Society and Culture
Scottish migration to Corby has created a unique population in the borough, evidenced most clearly in the 'Corby accent', referred to as 'Corbyite', which is often described as sounding Glaswegian. The link with Scotland is a strong feature of the area: according to the 2001 Census, there were 10,063 Scottish-born in the Corby Urban Area – 18.9% of the population. A further 1.3 per cent were born in Northern Ireland. It has been estimated that a further third of the population are Scottish or of Scottish descent.
The Scottish heritage is cherished by many inhabitants. There are Scottish social and sporting clubs and there are many fervent supporters of the Rangers and Celtic football clubs (indeed, Corby is home to the largest Rangers Supporters' Club outside of Glasgow and Northern Ireland). Many shops sell Scottish foods and a supermarket even introduced Gaelic signs to their Corby store (but they have since removed them). An annual Highland Gathering featuring traditional Scottish music and dancing is held in the town. Corby is the only town in England apart from London with two Church of Scotland churches. Local legend states that Corby sees the highest sales of the Scottish soft drink Irn-Bru of anywhere outside of Scotland. ASDA Corby is stated to sell 17 times more Irn-Bru than any other store in England. Its popularity is cemented by the fact that it is available for purchase in all bars, nightclubs and pubs in the area.
The song Steeltown by Big Country (title track of the album) was written about the town of Corby, telling how many Scots went to work there, but found themselves unemployed when the steelworks declined. (Source: Melody Maker, 1984)
According to the 2001 Census 1.7% of the population are non-white and the average age of the population (37.2) is slightly lower than the average for England and Wales (38.6).
November 2010 saw the opening of the Corby Cube, a major development in the town centre. As well as new council chamber, registrar office, and public library, the Cube is home to a 450 seat theatre and 100 capacity studio theatre. A programme of live theatre, dance, music and standup comedy is complemented by a participation programme encouraging all parts of Corby community to get involved. Recently the theatre started screening films, twice a week and including current mainstream releases and the best in world, independent and art house cinema. A report in 2012 revealed that the Cube was built with dangerous design flaws and almost double its original estimated costs and a capacity of only half of what was planned.
A crater on Mars discovered in the late 1970s was named after Corby, in reference to a famous transcript of a conversation in June 1969 between the crew of the Apollo 11 mission and mission control, whereby world news was relayed to the crew, amongst it was the news that "in Corby, an Irishman named John Coil won the World's Porridge Eating Championship by consuming 23 bowls of instant oatmeal in 10 minutes".The reply from Apollo 11 "I'd like to enter Aldrin in the porridge eating contest next time; he's on the 19th bowl. Rodger."
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