Grimethorpe is a large village which is part of the metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It has a population of around 3850. A village is a human residential settlement commonly found in rural areas. ... Barnsley is a metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. ... South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my [birth]right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked...

It is located to the east of Barnsley and the south of Hemsworth; until the local government reorganisation of 1974, it was part of both the Hemsworth district and constituency. It is known for its past as a proud mining village, its brass band, The Grimethorpe Colliery Band and its siting for the film Brassed Off - a black comedy which tells the plight of the village and the effect on its band. Barnsley is a large town in South Yorkshire, England, lying on the River Dearne, approximately twenty kilometres north of Sheffield. ... Hemsworth is a small town on the edge of West Yorkshire in the Wakefield district. ... Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Selby Abbey, 2000 The Grimethorpe Colliery Band is a brass band formed in 1917 as a leisure activity for the workers at the colliery. ... Brassed Off (1996) is a British film written and directed by Mark Herman. ... Black comedy, also known as black humor, is a subgenre of comedy and satire where topics and events normally treated seriously – death, mass murder, sickness, madness, terror, drug abuse, rape, etc. ...

In the 1981 census, 44% of Grimethorpe workers were miners[1]. The two pits in the village were called Grimethorpe and Ferrymoor. The latter merged with "Riddings" in 1967, which in turn merged with "South Kirkby" in 1985. Grimethorpe colliery was one of the deepest pits in Britain and, following similar mergers with "Houghton Main" and "Dearne Valley", employed 6,000 men at the time of the closure in 1993. During mid-October of the UK Miners' Strike (1984-1985), there was a series of riots in Grimethorpe and local residents complained that the policing was too heavy-handed. Relations between the community and the police remained very cold for the next decade. The miners strike of 1984-5 was a major piece of industrial action affecting the British coal industry. ...

Grimethorpe has gained a reputation as one of the most long-term deprived communities in Britain and more than half of the houses from the coal-mining days have been demolished. In 1994, the European Union's study of deprivation named Grimethorpe as the poorest village in the country and amongst the poorest in Europe. For a village, levels of crime and drug abuse have been chronically high. Unemployment was above 50% for much of the 1990s and a large proportion of the population are disabled, having suffered injuries down the coal mines. Several regeneration projects have caused fortunes to improve in recent years and the village is starting to regain its self-respect, but it still suffers from social poverty in common with many neighbouring ex-mining villages, such as nearby Fitzwilliam. Fitzwilliam is a small village on the edge of West Yorkshire. ...

It is believed that the name Grimethorpe originates from "Grim's Torp", a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Viking names, meaning a Torp or hamlet owned by a Viking named Grimey. The Anglo-Saxons refers collectively to the groups of Germanic tribes who achieved dominance in southern Britain from the mid-5th century, forming the basis for the modern English nation. ... Vikings were Norse warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, the British Isles, and other parts of Europe from the late 8th century to the 11th century. ... THORP, or Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant, is a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Sellafield in Cumbria, England, operated by BNFL. It processes plutonium waste from nuclear reactors. ... A hamlet is (usually — see below) a small settlement, too small or unimportant to be considered a village. ... Vikings were Norse warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, the British Isles, and other parts of Europe from the late 8th century to the 11th century. ...

External links

• Interview with former miners' union activist on the recent history of the village