the lad on the bike working for 14 shillings a week delivering groceries in the streets behind Freeman Street often in the rain as my mother had a grocery shop on the corner of Wade Avenue and Hope Street.Every customer had a little red notebook in which their purchases were written to be paid for when the boat came in or payday.People were often not so well off but had great pride in their houses which were spotless.The one thing that sticks in my mind is that everyone was watching, “Huckleberry Hound’ cartoons on television when I knocked on the door to deliver.
pirates daughter said,
February 22, 2013 @ 3:44 pm
Paul, My Great Granny had a grocers shop on the Railway St end of Kent Street from about 1916 ,she was described in trade directories at the time as a dealer (makes her sound like someone selling something dodgy on street corners) she ran that shop until the houses in Kent St where demolished in the sixties she died in 1969 aged 97. I remember going to see her when I was a small child and going behind the counter into the room behind which was what can only be described as a Victorian parlour, ornaments under glass domes and every surface had a thick cloth on it, at the back of this room was a small room with a sort of range fire place with a peg rug in front a table with a parrot in a cage and my Granny’s chair next to the fire, the one thing I soon learned was not to put my fingers near the parrot it would wait its chance and when you weren’t looking it would try to take a lump out of them, the only thing I can remember it saying was wheres father( Great Grandad died in 1948) it died in 1969 just after Gt Granny ,she always reminded me of Queen Victoria dressed head to foot in black winter and summer ,she had two claims to fame the first was she was the oldest business women in Grimsby and the second she was held up by a gun man in the fifties in her shop he fled with nothing and she got to ride around in a police car to she if she could identified him! perhaps you can remember seeing her around freeman St while out on your bike ? regard PD
Paul Rowe said,
February 22, 2013 @ 4:24 pm
Fantastic reminiscences ,” Pirate Daughter”.My Grandfather started his shop in about 1919 and had another shop in Daubney street ,Cleethorpes which is where I was brought up.The name was Lumley .My memory is like a black cloud but talking to you has brought many things back to me but I don’t remember your grandmother.The best part of the delivery job was riding around chewing Thornton’s amazing concoctions and eating crispy golden battered Fish ‘ n Chips from the “Pea Bunk” in the back of the shop on a saturday with my mother and a Mrs Revill. I am very sad to hear about the area being so depressed nowadays and I hope that someone initiates a really big retail development to transform the area.I have n’t been back to Grimsby for 33 years living in the Eastern Cape of South Africa but often imagine myself walking around the old town along the old thoroughfares.It’s a special place and if you are born there (actually Cleethorpes) it is always in your blood.The most amazing thing is to be reminded of something that you have n’t even thought about in forty years!
DavidE said,
February 22, 2013 @ 6:14 pm
Rod,
does anyone know why Cox’s fish and chip shop on the market is known as the ‘Pea Bung’. Over the years I’ve heard many theories but I’ve not seen anyone come up with the definitive answer.
David.
Rod said,
February 22, 2013 @ 7:17 pm
David,
I don’t but if anybody else does . . .
Best
Rod
Peter Murphy said,
April 27, 2013 @ 6:38 pm
As a child of four years or so I often visited the stalls in Freeman Street Market in the early 1930’s
The stalls sold vegetables and fruit for the most part but pork pies and some savoury products could be found. The market continued into the evening when the stall-keepers lit their lamps to illuminate their wares.
These lamps were hung from the stall support beam. the lamp body was a tin cannister , cylindrical, with a coned top, hanging upside down, from which emerged a thin metal pipe that ran downward first and then looped up again toward the tent roof of the stall.
At the end of the pipe there was,as I remember, some sort of swelling like a nozzle, from which the blue/yellow flame sprouted. I seem to recall that these same lights produced a substntial humming noise . Can anyone describe what sort of lights these were and how they work?
It seem likely some sort of liquid fuel was used . since the cannister did not sem to be robust enough to be pressurized to hold a gas. Perhaps they were Carbide lamps?
Rod said,
April 27, 2013 @ 6:40 pm
Hi Peter,
thanks for the great comment and welcome to the site - hopefully somebody out there can help
Regards,
Rod
Richard Patton said,
April 30, 2013 @ 3:48 pm
The Pea Bung,
was named after the owners name,
Pamela Edwina Alice Bung, ( P.E.A. Bung ) 1922.
Rod said,
April 30, 2013 @ 7:20 pm
Richard,
that’s superb - thank you very much and a warm welcome to the site
Kind regards,
Rod
DavidE said,
April 30, 2013 @ 8:15 pm
Rod,
yes I’d heard the P.E.A. Bung theory but there is also the theory that the Pea Bung was named after its founder Sally Cox and was known as Sally’s Pea Bungalow on account of its famous mushy peas.
Regards,
David
Rod said,
May 1, 2013 @ 7:54 am
David,
thanks for the alternative theory, much appreciated and very interesting
Regards,
Rod