Grantham

Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It stands athwart the East Coast Main Line railway (London-Edinburgh), the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately 26 miles (42 km) south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately 24 miles (39 km) east of Nottingham. The resident population at the 2001 census was 34,592[1] in around 18,000 households, excluding the adjacent village of Great Gonerby.

The town is best known as the birthplace of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and the place where Isaac Newton went to school. It is within short walking distance of an ancient Roman road, and was the scene of Oliver Cromwell's first advantage over Royalists during the English Civil War at Gonerby Moor. Grantham is also notable for having the first female police officers in the United Kingdom, in 1914.

Grantham railway station is served by the London-Edinburgh East Coast Main Line (between the stops for Peterborough and Newark Northgate), and the Nottingham to Skegness Line. Liverpool-Norwich trains also call at Grantham. The electric trains arrived in October 1988. The good transport links to Nottingham and Peterborough attract people to live in Grantham yet work in a larger city. The town's grammar schools also attract pupils from Bingham, Newark and even Retford via the train.