“Oh, oh, Grimsby, a thousand delights couldn’t match the sweet sights of my Grimsby”

December 2023. Great Grimsby.

Those are actual lyrics there, from an actual UK and US Number 1 album.

I only know about “Grimsby” because Caribou is currently in the Top Albums on Tidal, along with “Guts” and, er, “Rumours”. Possibly only because they’ve added “Step Into Christmas” onto the CD, mind.

Bing’s new AI function seems to know a lot about Elton and Grimsby though;

“The song ‘Grimsby’ by Elton John is about the singer’s hometown, Grimsby, in England. The lyrics describe the singer’s fond memories of the town, including the shingle beach, the lights along the pier, and the candy floss1. The song is not about repressed homosexuality, as some people have speculated1.

The lyrics describe the beauty of England, but also emphasize that there is no place like Grimsby1.

I hope this helps!“

Thanks, Bing. I’m not sure whether I’m most surprised to read that Elton wasn’t from Watford (obviously a glory hunter) or that candy floss was available on the fish docks.

Anyway, these thoughts came to me as the train from Sheffield trundled alongside the Stainforth and Keady canal near Scunthorpe on a damp Wednesday morning.

No-one has ever wrote a song about Scunthorpe. Have they ?

After Laughton, my final Lincolnshire tick was in a prosperous suburb of this underrated (for good reason) fishing town.

My bus from outside the Spoons left in 12 minutes, which I reckoned was just long enough to order a pint, scramble around looking for a 50p voucher, neck it and make at least one trip up 3 flights to the Gents.

The Yarborough Hotel pretty much IS Grimsby, pubwise.

Patricia Hodge used to call out bingo numbers here in the 70s, or so Bing tells me so it must be true.

It’s standing room only.

Is that Axl Rose on the left ?

The locals are cheery, the staff are friendly,

the Ruby Jane is rich and chewy (3.5). Can’t knock it.

I can’t find the local history panels, probably all about Elton, but this bit of prose will do.

Outside, an ambulance has arrived in the Old Market Place. Parked up next to Walters, which I’m sure used to grace the GBG once.

In Grimsby, the Spoons is the safest pub in town.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

15 thoughts on ““Oh, oh, Grimsby, a thousand delights couldn’t match the sweet sights of my Grimsby””

    1. No it’s definitely Elton, though Wiki insists he was born in Pinner near Watford. I really ought to visit Pinner.

      Bernie Taupin of course IS from Lincolnshire, but Sleaford. Rod Templeton is from Cleethorpes which is closer.

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      2. Might I remind the good gentlefolk of this parish, that Michele Dotrice, (born 1948), the actress playing Betty Spencer in the 1970s television comedy series “Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em” – at the very pinnacle of British dramatic creativity – was Grimsby through-and-through?

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  3. “There is no place like Grimsby”. I’d agree with that.
    “The Yarborough Hotel pretty much IS Grimsby, pubwise”. I remember it as grim.

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  4. It’s a triumph that your false attribution of the lyrics of Grimsby as commemorating Elton John’s birthplace is now in third place on Google, only two places below the actual lyrics.

    Congratulations. (I think.)

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