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 taken over by Grand Met who planned to build a modern new brewery on the site, but a “mysterious arson attack” destroyed the (listed) Victorian frontage, opening the way for a complete rebuild.

But hey, I’m sure everyone was looking forward to the exciting new world in 1973.

I actually remember this – they drained and dredged the bottom lake in Abington Park – great fun for small children!

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