Corby
| Corby | |
| Northamptonshire | |
|---|---|
 Corby | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SP897887 |
| Location: | 52°29’29"N, -0°41’47"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 49,222 (2001) |
| Post town: | Corby |
| Postcode: | NN17-18 |
| Dialling code: | 01536 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | North Northamptonshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Corby |
Corby is an industrial town in Northamptonshire with a population of 49,222 in 2001, but figures released in March 2010 revealed that Corby has the fastest growing population in England and Wales.
Corby is in a triangle formed by Leicester, Peterborough and Northampton. Corby's closest towns are Kettering, Market Harborough, Desborough, Rothwell and Uppingham. Corby is about 24 miles north-east of the county town, Northampton and is located in what was once the Royal Hunting Forest of Rockingham Forest.
Society and culture
Scottish migration to Corby has created a unique population in the borough, evidenced most clearly in the 'Corby accent', referred to as 'Corbyite', which is often described as sounding Glaswegian. This Scottish influence is a strong feature of the area: according to the 2001 Census, there were 10,063 Scottish-born in the Corby Urban Area – 18.9% of the population. A further 1.3 per cent were born in Northern Ireland. It has been estimated that a further third of the population are Scottish or of Scottish descent.[1]
The Scottish heritage is cherished by many inhabitants. There are Scottish social and sporting clubs and there are many fervent supporters of the Rangers and Celtic football clubs (indeed, Corby is home to the largest Rangers Supporters' Club outside of Glasgow and Northern Ireland). Many shops sell Scottish foods and a supermarket even introduced Gaelic signs[2] to their Corby store (but they have since removed them). An annual Highland Gathering featuring traditional Scottish music and dancing is held in the town. Corby is the only town in England apart from London with two Church of Scotland churches.[3]
The song "Steeltown" by Big Country (title track of the album) was written about the town of Corby, telling how many Scots went to work there, but found themselves unemployed when the steelworks declined. (Source: Melody Maker, 1984)
Churches
- Church of England:
- Church of the Epiphany
- St John The Baptist
- St Columba & the Northern Saints
- St John the Baptist
- St Peter & St Andrew
- The Kingswood Church
- St John the Evangelist, Corby Glen
- Church of Scotland:
- Baptist: Corby Baptist Church
- Independent:
- Roman Catholic: St John Ogilvie
- Salvation Army
History
Early history
The first evidence of permanent settlement comes from the 8th century when Danish invaders arrived and the settlement became known as "Kori's by" – Kori's settlement. The settlement was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Corbei". (Corby's emblem, the raven, is not related to the Viking emblem but from the French “corbeau, suggested by the name.) Danish roots were recognised in the naming of the most Southern of the town's housing estates, Danesholme, around which one of the Danish settlements was located.
Corby was granted the right to hold two annual fairs and a market by Henry III in 1226. In 1568 Elizabeth I granted Corby a charter that exempted local landowners from tolls (the fee paid by travellers to use the long distance public roads), dues (an early form of income tax)[4] and gave all men the right to refuse to serve in the local militia.[5] A popular legend is that the Queen was hunting in Rockingham Forest when she (dependent on the legend) either fell from her horse or became trapped in a bog whilst riding. Upon being rescued by villagers from Corby she granted the charter in gratitude for her rescue. Another popular explanation is that it was granted as a favour to her favourite, Sir Christopher Hatton.
The Corby Pole Fair is an event that has taken place every 20 years since 1862 in celebration of the charter. The next pole fair is to be held in 2022.
From rural village to industrial town
The local area has been worked for iron ore since Roman times. An ironstone industry developed in the 19th century with the coming of the railways and the discovery of extensive ironstone beds. By 1910 an ironstone works had been established. In 1931 Corby was a small village with a population of around 1,500. It grew rapidly into a reasonably sized industrial town, when the owners of the ironstone works, the steel firm Stewarts & Lloyds, decided to build a large integrated ironstone and steel works on the site. The start of construction in 1934 drew workers from all over the country including many workers from the depressed West of Scotland and Irish labourers. The first steel was produced in October 1935 and for decades afterwards the steel works dominated the town. By 1939 the population had grown to around 12,000, at which time Corby was thought to be the largest "village" in the country.
The 1940s and 1950s
During Second World War the Corby steel works were expected to be a target for German bombers but in the event there were only a few bombs dropped by solitary planes and there were no casualties. This may be because the whole area was blanketed in huge dense black, low lying clouds created artificially by the intentional burning of oil and latex to hide the glowing Bessemer converter furnaces at the steel works from German bomber crews.[6] The only known remaining scars from German attacks can be found in the form of bullet holes visible on the front fascia of the old post office in Corby Village (now known as Maddisons Bar and Storm nightclub). Nobody really knows the exact circumstances under which the attack occurred, but a local apocryphal tale tells of a lone pilot making his way back to Germany after a successful raid on Coventry who spotted some lights so decided to finish off his already depleted stock of bullets. Sadly, the authenticity of this romanticised tale can neither be verified or denied, but it is certainly the most popular theory among locals. The Corby steel works made a notable contribution to the war effort by manufacturing the steel tubes used in Operation Pluto (Pipe Line Under the Ocean) to supply fuel to Allied forces in Europe.
By 1950 the population of the town stood at 18,000. In that year Corby was designated a new town and the town underwent its second wave of expansion, mainly from Scotland, which resulted in a car-friendly layout with many areas of open space and woodland.
The decline of the steel industry
In 1967 the British steel industry was nationalised and the Stewarts & Lloyds steel tube works at Corby became part of British Steel. In 1973 the government approved a strategy of consolidating steel making in five main areas – South Wales, Sheffield, Scunthorpe, Teesside and Scotland – most of which are coastal sites with access to economic supplies of iron rich imported ores. Thus in 1975 the government agreed a programme that would lead to the phasing-out of steel making in Corby.[7] In November 1979 the end of iron and steel making in Corby was formally announced. By the end of 1981 over 5,000 jobs had been lost from British Steel in Corby, and further cuts took the total loss to 11,000 jobs, leading to an unemployment rate of over 30%.[8][9] Steel tube making continued, however, initially being supplied with steel by rail from Teesside and later from South Wales.
Redevelopment
New industry was subsequently attracted to the town and by 1991 unemployment had returned to the national average.[10] The recovery of Corby was explained in 1990 by John Redwood, then a junior minister in the Department of Trade and Industry, as being a result of the establishment of an Enterprise Zone, the promotion of Corby by the government, the work of private investors and the skills of the work force.
To the north of Corby, on the industrial estates, is a 350MW power station built in 1994; and the Rockingham Motor Speedway built in 2001.
Toxic waste contamination
In July 2009 Corby Borough Council was found liable for negligently exposing pregnant women to toxic waste during the reclamation of the former British Steel steelworks, causing birth defects to their children.[11] The judge found in favour of 16 of the 18 claimants, the oldest of whom was 22 at the time of the ruling. The ruling was significant as it was the first in the world to find that airborne pollution could cause such birth defects.[12][13] It was a controversial judgment, with which the Borough Council expressed discontent, questioning the evidence of fault.Eventually on 16 April 2010 the council released an agreed joint statement with the families' solicitors announcing it had agreed a financial settlement with 19 families and recognising “that it made mistakes in its clean-up of the former British Steel site years ago”.[14]
References
- ↑ The English town that's truly Scottish
- ↑ Gaelic welcome in store
- ↑ Church of Scotland - Presbytery of England
- ↑ Corby Borough Council - The History of Corby
- ↑ Corby Pole Fair Charter
- ↑ Memories of the Second World War
- ↑ History of British Steel
- ↑ Memorandum by Corby Borough Council (NT 50)
- ↑ The State of the Regions, Local Government Information Unit
- ↑ Corby Northamptonshire through time - Historical Statistics on Work and Poverty
- ↑ Williams, Rachel. Council found liable for children's exposure to toxic waste . 29 July 2009. Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
- ↑ Sherwood, Bob. Corby toxins ruling could spark further claims. 29 July 2009. Financial Times. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
- ↑ Gammell, Caroline. Corby birth defects: worst child poisoning case since thalidomide. 29 July 2009. Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
- ↑ Quinn, Ben (2010-04-16). "Poisoned children win compensation fight against Corby borough council". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/apr/16/corby-steelwords-compensation-fight. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
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