Located in the county of Northamptonshire, and around 20 miles southeast of Leicester, is the town of Corby.
The name 'Corby' has Danish origins. In the 8th century the Danes invaded and settled in the area. It literally translates to 'Kori's village/settlement' (Kori presumably being the name of the leader).
In 1226 Corby was granted a market charter by Henry III. It remained for several centuries a small village up until the 20th century. It is believed that the local area had been mined for iron ore as far back as Roman times. By 1910 an ironstone works had been established in Corby. In 1934 the Scottish steel firm Stewarts and Lloyds located to Corby attracting an influx of workers from around the country. This included a large Scottish contingent who have stayed in the town to this day, at one point earning it the nickname, "Little Scotland".
The first steel was produced in 1935. The steel works soon dominated the town. The population grew from around 1,500 in 1931 to around 12,000 in 1939. During World War II, Corby steel works produced the steel tubes used in Pipe Line Under the Ocean (PLUTO). This was essential in supplying fuel to Allied forces on the European continent.
In 1950 Corby was designated a new town. This was a scheme to rehouse those whose homes had been destroyed by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Hence the town centre of Corby contains predominantly 20th century architecture.
In 1967 Stewarts and Lloyds became part of British Steel. In 1978 the EU (or European Economic Community as it was known at the time) adopted the Davignon Plan. This was a scheme to reform the steel industry with the aim of placing a cap on steel's production capacity. At the time the Corby steel plant was Europe's largest and employed 4,000 people. British Steel, who also had plants in Sheffield, Teesside, South Wales and Scunthorpe, decided in 1979 that Corby had to close. This resulted in a loss of around 11,000 jobs in the town with over 30% unemployment by 1981.
It took over thirty years for Corby to recover from the steelworks closure. In 1994 Corby Power Station opened and in 2001 Rockingham Motor Speedway opened on the site of the British Steel works. It served as a motorsport venue up until its closure in 2019. Industrial estates on the outskirts of town have helped bring unemployment levels back down.
Scottish rock band Big Country referenced Corby in their 1984 song Steeltown, the title track of the album of the same name.
👇 SUBSCRIBE TO 4K EXPLORER FOR NEW VIDEOS EVERY WEEK 👇
ru-vid.com?su...
Filmed: 8th July 2021
Link to the walk on Google Maps: Unavailable for this walk (Corby is too glitched out on Google Maps)
Filmed on a Sony FDR-AX700 with a Zhiyun Crane 2 and a Sony ECM-XYST1M Stereo Microphone.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 George Street
0:54 Corby Steelworker Statue
1:02 George Street
2:05 Corby Cube
2:16 George Street
2:51 Willow Place
5:30 Spencer Court
6:19 Corporation Street
7:36 Elizabeth Street
8:21 New Post Office Square
9:39 Corporation Street
11:56 George Street
29 июл 2024
