Northampton

Local History

Local History 1

Leader: Kath Healey Tel: 01604 629103
Deputy: Aideen Fogarty Tel: 01604 630546

We meet on the 1st Friday from 10.15-12.15

The venue is St Gregory\'s Church Hall in Park Avenue North, NN3 2HS

A new local history group has been running now for two years. We agreed to make a fresh start, although some members have previous useful experience. All the members agreed we would contribute by researching items and presenting them to the group in whatever format suits them best. Some wanted just to present orally, others are more technology-wise. We are wanting to enjoy ourselves! The present programme started with Northampton itself, the people, buildings, places - in fact anything of interest to the members. So far we have looked at the early history of the start of the town and area and its vast importance in medieval and later times. This is a continuing study as there is so much material. We have also visited Moulton to hear about the Methodist cobbler missionary to India, William Carey, the physic garden at Delapre Abbey, St Peter’s Norman Church and are sharing a meeting with the Microscope Group to hear about the history of Northamptonshire Natural History Society. We have enjoyed a number of presentations from members, some of them biographies, some about special areas but there is still a lot of material about Northampton before we move on to the wider area!

This is a small group of about 20 members, but vacancies do occur fairly often so if you are interested please contact the leader on the telephone number above

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Local History 2

Leader Kay Gibson Tel: 01604 406735 or 07967 984829
Deputy Eileen Warbis Tel: 07519 895211

Northamptonshire is rich in history and we aim to explore by presentations, visits and talks a range of aspects the County has to offer.

In 2022 we studied the history of the Boot and Shoe industry in Northampton. The theme for 2023 was Northampton at Leisure, which included looking at the history of activities such as football, theatre, cinemas and public houses. We also had a guided tour of medieval history/herb garden at Delapre Abbey and a visit from Northamptonshire Film Archive Trust, showing cine film of past times.

In 2024 we are studying Northampton people and have so far learnt about Violet Gibson who attempted to assassinate Mussolini! And four Northampton people who have been honored by a blue plaque.

For more information please contact the group leader by phone or email using the link on the top right. The Group meets at 10am to 12 noon on the 1st Friday of each month at St Matthews Parish Centre, The Drive, Northampton NN1 4RY

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