IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Earl Street, NORTHAMPTON, NN1 3AX

Built following the 1852 reform of the Militia to provide a secure and defensible store for the local regiment. One of a number of decorative barracks which were intended to act as a focus of local pride and to assist in filling the regiment's quota of recruits. The drill hall was probably added to provide space for drilling in wet weather. It was designed in the Fortress Gothic Revival Style as the headquarters of the 1st Northamptonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps, and completed in 1859. The unit evolved to become the 1st Volunteer Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment in 1887 and the 4th Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment, in 1908. The battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to Gallipoli and, ultimately, to Palestine. The Northamptonshire Yeomanry was also based at Clare Street at this time. Following a major refurbishment in 2015, the drill hall became the home of Headquarters Company and of 118 Recovery Company of 104 Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers: it remains an active Army Reserve Centre See Image, Image] and https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1375621 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_Street_drill_hall,_Northampton

Built following the 1852 reform of the Militia to provide a secure and defensible store for the local regiment. One of a number of decorative barracks which were intended to act as a focus of local pride and to assist in filling the regiment's quota of recruits. The drill hall was probably added to provide space for drilling in wet weather. It was designed in the Fortress Gothic Revival Style as the headquarters of the 1st Northamptonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps, and completed in 1859. The unit evolved to become the 1st Volunteer Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment in 1887 and the 4th Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment, in 1908. The battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to Gallipoli and, ultimately, to Palestine. The Northamptonshire Yeomanry was also based at Clare Street at this time. Following a major refurbishment in 2015, the drill hall became the home of Headquarters Company and of 118 Recovery Company of 104 Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers: it remains an active Army Reserve Centre See Image], Image] and https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1375621 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_Street_drill_hall,_Northampton

Built following the 1852 reform of the Militia to provide a secure and defensible store for the local regiment. One of a number of decorative barracks which were intended to act as a focus of local pride and to assist in filling the regiment's quota of recruits. The drill hall was probably added to provide space for drilling in wet weather. It was designed in the Fortress Gothic Revival Style as the headquarters of the 1st Northamptonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps, and completed in 1859. The unit evolved to become the 1st Volunteer Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment in 1887 and the 4th Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment, in 1908. The battalion was mobilised at the drill hall in August 1914 before being deployed to Gallipoli and, ultimately, to Palestine. The Northamptonshire Yeomanry was also based at Clare Street at this time. Following a major refurbishment in 2015, the drill hall became the home of Headquarters Company and of 118 Recovery Company of 104 Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers: it remains an active Army Reserve Centre See Image], Image] and https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1375621 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_Street_drill_hall,_Northampton

Victorian commercial buildings in The Mounts.

Victorian factories in The Mounts.

Taken by the "Child with the Dandelion Clock" Image If you were born in the part of town between The Mounts (old fire station) and the former racecourse (Recreation Ground), you came from "behind the fire station", i.e. from the mostly back-to-back terraces. The lucky ones backed onto the Racecourse (and spent a happy childhood romping around and blowing dandelion clocks!).

A derelict factory on the corner of Overstone Road and St. Michael's Road. The Royal Warrant on the front reads:"By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen Riding Footwear Manufacturers" - those were the days. The site has hardly changed since it was last photographed nearly seven years ago, in Nov 2006, Image

Most of the industrial-looking buildings are former boot or shoe factories. The one with the roof skylights is the old Hawkins factory http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/273244