14-05-2025
Margaret Thatcher's home town plans festival to mark 100th anniversary of her birth
Margaret Thatcher's home town is planning a week-long festival to celebrate the 100th anniversary of her birth.
The late Baroness Thatcher is set to be remembered with a variety of themed beers, theatre productions, art and speakers in the Lincolnshire town of Grantham.
Cllr Ashley Baxter, the council's leader, announcing the proposals, said: 'Whether they're the son of a blacksmith, the son of a coal miner, the son of an industry baron or the son of an unemployed worker who went on a YTS Scheme and turned into an entrepreneurial capitalist - anyone that comes into Grantham that week, should realise [it] was the home of Margaret Thatcher.'
At a South Kesteven District Council meeting earlier this week, ideas to commemorate her birth on Oct 13 included selling pints of beer named after her, such as 'Iron Lady', 'Grantham Lass' and 'Milk Snatcher'.
Grantham has been divided on its relationship with Lady Thatcher since her death in 2013.
In 2022, a £300,000 statue of her was egged less than two hours after it was put up in the town.
Cllr Baxter told fellow councillors that 'wheels are turning' in the planning of the events.
'Working with community organisations in Grantham, we intend to mark the anniversary of the birth of Britain's first female Prime Minister,' he said.
'I am certainly no fan of her work and I intend the week of events will tell the whole story in a fair and balanced way.
'The week will include theatre productions, films, art, town walks, and well-known speakers.
'My aim is that anybody who comes into Grantham should go away thinking 'they told the story fairly'.'
Karen Whitfield, assistant director of leisure, culture and place at the council, said the anniversary marked a 'significant event for Grantham'.
She added that a number of organisations were wanting to put on events and shows, so the council sought to bring stakeholders together under the umbrella of a festival.
Lady Thatcher spent her childhood above her father's grocery shop on North Parade, which is no longer there but marked with a plaque to commemorate her birth.
In 1943, she left Lincolnshire to study chemistry at Oxford, before entering politics
Cllr Virginia Moran, the cabinet member for housing, said the town was split equally between support and dislike for the controversial figure.
'Some of her policies were draconian and cruel, but she didn't take any stick from any other countries,' she said.
'As far as women are concerned, after the Queen, she was the most powerful figure in the country.
'It wasn't a glass ceiling she smashed through, it was a concrete floor.
'There was a lot to admire about her, but also a lot to be appalled at.
'I don't think there's been a leader who has stood up for Great Britain like she did.'
