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Head, Sessions House
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As today’s deadline is noon and the train ride to Northampton takes 57 minutes, Tigger thought to use her SE Network card to reduce costs. This meant that we could travel only after 10 am. We would have 45 minutes to deliver the document and the client wasn’t too far from the station.
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The Guild Hall
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Once en route. however, we realized that we were cutting it rather fine as any delay could cause us to miss the deadline. As if to underline the point, the train stopped and waited outside Milton Keynes, making us nervous.
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Public art
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We reached Northampton a little after 11:15 and rushed to the taxis. We reached the client’s office at 11:25, handed in the package and got a timed receipt. Panic over.
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Elephant boot
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Northampton is world famous for its shoe manufacture. Go to the museum and you will see lots of shoes. Old shoes and modern shoes, sensible shoes and fantasy shoes, classic shoes and surreal shoes. And boots. And sports footware. Foot coverings for every trade and some for professions not yet invented. There is even a boot made for an elephant called Jumbo who took part in a re-enactment of Hannibal’s famous march on Rome.
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The Fish Inn
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Emerging from the museum, we entered the Fish Inn where we had vegetarian sausage and mash for lunch. Then we went on a ramble to look at the town.
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The Market
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There is a substantial market in Northampton and in the afternoon we went to look at it but, unfortunately, by then most of it was closed.
One should not jump too quickly to conclusions on a brief visit (I have been taken to task for my rapid dismissal of Ely) but Northampton seems a pleasant town.
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Elizabethan style
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Modern tastelessness
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There are a number of beautiful old buildings among the inevitable modern dross. There is a relaxed atmosphere and people have time to talk and be pleasant, requiring the Londoner to mentally change gear. The weather helps, as it is a sunny day.
Tags: Northampton
July 24, 2008 at 9:53 am |
I’m glad to read about all these cities where I used to go in order to get out of Corby which was not the most beautiful place in the world… In Northampton I used to attend meetings for foreign language assistants. So I don’t remember much of it. On the contrary I remember Leicester where I often went shopping for almost nothing as my dad worked for the French railways and I could get very cheap tickets.
July 24, 2008 at 11:13 am |
Lucky you to get free rail travel. It is so expensive these days. It’s time the government put its money where its mouth is and taxed the airlines to subsidize rail travel.
We love our little expeditions and hope to be off on another one tomorrow. Watch this space!
July 25, 2008 at 10:32 pm |
Memories of Northampton for me are based around the Derngate theatre and the annual hot air balloon festival, Please tell me they’ve knocked that oppressive, appalling bus station down now?
July 28, 2008 at 6:22 pm |
Assuming that the bus station that is there now is the one that you knew, then yes, it’s still there!
July 29, 2008 at 1:05 pm |
Well, I don’t get free or cheap tickets any more… That was a long time ago, until I turned 25 and became a teacher.
July 29, 2008 at 2:12 pm |
Childhood’s end and the exile from Eden…