Northampton Past and Present 6

[@johnnyrichardson902]

Just stumbled across these six gems, wonderfully put together thanks

[@RobNorthampton]

I apologise for not replying sooner! I had left my KZbin channel alone for a long time. Ill health and life changes, you know. I am now retired in Cornwall, but really appreciate that you took the time to comment on the Northampton videos. At the time they were uploaded, KZbin allowed a maximum of only ten-minute videos, which is why it is so chopped up. Sometime later, I wanted to upload it as one with a new soundtrack but I lost the video tapes they were made on! Thank again, Johnny! :)

[@RobNorthampton]

Thank you for watching! It is 20 years ago now since I wandered around Northampton filming this. Even in that short time, a lot has changed.

[@PANDA-mi7lh]

Trying to find pictures or footage of my old school military Rd lower school and St George's middle don't suppose you have any pictures of either of them

[@1984dja]

Rob, mate amazing videos your knowledge and love for the town is unrivaled. I'm definately going to put your videos on my Northamptonshire site, so they get the visitors they deserve. KUTGW

[@madonetwo]

I left Northampton in 1978. Seeing your series of video's makes me wonder if I should not come home. I learned more about the town than I ever knew when lived there. Its fascinating to see the town 18 years ago parts of it are quite different from what I remember. It must be even more different by 2010. I must come back and have a look. One small point I am sure someone must have told you by now, Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish American philanthropist who built libraries all over the world.

[@RobNorthampton]

Hi Mary! Thanks for sitting through all that. You deserve a medal! I get bored watching and listening to my voice droning on and on. :-D As for Joey the tortoise, he is just doing what he has always done, wandering around my parents' garden, eating his fill of lettuces, cucumbers and tomatoes, and the occasional bunch of dandelions. I was visiting a couple of weeks ago, and he almost fell asleep while I was tickling him under the chin. He's a character! :-) Thanks again, Mary.

[@peterbaxter2913]

This is delightful - thank you. The playbill for the 'opening night' was for the opening night of the Theatre Royal, or the "Rep" in, I think, 1885. The Mr McKenzie was the father of actress Fay Compton and the author and founder of "The Gramophone", Compton McKenzie.

[@RobNorthampton]

Thank you for sharing that insightful information! It’s always wonderful to connect with viewers who appreciate the history behind these performances.

[@RobNorthampton]

Hi Kelly. Thanks for watching and for the comment. I'm not originally from Northampton, but I guess I'm just nosey, so it was fun researching it back then. Thanks again. Rob :-)

[@RobNorthampton]

Thanks for watching, Kelly! :-)

[@RobNorthampton]

Thanks for looking, Dave! Have a great day! :-)

[@RobNorthampton]

@madonetwo Thank you for watching, and true enough, Northampton continues to 'evolve', if that's the right word. Abington Street seems to have lost a lot of its character since the demise of many popular high street shops. It now seems to be full of building societies, phone shops and temporary 'pound shops' who seem to set up for a couple of months at a time to sell poor quality goods. On the plus side, we are getting a new marina built on the river in Beckets' Park. Look around on google maps.

[@suzannesadiiqa]

I went to the New Theatre each year with my Gran to see the pantomime. Like the Notre Dame high school which stood roughly opposite, it was a great loss to the Northampton streetscape. Nowadays these buildings would be very prestigious offices of apartments keeping the facades for the continued enjoyment of Northamptonians.

[@RobNorthampton]

It's wonderful to hear about your memories at the New Theatre! It's such a shame to see historic buildings go, but hopefully, the charm of Northampton can be preserved in other ways. I apologise for not replying sooner! I had left my KZbin channel alone for a long time. Ill health and life changes, you know. I really appreciate that you took the time to comment.

[@kensington25]

Only driven through Northmapton on my way up north but you make the place sound really intersting. Thanks for this. William

[@HotSpace2007DaveB]

Great videos m8 :-) Miss the old place too.

[@RobNorthampton]

Yes. I spent a lot of time reading library books about Northampton, and taking notes. After so long, it'd be news to me now if I watched them! :-)

[@paulwedgbrow7120]

Thank you Rob

[@RobNorthampton]

Hi there me lickle ol' mate Sazzle! I wouldn't expect you to have to sit through all that. I'm just happy you dropped in to comment. It's an old vid, but thought it might be of interest to some. I need to make new stuff! :-D Rob x

[@AzumiRM]

Nice video set. Truely enjoyed the history lesson.

[@RobNorthampton]

@hothandsharrisuk I believe so. He was a Scotsman that fared very well in America. From Wikepedia: "Carnegie donated most of his money to establish many libraries, schools, and universities in America, the United Kingdom and other countries, as well as a pension fund for former employees. He is often regarded as the second-richest man in history after John D. Rockefeller."

[@RobNorthampton]

Thanks for watching Tracy! Good to hear from you again :-) This old video was made thanks to the Pinnacle Dazzle that I was telling you about. I didn't own one when I wrote to you, but I needed to exchange an unused graphics card, and as they'd only give me credit, I chose the Dazzle. I'm having fun looking through all my old stuff! :-) Rob x

[@RobNorthampton]

I don't know why I didn't reply to this 10 months ago! For that I apologise. I can only think my notifications were going astray. Thank you for the comments, even though they are very belated! :-)

[@RobNorthampton]

Hi Rob! Thanks very much for your glowing comments. It looks like you were a victim of the KZbin message ghost, that steals messages and brings them back later. Don't worry, it's happened to me too :-) Glad you liked the vid, Rob. Thanks for watching! :-)

[@pauljt29]

Fascinating

[@PANDA-mi7lh]

Trying to find pictures or footage of my old school military Rd lower school and St George's middle don't suppose you have any pictures of either of them

[@RobNorthampton]

I completely understand the nostalgia! Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures, but I’d recommend checking with local archives or school groups-they might have some great resources. There are also a few historical Northampton sites on Facebook that may be of use. Good luck in your search.

[@RobNorthampton]

I'm sorry I didn't reply to your comment, but I think some of my YT notifications have been accidentally sent to my spam folder. I apologise for the lateness, but thank you all the same for watching and leaving such a positive comment. Thank you :-) - Rob

[@RobNorthampton]

Thank you for commenting! :-)

[@RobNorthampton]

Another comment I missed, and I apologise for it. I think there must have been a YT glitch for me to have missed replying to comments. Thank you very much for watching and commenting! :-)

[@RobNorthampton]

Hi William. I don't know if the words 'Northampton' and 'Interesting' really belong together, but I just love checking out the history of a place. Especially as I ended up being stuck here! LOL

[@RobNorthampton]

Thanks very much, Gary! I think if I made it today, I would have made it much snappier, but it was 15 years ago and I'd not long had a camcorder. Funnily enough, apart from a couple of shop fronts, Northampton is very much the same today! :-)

[@RobNorthampton]

Thanks very much. I'm afraid it was just a part-experiment, part-labour of love that inspired me to film this at the time. It's simply a home movie scattered over a couple of old Hi8 tapes. I did have the whole film saved on an external hard drive, and wouldn't you know it? I knocked the hard drive over one day and it now no longer works. :(

[@suzannesadiiqa]

Carnegie wasn't a local! He was a scot who funded many libraries and public buildings in the UK and the USA.

[@RobNorthampton]

Thank you very much for watching! :-)

[@DamiensTrainsandTravels]

The shops were a big part of Northampton for me and sadly now Toys R Us, a few good market stalls and other shops like M&S, BHS etc. are gone, the bus station also closed and the new one isn't in an ideal location in my opinion. I will do anything to defend northampton and northamptonshire on the whole, but sadly struggle to defend it at the moment, all there seems to be is chairty shops, takeaways, gambling shops and foreign food shops.

[@RobNorthampton]

Thank you very much, Azumi! :-)

[@morestupidforms]

It's, sadly, still in terminal decline. It had a bit of a boost a few years ago when they did free parking, abandoned now.

[@RobNorthampton]

It’s unfortunate to see towns decline like this, and it is happening to so many. Hopefully, they can find a way to revitalise the area again in the future.

[@RobNorthampton]

I have considered it, but it is very time-consuming, and I'm lazy. :-)

[@RuthFreeman-b6p]

Why were lovely buildings like the Notre Dame school demolished. My mum went to school there in the 50's and I remember walking past it when we were in town. Just a crying shame that lovely buildings are destroyed and ugly ones built in there place.

[@RobNorthampton]

Thank you for sharing your personal connection to Notre Dame! It’s always special to hear stories from those who experienced it firsthand. Let's hope we can advocate for preserving the beauty of the buildings that are still left!

[@tortoisebore8642]

Forward to 2024 😞 mass migration has dragged Northampton into a third world country so said! Great video tho.