This is a question that taxes us from time to time when items worth reporting happen in surrounding settlements.
It must be the same for Brigg Matters Magazine and also for the Brigg & Villages section in the weekly Scunthorpe Telegraph.
We know that people in Broughton follow our blog.
Indeed, the Waters Edge housing estate, on the edge of our town is within Broughton parish but only a stone's throw from Brigg.
Scawby, Hibaldstow, Wrawby, Cadney, Howsham, Elsham and Barnetby we think should certainly be included in the Brigg area, together with Wressle and Castlethorpe.
Heading over the county border into Lincolnshire we will make a case for mentioning Bigby, Kettleby, Searby, Somerby (pictured above) and Grasby, and perhaps also North and South Kelsey.
For many people from those West Lindsey settlements come to shop in Brigg.
But so do folk from Redbourne, Greetwell, Worlaby, Horkstow, Bonby, Kirmington, Croxton, Melton Ross, Saxby-All-Saints, Horkstow, Gainsthorpe and even Kirton Lindsey.
We wouldn't suggest that Messingham is in the Brigg area, though we generally mention the annual village show because we think people from Brigg might be interested in attending.
We have a few followers in Caistor, too - but again we wouldn't include it in our district.
The website through which North Lincolnshire Council posts job vacancies has a filter for "Brigg area" which appears to use Ulceby as a cut-off point. And that's beyond Wootton.
So perhaps we are being a bit narrow with our current definition.
If the good folk of Snitterby, Attterby and Waddingham want to make a case for inclusion on Brigg Blog we will consider it.
But to date we've had no requests - though we have been out there, from time to time, with our camera, as has Brigg Matters' Ken Harrison.
Immediately below is one of the Snitterby Waterfall pictures he kindly shared with us not so long ago.
Please email any views to scoopfisher@aol.com
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| The main street through Bonby |
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| The Cross Keys at Grasby - beside the A1084 from Brigg to Caistor |
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| The old village water pump preserved in Worlaby |
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| The Royal Oak pub in Snitterby |
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| The beautiful pond that's such a feature of Wootton |
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| Peaceful Saxby-All-Saints |
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| An Eastern Airways flight at Humberside Airport, Kirmington, with the village in the distance |
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| A street view of Howsham |
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| Historic Redbourne |
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| Searby Church |
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| How far out of town should Brigg Blog be covering? |
7 comments:
Assuming that the topography (landscape) was uniform, historically villages were about 9 miles apart.
Before industrialisation, this distance had been established for practical reasons....it was the distance that drovers could drive livestock in a day. Similarly, roughly equadistance between the villages were hamlets - places were the drovers could water their animals and take a mid-day break.
This pattern was somewhat distorted if they're known obstacles (hills, river fording, marshland) between villages A and B...but the time element remained fairly constant.
Similarly,certain specialisms were governed by the geography of the landscape. For example, the siting of windmills and water power were controlled by the facilities within the environment.
With the arrival of the Industrial Revolution and the development of canals, railways, roads and vehicles combined with development of steam power, urban growth was determined by the availability of resources...manpower to raw materials.....and, consequently,the old rustic practicalities of population/settlements were greatly distotred as the UK entered the Industrial age.
Disappearing were the subsistence survival conditions; bartering . ..as many now worked for a wage...
As time has evolved, businesses, retail, industries and even towns/cities have encompassed specialisation ....even in Brigg, we can identify bank, solicitor, supermarket, residential, traditional shop, industrial etc sectors.
So why do folks come to Brigg?
With a population of about 5.5k (6.5k if we include Scawby Brook, Watersedge etc), the town fights above its weight.Broughton has a greater population, but shoppers, for example, don't make a bee-line to the nearby township...although Broughton does have facilities that Brigg doesn't have...Gerry Greens and a golf course, for instance.
In the dark ages, during the first term of my geography degree, we studied economic-geography and the Reilly's Retail Gravitation formula ....with statistical information it was possible to establish 'Breaking Points'- the points at which folks chose to go to one town in preference to another. Overall, using these Breaking Points, one could establish the catchment zone/boundary of a particular neighbourhood/town.....Obviously, the catchment area would vary according the type of statistics employed. For example, folks may come to Brigg - as approsed to somewhere else, because of the gravitational pull of its traditional outlets, but the catchment area would be vastly different if the 'pull' was related to McDonalds/cinema/new car....etc...
Similarly, one Brigg emporium has a completely different retail gravitational pull than that of the town itself. For example, Brigg Garden Centre has its own catchment area, but has little effect on Brigg's retailers.
Would improving/extending the Farmers Market/hotels/specialist retails outlets/hospitality facilities/leisure and tourism..and so on, attract folks from a wider area...
Essentially, folks come to Brigg based upon personal expectations and preferences....and subsequently, more people will come to the town if Brigg meets their needs....conversely, if a 'pull' deteriorates/disappears, then folks we explore alternatives.
Brigg needs to study why folks come to the town....what are the age/gender of these folks...what needs to done to attract/create a better pull for more folks to come to the town....it's a dynamic process ...and in recent years we have seen the retail character of town change....there are significantly more beauty parlour, eateries and specialist shops than a decade ago....how can this successful base be improved? Ask...
To establish Brigg's sphere of influence, one needs to ascertain what percentage of outlying village folk perceive Brigg as their town for shopping/leisure/employment/etc..
When a higher percentage of village folk chose another town, this is the limit of Brigg's sphere of influence...but simple things can affect choice...the lack of public transport...opening times..etc.
For example, why do some shops in Brigg close at 3.30/4pm...it's a chicken and egg situation.
Would more working people shop in Brigg after 5pm, if the shops were open at that time? Why isn't there a regular late night shopping evening to attract folks who would otherwise go to Scunny after work?
Observing the percentage of people using electric scooters/wheelchairs in the town, is Brigg lacking an outlet/repair centre for such? Brigg is residentually growing ....more houses with gardens, but where can I get my lawnmower repaired; my suit dry-cleaned, or a push-chair for my grand-child? All these are distractions, which encourages folks to double-task outside the town.
Re Brigg Matters, Nige....the magazine was financially initiated with funding from a team called, Brigg (and District) Market Town Initiative back in circa, 2003.
It was then called About Brigg - a basic newsletter...later changinging to Brigg Matter ( qualified on the front cover as a Community Magazine for Brigg & District)....the Constitution also includes , '& District'..
However, I often been asked/criticised for including 'outside' information in BM, or why a front cover showed Wrawby Post Mill...'it's not in Brigg'.
The magazine is not insular, inward looking, a protectionist information sheet for the benefit of Brigg Town folk only....it recognises Brigg has a large community element that extends far beyond its limited parish boundary.
Indeed urban Brigg would quickly collapse if rural Brigg folk stopped coming to the town...for it very survival the town relies on the folk from the surrounding community.
Before the 1970's local government changes, we had Brigg Urban Council and Brigg Rural District Council.....but in this modern progress age we must recognise that some living in Hibaldstow who has formed an allegiance to Brigg (shopping/employment/leisure/entertainment) is an essential part of Brigg's community as is someone living on the Springbank estate.
There has to be cross-ferlization...things do happen in these dark and mysterious villages that could be of interest to folks living in Brigg....ie the Elsham Hall outside plays; the Wrawby Horticultural & Craft Show (open to all): the recent Scarecrow Event in Barnetby: Worlaby's Downhill Challenge....ad infinitum.
Within the Community of Brigg, there are numerous and various activities and we must both promote and advertise such for the benefit of all...it creates a richer and inclusive social and economic ambience..
......or the epitome of the recent lecture at Worlaby Village Hall by Broughton-based, Dr Kevin Leahy - one-time curator of Scunthorpe Museum and later famous for the Staffordshire Hoard - and his findings about the Anglo-Saxon settlement at Flixborough, drew many Brigg folk to his talk....
Ps....Snitterby Waterfall....on Snitterby Carrs...where the River Rase joins the Ancholme....and apart from the sluice at Ferriby, is very close to the only other lock - Harlem Hill -on the Ancholme...perhaps a structure that many folk would not expect to find on the river.
Hi! Great work. I feel nice to be here reading your authentic work.
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