Cod Almighty | Postbag

Grimmo, Dynamo and Sibbo

10 December 2011

This week, we are urgently seeking Grimmo speakers. We also have more memories of Grimsby v Dynamo Prague and revive a long lost, but not forgotten, Diary theme.

The letters page will keep going over Christmas if you keep sending us letters. We won't be weighed down by Christmas cards, so to make it happen, write to us here.

Do you speak Grimmo?

I remember being in Leeds, shopping, about 15 years ago. I was trying on shoes (which were comfortable rather than fashionable) and asked the shop assistant if she thought I looked nunty in them. It is only in the last year I found out that nunty was in fact a word only really found in Grimsby dialect. I just couldn't understand why the silly woman looked at me as though I had been "let out for the day, with my carer in tow"!

Anyway, the experience gave me a brainwave. Maybe there is someone out there who reads this who could just be my knight in shining armour. I have to do a critical analysis on local dialect as part of a course I'm doing (mad moo that I am). I know individual words of local dialect, but could anyone provide me with an actual conversation (obviously written down).

Any conversation you can offer would be gratefully received, chaps and chapesses.

from Jo

Letters Ed responds: If you can provide Jo with a sample of Grimsby dialogue, please email us at postbag@codalmighty.com and we will put you in touch with her.

Grimsby's contribution to detente

Regarding the enquiry about the 1958/59 match against Dynamo Prague (See the Postbag of 4 December), yes, I was there and remember the goal scored by the keeper.

I still have all the Dynamo autographs as my dad was club doctor and had access to the changing room. On the opposite page are the autographs of Grimsby players which I'm pretty sure was the team that night but I'd need to check. It was a major event, of course, and not just because we were relatively unfashionable (though not so much as now!) but because it was very unusual for any sporting exchanges to occur at the height of the Cold War.

from Malcolm Carson

A trip to Yarm

Hi,

I spent Thursday having a day trip up north. My wife had a nurse course thingy near Yarm in Durham. Well I`d never heard of it before, but I can tell you now that it`s a lovely little place. After the long journey, three hours from base, I dropped off my beloved and set off to find a full English (of course). Stomach nearly bursting, I had a walk up and down the main street before setting off for Darlington. Why Darlington you may ask? Please don`t because I really have not got a clue myself. Best I can think of is that the thoroughfare carried me straight into its clutches.

I noticed a sign for a museum, a railway one actually, and easy enough to locate, so that's where I ended up. I spent a couple of hours wandering round and learned something about the town's past. Everywhere has a past and most of us are proud of where we live. I found the locals I spoke to very friendly and very proud of their heritage. Darlington played a major role in transportation, perhaps benefitting us all. Having said that, I hope Town give the Quakers a good old stuffing on Saturday!

On my return through Yarm, I spotted a Boyes store. Quite a while ago I remember mention of Boyes in the Diary. Was this the most northern one or was there another one nearer the North Pole?

from Sibbo

Letters Ed responds: The Diary entry for 27 January 2011 seems to round up the exploration of the bounds of the Boyes empire. If you can help Jo with her quest for Grimsby dialect dialogue, or want to offer feedback or comment on anything else in Cod Almighty or the world of NE Lincs, this is the place to go.