A Place That's a Load of Old Cobblers or at least Used to be - Proxam Hometown Challenge Thingy (Northampton in General)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Northampton in General
Date:	10/01/05 (2608 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Surrounding countryside, Loads of places to see

Disadvantages: The town itself is a tad ordinary

It all started so innocently. Six months I said and she believed me. That was 10 years ago and here we are still in my adopted hometown of Northampton. The days of us pining for a return to Birmingham appear to have disappeared forever with our roots well and truly entrenched in good old Northampton clay soil but it wasn’t always so. Today we find the town serves our needs in many different ways, what with the excellent communication links and the notion of a short drive taking us into some of the most scenic countryside in the country. This is a long one so I apologise for that. If you are reading it as a reference document then feel free to skip bits that look boring (not the whole thing for Lordy’s sake!). Otherwise, enjoy the trip….

-Historical Northampton-
Northampton began life as a Saxon village. Originally called Hamm tun (meaning the village by the well-watered meadow), it eventually became North Hamm tun, probably to distinguish it from Southampton. The name Northampton first appeared in writing in 914.

The late 9th century saw the invading Danes turn Northampton into a stronghold called a burh. This meant digging a ditch around the settlement and erecting an earth rampart with a wooden palisade on top. Northampton was not just a stronghold it was also a place of trade where craftsmen worked and where goods were bought and sold at a market.

Northampton gained its first charter in 1189. (A charter was a document granting the townspeople certain rights). Richard I gave the charter in return for money. In 1215 Northampton was given its first mayor.

The famous Northampton market started life in the early 13th century, the site of the main market still dominates the centre of the town today. The main industry of that time was wool and is reflected in many of the street names in the centre of the town i.e. Mercer’s Row (a mercer was a dealer in fine cloth), The Drapery and Woolmonger St.

Shoemaking came to prominence in the 17th century, taking over from the wool industry.

1642 saw civil war between King Charles I and parliament with Northampton supporting parliament. This backfired on the town in 1660 with Charles II ordering the destruction of the town walls in revenge for the people of Northampton opposing his father.

In1675 disaster stuck Northampton with a fire starting in St Marys Street and soon spreading through the town. About 600 houses were destroyed as well as many public buildings. The town was rebuilt with the opportunity being taken to update the town with the latest designs of the day.

-Northampton today-
Northampton’s boundaries were extended in 1901. By the time of the1930s, many workers in the shoemaking industry had been laid off as that sector was in decline. The rapid growth in population of the late 19th century slowed to a crawl by the time of the1930s.

In 1965 Northampton was designated a new town which led to a huge expansion of its population. Many Londoners left for Northampton and a Development Corporation was formed in 1968. The first new area to be built was the Eastern District followed in the late 1970s and early 1980s by the Western District. The Northampton Development Corporation was wound up in 1985.

The Grosvenor shopping centre was built in 1975. The Derngate theatre was built in 1983. The new districts included industrial estates to attract new industries to Northampton. Today the main ones are financial services, soft drinks, cosmetics and brewing.

Today the population of Northampton is in excess of 200,000 and still growing with the boundaries between Northampton and the Milton Keynes conurbation becoming ever more blurred.

-How to get to and from Northampton-
Northampton is situated in the centre of the country. Accessible via junctions 15, 15a and 16 of the M1, the town is an hour’s drive from both Birmingham and London. The A43 takes the traveller onto the A14 and opens up the east of the country including Ipswich and Norwich whilst Northampton train station links with the main London line and the main Northern route to Birmingham and beyond. Approximately 1 hour on the train takes the traveller to London Euston or Birmingham New Street.

There is a large coach station based in the centre of the town called Greyfriars although this, together with the central Mayorhold Car Park have recently been voted amongst the ugliest buildings in the country. There are plans to tear the bus station down and replace it with an upmarket shopping mall but these plans have been in the pipeline for some time now along with the concept of building a tram system that will serve the outer parts of Northampton linking them with the centre of town.

-Attractions-
Every year the town centre holds street fairs as part of the St Crispin celebrations. I was present this year as the Mayor of Northampton officially opened the fair as part of a ceremony in Abington Street (I was out shopping at the time as opposed to being a dignitary or something). This usually entails fairground rides situated throughout the town and attracts people from far and wide.

The town does boast a Tourist Centre that dispenses advice and leaflets to travellers. Based in the centre of town, the tourist centre is not from the magnificent Guildhall on St Giles St., which is used for functions varied from recording births to marriage ceremonies. The Guildhall is the site of the borough council offices but the neo-Gothic building itself was built in 1861 and designed by E.W. Godwin. It is well worth seeing.

The Derngate theatre is a very short walk from the Guildhall. Each year, the Derngate attracts artists as varied as Peter Andre to Noddy in Toy Town. It is possible to book online and the related site is listed at the end of the opinion. I’ve been a few times myself to see Jack in the Beanstalk, last year amongst other things. The Derngate is a very traditional type of theatre with plenty of places to go and eat afterwards only a short walk away.

-Night Life-
If it’s one thing that Northampton thrives on it is night-life. The town is crowded with bars, pubs and night-clubs. All along Abington Street there are pubs and if you are up for a real session then there are countless watering holes along Wellingborough road. There is no shortage of places to eat with Indian, Chines and Italian restaurants all featuring. Imran’s Balti Hut is a cheap venue with a decent quality of meal situated on the “Welly Road” whilst The Royal Bengal on Bridge St also does a decent curry.

The Road Mender is a site for bands to play, having recently been completely re-built situated just to the rear of the Mayorhold Car Park. If it’s an…erm…gentlemen’s night venue you require then Urban Tiger has recently re-opened. There are several night clubs in the centre of town, the best known being Time and Envy. It’s a while since I’ve been and the overriding memory of my last visit is of a seeing an overweight Robbie Williams lookalike going down like a lead balloon!

A venture into the Market Square may take you to Chicago Rock Café, which charges for admission after 11pm. Drinks are pricey but if you are looking to pull then you can’t really go wrong at Chicago Rock.

Sixfields is an entertainment complex that is located around 3 miles from the town centre. Along with major retailers like Sainsbury and Boots, the site boasts a cinema in the shape of UCG, a bowling complex, several pubs and places to eat including Old Orleans, TGI Fridays, MacDonalds, Frank and Benny’s and others too.

-Shopping-
As mentioned earlier, the Market Square has been established for many centuries and holds a market for 6 days of the week. The Grosvenor Centre boasts WH Smiths, HMV and a large Virgin store amongst others whilst you’ll find the obligatory Woolworth and Marks and Spencer down the adjacent Abington St.

Like many towns, Northampton has seen an explosion in out of town stores sop many of the larger retailers have take cheaper pitches in the suburbs. These include Tesco, PC World, Toys-R-Us and Alders to named but a few but Northampton is hardly a huge place so it’s only a short drive out to find the store you want. Traffic isn’t that much of a problem as long as you avoid peak times.

Kingsthorpe welcomes the latest addition today in the form of an Asda store.

-Sport-
Northampton is more renowned for it’s rugby team than anything else. The Saints play at Franklin’s Gardens in the St. James area of town. Northampton has won the Heineken European Cup in recent times although they currently languish towards the bottom of the Zurich Premiership. Prices for admission can be as high as any top-flight soccer side due to the high profile of the rugby team. I’ve twice been to Franklin’s Gardens and enjoyed both visits. There is a much more family-orientated atmosphere than at the football although I’ve never been able to adjust to the good-natured silence that goes before a penalty kick for the opposition.

The town’s soccer/football team play at Sixfields. Recent years have been difficult for the footie team although the early 70s saw them in the old First division rubbing shoulders with the elite. Those days are gone with the team trying to find a way out of Division 2. The club came close to going out of business a few years back but the dedication of the supporters coupled with some positive action from the council meant that a new stadium was built and leased to the club for a nominal rent. It can be relatively pricey to go and watch The Cobblers play (I saw them play on Boxing Day 2003 and paid £18 for a ticket) with the standard of football well below Premiership standard.

-Out of Town-
One of the nice things about Northampton is that 5 minutes in the car will take the traveller to many lovely country pubs and lots of local interest sites. A few miles down the A428 on the way to Brixworth will take you to Pitsford Reservoir. There is a small parking charge that goes towards conservation but this is a great spot for picnics. Many people take their bikes to cycle around the reservoir (approx 7 miles). There is a café, small wildlife centre and bikes can be hired for the day. The reservoir is actually built on top of a small town that was flooded to make the reservoir possible. Apparently, on a windy night the church bells can still be heard chiming from the flooded town.

A few miles down the Quinton Road takes the traveller to Salsey Forest. We’ve been here a few times recently. This is a perfect spot for those with dogs whilst it’s not uncommon to see ponies being trekked. Bird spotting trips can be arranged with the forest wardens and there is a nice café spot where visitors can have a drink and a snack and simply look out at the forest environment.

Holdenby House and Sulgrave Manor are well worth a few hours of anyone’s time with links below to show the reader more. Both are steeped in history and tradition, both have strong links with The Sealed Knot resulting in Civil War re-enactments that are well worth seeing and complement an in interesting day out.

-Conclusion-
Northampton is a vibrant town with a rapidly expanding population. Popular with commuters, the town has the best of both worlds with an urban environment complementing the country venues that are reached within a few minutes by car. We’ve come to love Northamptonshire in general and it holds many interests for the casual traveller. An opinion like this can only really scratch the surface. There really is lots more I could say but I’m conscious that you have other things to do so I’m hopeful folks may have found this interesting.

Come see us real soon!

This is part of the home-town challenge. Better late than never, Drew.

Thanks for reading.

Marandina

Related web sites:

http://www.aidan.co.uk/photo2394.htm

http://www.northamptontheatres.com/

http://www.roadmender.org/view_event.asp?id=51

http://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/256_485.php

http://www.stratford.co.uk/sulgrave/

http://www.holdenby.com/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/ northampton_town/default.stm

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