Saturday 17 June 2017

The Beautiful County of Northamptonshire - My Home County - #Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire - Sidney Hall 1820
Northamptonshire has been my Home County since I was a baby and it’s my home county now.
It’s set in the Heart of England and as the Northamptonshire Tourist Board state “It offers something for everyone who visits or lives here”.

It’s a county not many people really know anything about, but it is actually famous for a lot of things:-

Its Historical figures

1587Mary Queen of Scots was executed at Fotheringhay Castle near the beautiful old town of Oundle.

1605 -  The Gunpowder Plot was planned at Ashby St Ledgers.

1943 Major Clark Gable, film star, flew combat missions from Polebrook in WWII

Lady Diana Spencer, later to become Diana Princess of Wales, also called Northamptonshire her home, living (before her marriage) at Althorp House in Great Brington. This is still home to her Brother the current Earl Spencer and his family.



It’s Battles.



1460 - Second battle of Northampton in the War of the Roses.
Historical Events

3500BC - The first settlement began in  at Briar Hill and it obviously progressed from there.

43AD – The Romans arrived. 

1675 - The Great Fire of Northampton destroyed three quarters of the town.

1934 - Work began in Corby on the largest steelworks in Britain. My Dad, Uncle and Grandfather worked there. That could even be my Grandads light blue car in the photo. 
Corby Steelworks - unable to find who owns photo.

1948 - The British Grand Prix was first held at Silverstone and it is still held there today, bringing in thousands of visitors to the County. A fact we are very proud of. Silverstone itself is a beautiful village in a lovely setting. 

Courtesy of Lesley Anne Vance - Facebook
2003 - The first chip and pin trials started in Northampton. I worked for one of those companies who took part in the trial, Northampton Travel Services. It’s now used worldwide.

Sulgrave Manor - copyright unknown
Stately homes and Castles.

Rockingham is home to the beautiful Rockingham Castle; set high on the hill overlooking several counties. 

Boughton House, home to the Duke of Buccleuch and his family, who are relatives of our Queen. 

Sulgrave Manor which is the ancestral home of the family of George Washington.
Althorp House courtesy of Pinterest

Althorp House  Home of the Spencer Family. Princess Diana's former home and current home to her Brother Earl Spencer.


Museums

We have numerous different museums ranging from railway museums, canal museums, Boot and Shoe museums, Roman Villa museums.

Families

Race Tracks - For thrill seekers there are the thrills and spills of motor racing at Silverstone, Rockingham or Santa Pod.

Wicksteed park, set in 148 acres of parkland with 40 rides and attractions. It was given to the children of Kettering by it’s founder Charles Wicksteed who it is said, told that he wanted the children of Kettering to be able to play for free in the beautiful park, and yes you still can on the swings and slides side of the park, but now everything else comes at a price. It’s a great day out if you have kids. (add picture) Generations of families in the area have bought their children there. My grandparents did their “courting” there, as did my parents. 
View from the Zip Wire over to Barton Seagrave my home village


The Old Bank - Turkish Restaurant - Rothwell

Places to stay and eat

We have great places to stay from Hotels, to Canal boats and Farm Stays. Something for everyone.


For eating out you can get almost any kind of meal you want. There’s Indonesian; Chinese; Greek; Turkish; Indian; Malaysian; BBQ; American diners; hundreds of quiet country pubs; chain restaurants and more.There is certainly something for all tastes. 


Authors
Added to all of that we also have a plethora of very talented wordsmiths in our County. Check them out on my blog tomorrow,  in my post on Northamptonshire Authors.

So you see Northamptonshire has it all… So iff you’ve never visited and never really considered visiting us, you really should!


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