Alford, Lincolnshire

Alford (pronounced "Olford") is a town in Lincolnshire, England, It is situated approximately 11 mi north-west from the coastal resort of Skegness, and at the foot of the Lincolnshire Wolds, designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Alford population is about 3,500.

Community facilities
Alford's retail outlets are mainly convenience-related to cater for local people. Shops include pharmacy, grocery, DIY and homeware stores. The town has two supermarkets, one on Church Street, the other on West Street.

Alford's public houses are the Half Moon Hotel, The Windmill Hotel, The George, the Anchor, and the White Hart.

National Health and private dentists are located on South Street and Merton Lodge, and a doctors' surgery is on West Street.

Alford has two banks, Lloyds TSB and Barclays, and has a branch of the Yorkshire Building Society.

A crematorium opened on the outskirts of town in 2008.

Markets
Market days in Alford are on Tuesdays. The market, which varies in size dependent on the time of the year and the day, is generally small. The main market takes place in the Market Place, with stalls of groceries and small items such as greeting cards.

Alford's Craft Market has taken place every August bank holiday since the 1970s. A market is held in the grounds of the manor house, and includes stalls selling locally-crafted products. Musical entertainment usually takes place in a marquee. A smaller weekly market is held in the Corn Exchange every Tuesday and Friday.

Since Christmas 2005, European markets have been held annually at Easter and on holidays. Traders from the near continent concentrate mostly on selling food.

Economy
At the south-west of the town is Beechings Way Industrial Estate, containing companies for printing and manufacturing, the builders' merchant, Jewson, and a Royal Mail sorting office.

The estate is built on the right-of-way of the closed East Lincolnshire Railway line from Grimsby to Boston. The line (and Alford Town railway station) were closed on 5 October 1970 by Dr. Richard Beeching during the rationalisation of British Railways in the 1960s and early 1970s. The industrial estate was named for him.

The town's main employer, Finnveden Powertrain Ltd., was to shut down in 2010. It is still operating after having laid off many people.

Windmill
Alford is known for its Grade I listed five-sailed windmill, a tower mill built in 1837 by Sam Oxley, an Alford millwright. In its heyday it was capable of grinding 4 to 5 tons of corn per day. The mill operated until 1955.

After two years' standing idle, it was restored to full working order in 1957. It is used commercially to produce stone-ground organic flour and cereal. It is the only windmill surviving in Alford. In 1932 there were three, each with a different number of sails (four, five and six).

Alford has one of several working windmills in Lincolnshire. Others can be found at Lincoln, Heckington, Boston, Waltham, Kirton in Lindsey, Sibsey and Burgh le Marsh.

Alford Manor House
The town's Manor House is reputedly the largest thatched manor house in the country. In 2006 it was refurbished through National Lottery funding in association with English Heritage; interactive exhibits were installed and accessibility increased for disabled visitors. The manor house has a tea room and open gardens.

Churches
The medieval Anglican parish church of Alford is dedicated to St Wilfrid. Built in the 14th century, with restoration and additions from 1860, it is situated at the junction between Church, South and West Streets. It includes St Lawrence Chapel. Original features include a 14th-century screen, a Jacobean pulpit, traces of 16th-century glass, and a 17th-century tomb in the chancel. In the Elizabethan era, it hosted a local primary school.

The church holds a variety of worship services, and annual community events such as a flower show. Alford also has a small Methodist church, an Independent Congregational church, and Alford Christian Fellowship.

Approximately 4 mi from Alford, in the village of Markby, is St Peter's Church, the only remaining thatched church in Lincolnshire. It is used for religious services, weddings, christenings and funerals.

Education
Primary education is provided by Alford Primary School.

Alford secondary schools are Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School and John Spendluffe Technology College. The Grammar school was judged as "Outstanding" in the Ofsted inspection of 2007; the Technology College received an "Outstanding" report from Ofsted in 2010.

Notable people

 * Captain John Smith (1580–1631) lived in Willoughby, 3 mi to the south
 * Anne Hutchinson, born Anne Marbury (1591–1643), Puritan settler and religious reformer in the British New England colonies
 * Thomas Paine, an excise officer in the town.
 * Richard Dixon of Alford, one of the original settlers in Jamestown, Virginia, in the 17th century.
 * Eardley Norton, clockmaker, was born in Ashby by Partney and apprenticed to Robert Dawson, a clockmaker in Alford. Clocks made by Norton are held in a number of the world's museums. His astronomical clock made for George III in 1765, is in the Royal Collection. A musical clock made for Catherine the Great is in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.
 * George Manville Fenn (1831–1909), novelist.