Scunthorpe guidebook

People who have never visited Scunthorpe may think of it purely as an industrial town, built on the back of steel production.

But it's actually a surprisingly green place - two recent awards for its open space give credence to that fact – which is proud to be called the 'industrial garden town'.

Yes, it's OK in 'Scunny' and the 72,600 who live there will tell you that there's a heck of a lot more to the place than you may have been led to believe.

Scunthorpe is clean and modern with good shopping facilities, it's in easy reach of the motorway network, and it's set in some rather pleasant countryside.

The town's an amalgamation of five villages  - Ashby, Brumby, Crosby, Frodingham and Scunthorpe – and recent years have seen expansion away from steel into electronics, food plastics and clothing. The villages of Gunness and Flixborough are also in the surrounding area.

Of course, the steel industry remains a major employer and the largest operator in the area is the Indian-owned firm, Corus.

All of this is bringing new life into the town. In fact Scunthorpe's buzzing, with good shopping, smart restaurants, pubs, cafes and cinemas, and its surrounding area is made up of lovely scenery, small villages and rural leisure retreats.

Industrial it certainly is, but Scunthorpe offers much more than that.

Property in and around Scunthorpe

1. Scunthorpe 

Scunthorpe has a high number of semi detached properties - about 47 per cent of the total housing stock.

Property hotspots include Lakeside Drive and Westcliffe Gardens at the top end of the market and Selby Court and Manor Farm Road at the lower end.

2. Ashby 

Originally a village - one of the five which were amalgamated to form modern Scunthorpe - Ashby is seven miles from the market town of Brigg and is probably easiest reached via the B1450 off the A18.

Much of the area falls within the DN16 postcode in which there are 12,639 homes, mostly owner-occupied, although socially rented accommodation accounts for 21 per cent.

As far as housing stock is concerned, over half of the properties (55 per cent) are semi-detached.

Ashby is home to the one of the region's leading golf courses - Ashby Decoy.

3. Brumby

Another old village - it was mentioned in the Domesday Book – which was joined to form the modern town of Scunthorpe.

It is a busy surburban community of 11,698 residents in 4,899 households (census 2001). Brumby has a mix of housing types to suit most tastes and budgets.

There are a small number of detached properties, with semi-detached and terraced houses accounting for most of the housing stock.

4. Crosby

This was once a village but it is now a densely built-up urban area although there is still evidence of how Crosby was when agriculture, not steel, was the main industry in the Scunthorpe district.

Some of it is preserved in the Old Crosby Conservation Area but modern Crosby is mostly a place which has seen massive expansion particularly in terms of housing.

The result is a mix of late Victorian semi-detached homes, terraced houses and some homes dating from the end of the 20th Century.

The Old Crosby Conservation Area is located within the Scunthorpe and Bottesford urban area which is the primary focus for new housing development. It contains half of the total population and 60 per cent of all jobs within North Lincolnshire.

The area has 11,738 residents (2001 census) and 26 per cent of its properties are owned outright. A total of 37.5 per cent of accommodation is being bought on mortgage and 19 per cent is local authority accommodation.

5. Frodingham

Another former village with a long history, Frodingham had 7,777 residents at the time of the last census.

Part of it is a conservation area which has terraced properties laid out on a grid pattern and is situated close to Scunthorpe town centre.

An enhancement scheme completed in 1995 converted all the main streets, except William Street, into communal garden areas, with car parking in the back streets.

It was announced late in 2007 that the old Frodingham Library is to be converted into flats.

Two other villages in the area surrounding Scunthorpe are Gunness and Flixborough 

6. Gunness

A small village situated on the east bank of the River Trent, Gunness lies three miles east of Scunthorpe. At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,490.

Despite its size, the village is busy and has a number of industrial interests including a poultry hatchery and well known timber merchant, and Gunness is the port of call for ships from all over the world bringing cargoes to its wharf.

Most of the village's properties are semi-detached with detached and terraced houses also available.

7. Flixborough

Flixborough is a pleasant village of 1,388 people (2001 census) located roughly three miles north-west of Scunthorpe. There are 326 detached houses and 239 semi-detached.

The village is probably best known for the disaster of June 1974 when the Nypro chemical works exploded and killed 28 people, and over 100 houses were destroyed or damaged.

Living Here

Transport:

Road: The town is well positioned by the M181 which is linked to the M180, allowing fast and easy access to the main motorway system.

Train: Scunthorpe has its own railway station with regular services to Sheffield, Doncaster, Manchester, Grimsby and Cleethorpes among others.

Bus: There are various bus companies offering regular services in and around Scunthorpe.

Air: Humberside Airport is around 30 minutes' drive away.

Shopping:

Shopping facilities are good for a town of this size. In the centre is the traditional High Street with a good selection of shops, both well-known brands and independents. 

The uncovered Foundry Shopping Centre and the part-covered Parishes Centre are both major retail outlets. The Foundry Centre was built in the late 1960s and early 70s while The Parishes is a later addition from the early 1990s.

There's also a range of specialist shops in the area known as The Streets, located off the High Street; this includes Ravendale Street which is well known for its café culture.
 
A regular market is well patronised with local produce on offer.

Retail parks can be found near the football stadium and the steelworks, and there is plenty of supermarket choice with a Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and ASDA.

Leisure and entertainment:

There's lots to do for all ages in lively Scunthorpe, with its good choice of pubs and clubs, some of which offer live entertainment.

The Plowright Theatre has regular productions throughout the year, and the town has a seven screen Vue cinema, and the 20-21 Visual Arts Centre in the attractive Church Square.

Sports-wise, there's a leisure centre, four golf courses, an outdoor sports centre and indoor bowls.