Out and About
| Stoke Bruerne (nr Blisworth) Towcester. This charming example of a traditional canal village boasts the Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum, two enjoyable canal-side walks, two pubs and a restaurant.  Visit website |
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| Blisworth Tunnel Boats Gayton Road, Blisworth. Narrow boat hire on the Grand Union Canal. Self-drive day boats and holiday boats. Convenient for the 3km long Blisworth Tunnel and the Waterway Museum. Tel : 01604 858868 |
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Museums |
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| Northampton Museum and Art Gallery Northampton A locally focused museum, reflecting Northampton's proud standing as Britain’s boot and shoe capital. Collection includes shoe ephemera, social history, archeology, costume and textiles, decorative, applied and fine arts. Free Entry. Visit website |
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| Abington Museum Abington Park, Northampton Situated in the beautiful surroundings of Abington Park, and housed in a charming 15th century building once the home of Shakespeare’s granddaughter. An interesting and varied collection. Free Entry. Visit website |
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| 78 Derngate Northampton A stunning art deco home designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in the heart of Northampton. Lovingly restored and utterly enchanting. Visit website |
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| Milton Keynes Gallery Milton Keynes An exciting new art space, just a stone’s throw from the shopping center, presenting 6-8 free exhibitions of contemporary art each year. Visit website |
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Country Houses and Gardens |
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| Castle Ashby Northampton. Wonderful house and magical gardens designed by the renowned exponent of the picturesque style Capabiltiy Brown. In the grounds there are cafes and a craft village. Visit website |
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| The Menagerie Horton, nr Northampton. Intriguing and utterly unique these gardens boast a gothic arbor, classical arbor, rose garden and an enchanting shell grotto. Visit website |
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| Cotton Manor Garden Guilsborough, Northants An attractive English country garden featuring a wide variety of interesting plants over several levels, a water garden, wildflower meadow, pine lawns and a bluebell wood. Visit website |
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| Cottesbrooke Hall and Gardens Cottesbrooke, Northants Stunning Queen Anne house dating from 1702. Contains the Woolavington collection of sporting paintings, possibly the best of its kind in Europe and some very fine china and furniture. Thirteen acres of award winning gardens surround the Hall and beyond the gardens the parkland continues with beautiful vistas abound. A tranquil place to escape to. Visit website |
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| Kelmarsh Hall Kelmarsh, Northants A palladian style hall built in 1732 surrounded by a working estate, grazed parkland and beautiful gardens - a walled garden, rose garden, glass house, woodland and lake. Visit website |
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| Delapre Abbey Delepre, Northampton Historic buildings and lovingly cared for gardens, featuring outdoor art. Visit website |
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| Boughton House Kettering, Northants Known as “The English Versailles” the stunning Northampton home of the Duke of Buccleuch boasts an outstanding collection of fine arts as well as 17th,18th Century French and English furniture, tapestries, porcelain, incomparable armory and ceremonial coach. Historic parkland. Plant centre, tearooms and an Adventure Woodland Play area. Visit website |
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| Althorp House Althorp, Northants The resting place of Diana Princess of Wales. Set in 450 acres of picturesque parkland, Althorpe houses some fine collections of furniture, ceramics and portraiture. Visit website |
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Country Parks and Woodland |
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| Salcey Forest Hartwell, Northants. The Royal Forest of Salcey is a magnificent ancient woodland with excellent walking and an amazing range of wildlife. The forest is a remnant of the medieval royal hunting forest. The 'druids' or veteran oaks in Salcey are rare and amazing wildlife habitats, and some of the oaks are believed to be over 500 years old. There is also the newly opened treetop walk. Visit website |
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| Brixworth Country Park Brixworth, Northants First opened in 1990 the park has many facilities including a cafe, cycle hire, play area, sensory garden, waymarked trails and a residential centre for groups. The Country Park is now the main gateway to Pitsford Water and the Pitsford Water Trail. The park provides relaxation in a peaceful setting. Visit website |
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| Sywell Country Park Sywell, Northampton A mixture of mature woodland, sheep-grazed meadows and the enclosed waters of an Edwardian Reservoir which gives refuge to a wide variety of birds. Visit website |
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Shopping |
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| Bicester Shopping Village Bicester An attractive village with many shop selling designer labels and brands at competitive prices. Visit website |
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| Milton Keynes Shopping Centre A mecca for all shopaholics! Everything you could possibly want and more under one roof. Next door there is an open air market on most days. Plenty of cafes and restaurants to choose from. Visit website |
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Towns |
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| Northampton A great place to go for shopping, eating and drinking! Northampton has two shopping centres, a large open air market, and hundreds of shops, bars and restaurants all within minutes walking distance of car parks. Head for Abington Street, The Grosvenor Centre and Peacock Place for the usual high street shops; or St. Giles Street, Collage Street Mews and the Derngate for smaller more unusual shops, boutiques and foodhalls. Visit website |
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| Towcester Towcester is the oldest town in Northamptonshire and has a long, varied and interesting history. In recognition of this, many of the homes and businesses that line the Watling Street are Grade 2 listed and the whole central area is designated a conservation area. It is a town of contrasts where the old mixes happily with the new. Visit website |
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Sport
Rugby Union |
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| Northampton Saints A local clergyman, the Reverend Samuel Wathen Wigg, is credited with starting the Saints in 1880. He was curate of St James Church, hence the nickname: Saints. Bought by local businessman, Keith Barwell, when Rugby Union went professional in 1995, the Saints reached the top of their game in 2000, reaching the Tetley's Cup Final and winning the European Cup Final at Twickenham. The Saints homes at Franklin’s Gardens was formerly a pleasure gardens and small zoo owned by hotelier, John Franklin. One of the finest rugby grounds in the country boasting a capacity of around 12,000, there is always a great atmosphere when the premiership side are playing at home. Visit website |
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Football |
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| Northampton Town FC Northampton Town Football Club, nicknamed The "Cobblers" were founded in 1897, when a group of local school teachers got together with a local solicitor to form the Town's first professional football club. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season. They hold the record for the shortest time taken to be promoted from the bottom tier to the top tier and relegated back down to the bottom again, in the space of nine years. They play their home games at the 7,653 capacity all-seater Sixfields Stadium, having moved in 1994 from the County Ground which they shared with the owners, Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. Visit website |
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| MK Dons FC Based since 2007 at Stadium mk, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. MK Dons are currently contesting Football League One, the third tier of English football, during the 2011–12 season. Milton Keynes Dons were created on 21 June 2004 as the result of Wimbledon F.C.'s relocation from south-west London to the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes nine months earlier. Visit website |
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Motor Sport |
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| Silverstone Race Track - Home of the British Grand Prix Silverstone, a wartime airfield was transformed in weeks to host the 1948 race, won by Luigi Villoresi in a Maserati. The Northamptonshire circuit hosted the opening round of the first ever World Championship, but in 1954 began a share basis for the race with Aintree and then with Brands Hatch. The event has since been held at Silverstone annually since 1987. The racetrack also hosts a wide variety of other amateur and professional motor racing events including The British Superbike Championship, The World Superbike Championship, The Le Mans Endurance Sports Car Series and the Green Flag MSA British Touring Car Championship and offers individual and corporate driving experiences and training. Visit website |
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| Santa Pod Santa Pod Raceway in Podington, nr Wellingborough is the home of European Drag Racing and host to the televised FIA European Drag Racing Championships. It's the fastest and loudest motorsport on earth with sensational race action from dragsters and doorslammers to beetles and bikes. Santa Pod is host to over 50 different events during the race season Jan-Nov. See Top Fuel Dragsters, Funny Cars, Jet Cars, Rocket Bikes, Pro Mods, Monster Trucks and other motorsport events in the heart of Northamptonshire, England. Visit website |
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| The Wild and Woolly The wild and woolly scramble is the oldest, running motorcycle race, in the UK, still held on boxing day by the Northampton Motorcyclists Club, and has been since 1925. A traditional scramble, the race is held over 20 laps or 1 hour, where the riders are faced with freezing cold conditions as well as deep mud, and four stream crossings. Usually held at Blisworth, this year, 2011, the event will be in Market Harborough. Hopefully, the race will return to Blisworth in 2012 Visit website |
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| Northampton International Raceway The UK’s longest serving short oval with over 50 years of history behind it, and all the greats of the sport’s history have seen action here at one of the spiritual homes of British oval racing. Located in the Northamptonshire countryside near the village of Brafield-on-the-Green, the raceway’s 396 metre tarmac oval is ideal for Stock Car racing and some of the best BriSCA F1 and F2 meetings seen in recent years have been at Northampton. The track is also excellent for Banger racing, with several of the sport’s biggest teams and drivers making regular appearances throughout its long history. |
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Horse Racing |
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| Towcester Racecourse Set in the beautiful surroundings of the Easton Neston estate, Towcester Racecourse is one of the most picturesque racing venues in the country. Established in 1928, it hosts National Hunt Rules race meetings. With an investment of over £7.5m into the course and its facilities in the last three years, Towcester is a course with high aspirations for the future. Best of all, admission to the course is free (except Boxing Day and Easter Sunday). |
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Basketball |
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| Northampton Neptunes The Northampton Neptunes are arguably the fastest growing club in the National Division 1 Men’s Basketball League. The Club was formed in the year 2000, this was after the franchise take over of the men's team, formerly known as the Northampton 89ers. Over the past 7 seasons the club has acquired a reputation for fast, exciting and attacking basketball, which shows in their growing fan base. The Neptunes home games are played at Lings Forum, Northampton. Visit website |
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