From the
TEDxGrantham desk.
Updates from the organising team: speaker reveals, behind-the-scenes notes, and longer-form pieces on ideas worth spreading.
Memory with an engine running
At East Kirkby, £485 taxi rides in a WWII Lancaster generate revenue for the plane's restoration—the only such experience in Europe—creating a self-sustaining loop where passenger income finances the aircraft's upkeep whilst keeping it operational and accessible, rather than becoming a protected display piece.
By TEDx Grantham Team
South Kesteven's libraries as adult learning infrastructure
In a district with a median age of 46 and no university, branch libraries have become the primary adult learning route for older residents unable to reach college or access online learning.
By TEDx Grantham Team
What King 31 Is Waiting For
A 35.5-hectare industrial site in Grantham has outline planning permission but depends on Phase 3 of the Southern Relief Road, which in turn depends partly on that site being built — a circular dependency complicated by two engineering failures (unstable ground discovered in July 2022, wind-loading design errors found in February 2025) that delayed the bridge by two years.
By TEDx Grantham Team
Sensory design beyond ramps in Grantham market
Diesel generators in Grantham Marketplace produced carcinogenic exhaust and noise above 80 decibels, creating a sensory barrier that excluded neurodivergent people and those with respiratory conditions until South Kesteven began installing mains electricity in February 2026, removing an obstacle that ramps alone cannot reach.
By TEDx Grantham Team
Grantham's chained library and who knowledge was for
A parish clergyman founded Grantham's library in 1598 explicitly for both clergy and lay inhabitants, and campaigned against enclosure—both acts expressing the same conviction.
By TEDx Grantham Team
Who gets left behind when Lincolnshire's farms automate
Farm automation in Lincolnshire is being engineered by government policy, not market forces: visa quotas for seasonal workers are being progressively cut to compel technology adoption. Displaced workers, tied to single employers and six-month visas, have no retraining pathway.
By TEDx Grantham Team