More updates

By shendyNo Comments
I've had a reasonably productive week, and have put a lot of new photos up on the main website: A whole new section containing loads of photos from in and around Northampton, including Borough Shows and Raft Races as well as things like the redevelopment of the Town Centre in the 70s and shots from Abington Park. More photos from my dad's life - very early photos from the 30s, 40s and 50s and some from his working life. Enjoy....
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Abington Park 1976

By shendy3 Comments
Some shots from Abington Park in the summer of '76 The wonderful Gallone's ice cream vans, still there to this day. Is the ice cream as good as it was? The council obviously had more money than it does now, and there were various entertainments put on in the park during the summer - these are some Belgian flag wavers and a Scottish band with a drum major (or perhaps minor judging by the size of her). These are the Celebrated Ratliffe Stout Band - I know the name, but really don't know much about them apart from the fact that they came from Northampton, were a folk group and were named after a Northampton beer. Very hard to find out anything about them on t'interweb. And one of me, probably eating a Gallone's. And yes, the top is home-knitted....
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Family, 1974

By shendy1 Comment
And to wrap up 1974, here is the section that the family will have been dreading - the most interesting photos of them from the year. We'll start with Mother, looking surprisingly cool in her shades and the evening sun - she's watching the Caswell Ladies Cricket Team. Me at the Borough Show in Abington Park, tucking into a hot dog. I think this is The Brother with my father on the dodgems. One from London - cousin Chris, me and The Brother. What's that? The hair? Yes, I know - you have to remember it was the 1970s. Me at Midsummer Meadows outdoor swimming pool. Those of you from Northampton who are old enough to remember it will probably have the same memories as me - that water was always bloody cold. No idea where this was taken, but I'm guessing that the heat of the top that Mother had knitted got too much and I needed cooling down a bit......
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Northampton Early 1973

By shendyNo Comments
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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Masque Theatre summer show

By shendyNo Comments
The Masque Theatre in Northampton put on an open-air show every summer, usually Shakespeare. Traditionally it was always held in the courtyard of the museum in Abington Park, but this was closed for a number of years over the last decade or so. However, they're back there now, which means that the actors once again have to battle to be heard over the peacocks from the small aviary just behind. Assuming there are still any there - I haven't lived in Northampton since 1992, so I've no idea whether there are or not! As this is 1961, it must be Much Ado About Nothing. If I recall correctly, the little ticket booth is green, and always saw additional service in the Borough Show in Abington Park a week or two later. I spent many summer evenings around there, often selling programmes, as my father was generally in the play and my mother helped out, sometimes prompting, sometimes in the ticket office....
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