Northampton Early 1973

What a vibrant, exciting place Northampton must have been in early 1973... Who am I trying to kid - it was the early 70s! Anyway, there was a lot of building work going on in the town, with the old Chronicle and Echo building being demolished and replaced by that modern invention - a shopping mall. And we ended up with the Grosvenor Centre, attached to a bus station of such monstrosity that in 2005 Channel 4's "Demolition" programme shortlisted it for the worst building in Britain - beaten out only by such excrescences as Cumbernauld Town Centre in Scotland. Then there was the construction of the multi-storey Mayorhold car park, and the modern looking Saxon Inn hotel. And I almost forgot the Carlsberg brewery! I always understood there had been a fire while building it, but I did some googling to find out more. The modern brewery is on the site of the old Phipps one - they were bought out by Watneys, who were then...
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Last 1972

As we move into 2012, here are the last photos from 1972. These first ones are from the Caswell Christmas Party - Plessey put on a children's party each year, something I remember fondly. And yes, that's me with Santa. Remember that this is 1972 and they've got a video camera - you can tell it was a technology research centre! These others are from the family Christmas in Rugby - to be honest, I can't remember this or who the relatives there were - it's obviously my father's side of the family as we're with his parents but other than that, no idea. I know the front row apart from the gentleman on the left, but don't recognise the back row at all. I expect Mother and/or Auntie Susan will be able to shed some light on who they are. ...
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