grimsby corner

grimsby corner

Named for the 'largest fishing port in the world'

 

Grimsby Corner was named for Grimsby, Lincolnshire, once self-styled as the 'largest fishing port in the world'. It therefore won't be much of a surprise to learn that the first shop on this corner of Wyndham Street and Earle Street was a wet fish shop owned by John Beswick.

This 'wrap-around' block of four, now five, shops was built in the late 1920s / early 1930s and boasted an ornate parapet with 'Grimsby Corner' emblazoned on the corner parapet facing the road junction. The parapet has been reduced in height in recent years although the sign is still there as seen in the photographs below.

In 1942, between May and August, various units of the Czechoslovak Independent Brigade were billeted in Yeovil while they were involved with airfield protection duties.

The Light Aid Platoon of the Czechoslovak Independent Brigade were billeted at 2 Grimsby Corner.

 

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From the Cave Collection (colourised), Courtesy of South Somerset Heritage Collection

Wyndham Street seen from Reckleford, circa 1960. At right is Grimsby Corner but the parapet is shorter today - check it out next time you pass.

 


Courtesy of Colin Haine

Grimsby Corner photographed in 1986 - before the proliferation of traffic lights and other street furniture were added to what has become a major traffic bottleneck.

 

Grimsby Corner and Wyndham Street, dominated by Summerhouse Hill, photographed in 2013 from Eastland Road (on a quiet Sunday morning). The junction is somewhat more cluttered with an over-abundance of street furniture these days and, more often than not, an over-abundance of traffic.

This, of course, is what happens when two lanes (Reckleford) become one (Sherborne Road) in a half-baked attempt to put a ring-road through the centre of the town without making it all dual carriageway and then sitting back and wondering why, for much of the day, Sherborne Road is like a slowly-moving car park often all the way to Babylon Hill. At least someone had the bright idea to stop using the traffic lights at the other end of Wyndham Street which has improved traffic flow to a degree. They put them in bright orange shrouds (visible in this photo) but couldn't be bothered to remove them completely, thereby adding to the extremely sad appearance of this end of town - a real 'Welcome to Yeovil' for our visitors. It's a shame the council made the guy take down the sign in his front garden in Sherborne Road saying (or words to the effect) "Welcome to Yeovil - probably the worst traffic system in the country" - at least he had it right. It's a real pity those in so-called power didn't take quick action with the problem like they did with the sign. Rant over.

 

The Grimsby Corner parapet photographed in 2013 - much reduced from the original seen in the first photograph above.

 

Photographed in August 2020 - it won't be long before the west side of Wyndham Street disappears.

Update: February 2024 - and it still looks like this street is derelict. Has another development company gone bust?