The first homeowners will soon move on to the old Princess Marina Hospital site in Northampton, six years after a major housing development was first proposed.

The first phase of 63 homes is under construction at the site, off Weedon Road, and the first buyer will move in by the end of the month.

The development will feature about 500 properties when complete, and has gone ahead despite concerns raised about the scheme adding to parking problems in the St Crispin area.

The plans were originally approved by the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC) in November 2008.

The mayor of Northampton, Councillor Les Marriott, opened developer Persimmon’s show home at the site.

He said: “Looking at the broader picture, there was some opposition to it, but it means growth and prosperity and employs a lot of people as well.

“One of the biggest holdbacks has been the economy, but the foundations built by the WNDC and the borough council are coming to fruition.”

Back in 2011, a planning committee meeting heard residents’ concerns that parking was already a problem in the area which they feared would become a “massive problem” with the new homes.

Developer Persimmon said building on the Princess Marina site showed confidence in the housing market was growing.

The firm’s land director, Richard White, said: “As much as anything, people’s confidence is growing, mortgage availability is good and demand is very strong. We would say that since things turned in 2007, this is one of the best years in terms of sales.”

Area sales manager, Debbie Box, added: “It is a very popular site for us and we have really taken things forward on it.”

Residents of Kingsthorpe have called for a public meeting to discuss the problems they fear will be caused by increased traffic if the village primary school is allowed to double in size.

Dozens of Kingsthorpe people attended a consultation event at the school, in Knights Lane, on Tuesday night when the plans were displayed by Northamptonshire County Council.

But many people who attended the event felt frustrated that nobody from the county council’s highways department was available to discuss the potential increases in traffic which they thought could put pressure on the narrow village roads.

Leona Johnson, a Kingsthorpe resident who has written a letter of objection about the plans to expand the school, said: “There will never be space for an additional 98 cars on the road network surrounding Kingsthorpe Village Primary School.”

The governing body of the primary school is in favour of the proposed expansion as it believes it would offer many exciting opportunities for staff and children.

A statement from the school’s governing body said: “We are very aware that the issue of traffic is one which is close to the hearts of Kingsthorpe village residents and fully understand their concerns.

“We have already been pro-active with regard to this by linking with Sustrans (Sustainable Transport) as part of an initiative to encourage children to come on their bicycles or scooters to school. This is already having a positive impact on numbers of families who are choosing to leave their car at home.”

Steve Diggin’s hat-trick inspired Brackley Town to a 3-0 win over Stalybridge Celtic and sent Saints to the top of Skrill North.

Diggin scored the first after five minutes, and then added to his tally with a second-half double at St James’ Park.

The striker made it 2-0 on 71 minutes, and then secured the matchball with his third a few minutes later.

“We had worked hard in the first half but I was more than disappointed at half-time”, said Brackley boss Jon Brady.

“After the early goal we were just not good enough.

“The reaction in the second half was pleasing though, as we were much better.”

And he added: “Our forwards will always score goals.

“Steve Diggin showed his class today with top quality finishing.”

The win and a sixth clean sheet takes Saints top of the table, but Brady is playing that fact down at the moment.

“We are not looking at the league table. We focus on us, on our performance and winning. That’s it,” he said.

Brackley team: Turley, Cartwright (Nisevic 82), McDonald, Odhiambo, Sharpe, Austin, Reid (Story 86), Solkhon, Griffin (Mulligan 54), Diggin, Walker. Subs unused: Towers,

Jarvis.

Attendance: 303

CORBY TOWN

Corby Town’s new management team were delighted with a fine start to life at Steel Park as they booked their place in today’s FA Cup second qualifying round draw, writes JON DUNHAM.

Andrew Wilson and Tommy Wright were appointed as the permanent successors to Chris Plummer at the start of the week and the joint-managers’ first outing couldn’t have gone much better as goals from Paul Malone, Tom Berwick and Josh Moreman secured a comfortable 3-0 home success over Evo-Stik Northern League Premier Division side Barwell.

That was a fourth home win in a row for the Steelmen and Wilson was delighted with the way the squad reacted in the days leading up to the cup clash.

“It is a brilliant start, we enjoyed that,” Wilson said.

“We came in during the week and prepared as well as we could. We kept it fairly simple and to be through to the next round of the FA Cup is brilliant for the club.

“We are just happy that things have gone well in the first game. The lads have reacted well throughout the week and the work they have put in has given us the reward we wanted.

“We will see who we get. We don’t really mind who it is to be honest.”

As expected, Wright started the game in attack with Moreman and Berwick playing off him and he was delighted to get 90 minutes under his belt as well as picking up a good result in his first-ever game as a manager.

Wright said: “I was getting a bit leggy towards the end and then I had to play in the midfield!

“But I loved every minute of it out there. It is the start of a new era for the club and we want to take it forward.

“Tom especially is probably not used to playing in a wider role but we both spoke to him prior to the game and he grew into it.

“His work rate was fantastic and it was great to see both him and Josh on the scoresheet. We have to take confidence from the way we performed and between the three of us, I think we will be a threat going forward.”

The new bosses have already made one new addition to the squad as Birmingham City youngster Brad Gascoigne made his debut alongside Malone at the heart of the defence.

And Wilson added: “I thought Brad was superb. He was strong and he grew into the game. He was previously at Birmingham City so he has a good pedigree.

“In terms of the current players, we have a good crop. If we want to bring new ones in then we will probably have to ship one or two out. But we want to give everyone a fair crack of the whip.”

Saturday’s win, however, looks to have come at a price after Corby captain Gareth Jelleyman confirmed on Twitter that he has broken his jaw in two places after going off injured late on in the game.

DAVENTRY TOWN

Daventry eased into the next round of the FA Cup as they thrashed Berkhamsted 6-1 at Communications Park.

Daventry took a 13th-minute lead through Mykel Beckley, but were then pegged back as the visitors scored an equaliser on the half-hour mark.

Darran Foster’s men reacted superbly to that setback, and were 3-1 ahead by the half-time break thanks to strikes from Scott Cross and Neil King.

Daventry kept up the pressure after the break, and scored three more goals through Beckley, Ross Oulton and Deqwon Ebanks.

Sileby’s youngsters picked up their first win in the top flight with a 2-1 win over Boston Town at Fernie Fields.

After a goalless first half Sileby went in front with a 59th minute goal from Karebo Motshweni.

Josh Ford equalised for an experienced Boston side after 71 minutes, but four minutes later Harvey Entwistle won it for Sileby.

Cogenhoe United moved to the top after a 3-0 victory against Yaxley.

Just four minutes into the contest Courtney Herbert gave the Cooks the lead.

Tom Liversedge’s 16th-minute penalty increased the Cogenhoe advantage.

Four minutes later Gavin Cooke turned a Herbert cross past his open keeper to cement the home success.

Long Buckby suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at AFC Kempston.

Kempston looked to be heading for a fifth draw of the season until five minutes from time when Manny Richardson scored the winner.

In division one, ON Chenecks picked up a fifth win of the season on their travels with a 4-0 success at Blackstones.

Darren Inns gave Chenecks the lead after 14 minutes.

Further goals followed from Joe Lewington after 28 minutes and Ben Diamond three minutes before the break.

George Clarke scored the only goal of the second period after 67 minutes.

Peterborough Sports showed bouncebackability in abundance as they responded to a midweek reverse at Thrapston by handing out a drubbing of their own with a 5-1 victory at Bugbrooke.

New signing Liam Rodden put Sports ahead 20 minutes in and Gerard Evans added a second for the visitors six minutes later.

Brad Janes replied for Bugbrooke two minutes into the second half.

Dan Clements restored the two-goal margin 10 minutes into the second half.

Further goals from Kevin Holt on 74 minutes and Clements in the final minute completed Sports’ nap hand.

Struggling Woodford United held Harrowby to a scoreless first half before eventually losing 4-0 at the Environcom Stadium.

Simon Bolland opened the scoring in the opening minute of the second half and a minute later Lee Shaw doubled the home tally.

Bobby Lee made it three after 73 minutes with Martin Wormall completing the home tally with 12 minutes remaining.

Barbecue season may be almost over but according to one Northamptonshire man, meat spices and seasonings are not just for summer ‘cook-outs.’

Anyone familiar with certain county delis may well have come across Mark Hughes’ products. Based in Weldon, he is the owner of the Gourmet Spice Co; a business he started a little over two years ago.

And the company, which creates spice rubs, flavoured salts, infused oils and infused balsamic vinegars, has been causing a stir on the culinary scene.

Mark said: “It was a complete career change for me. I was always in print management and for 20 years I was doing that. But I was fed up with the industry and wanted to do something different.”

So he opted to add a bit of spice to his life... literally.

He continued: “I have always had this interest in cooking, particularly with spices, and I thought ‘enough thinking and talking about it, let’s do something’. I created some products and took them to Stamford Feast and sold most of the stock. My original intention was to do this part time but within two or three weeks I was so busy I couldn’t do anything else.”

From the beginning, the Gourmet Spice Company had ambition, starting out with not just one or two products, but 23. Now the range includes about 55 balsamics and oils and more than 40 spices.

Mark recalled: “We don’t want customers to get bored with our products and try just 10 things, we are always coming up with new things and new tastes.”

The inventive range includes such concoctions as cacao and cumin rub, a Moroccan spice rub, ‘Firepit BBQ’ rub and a mulled spice kit for beverages.

Mark said: “A lot of the experimentation takes place in the first quarter of the year as there are not many food festivals going on. We are always trying something new. We have a Firepit BBQ rub with which I tried to push the boundaries. I tried steeping the peppers in bourbon and it works; it adds an extra level of flavour.

“Our spiced aromatic balsamic is our number two best seller and was the result of months of experimenting with different things, star anise, cinnamon, juniper and coriander. All of our products have been developed from experimenting.”

Although at one stage, meat rubs were primarily used by people in countries such as America, it seems that Brits are coming around to an understanding of how to cook with pre-made spice mixes.

Mark said: “What we are trying to do is get people out of buying ready meals every day when they could buy some meat and there are lots of things you can do with it. Buy a pot of rub and rub it over meat, or add it to chilli or stew; I’m trying to get people to cook real food again. We are more Jamie Oliver than Gordon Ramsay, we aren’t into big long lists of ingredients.

“The rubs and products are not just for barbecues. About 10 or 20 per cent are used in barbecues but 80 per cent are used in the house.

“We do some events near American air force bases, no-one there asks what to do with the products, but in the last two years we have come a long way, over here, in our understanding of what to do with the rubs.” For more info, visit www.tastespice.co.uk

Demolition work is set to start by the end of the month on land around Northampton’s gas towerss, paving the way for a major office development.

All 10 homes in Tanner Street are being demolished, followed by the commercial properties in St Peter’s Way, in an operation which is expected to be completed by Christmas.

Tanner Street will be closed during the work, which is expected to take five weeks, and after this, the site will be handed over to National Grid so the gas holder can be demolished.

The commercial properties will be the final buildings to be removed.

A shortlist of three developers has been drawn up for the office scheme, and the candidates have been given six weeks to prepare detailed submissions.

The owners of the 10 remaining houses in Tanner Street had initially opposed the redevelopment of the area, but the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC) then moved in to buy the properties.

Several businesses will also move as part of the development.

Among them will be Premier Kitchens and Bedrooms, which has been based in St Peter’s Way for the last three years, and is now moving to a new showroom at Beckett Retail Park.

Founder and managing director, Iain Forsythe, said: “Everything is coming along fantastically well. We are at the final stages of fitting the new displays and design offices and can’t wait to open in our new location.”

The development site is part of the Northampton Waterside Enterprise Zone.

A woman, carrying “a large amount of cash” to pay for the DJ for her engagement party, had her bag stolen while she ate a sandwich in Northampton.

The victim was carrying the money along with a notebook containing the details about her party in her handbag when it was taken from the back of her chair at the Subway shop at the Weston Favell Shopping Centre at about 3.45pm on Saturday.

Anyone with information about the theft can call Northamptonshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Scrum-half Kahn Fotuali’i says Saints’ power pack make his job easy.

The Samoan was impressed with the strength of his side’s forwards in the 13-6 win at Harlequins last Friday.
Saints had the edge in the set piece as they scrapped it out to secure a second victory in as many Premiership games this season.

Fotuali’i was calling the shots at nine, making his first start for Northampton since joining from Ospreys this summer, and he was impressed with the display of the big men.

“It’s exciting, especially when they’re going so well,” he said. “They’re always going forward and it makes my job as a scrum-half (easy).

“Our job is to boss them around and give quick ball to our backline, especially with the players like Stephen Myler, Luther (Burrell), George North, who is a quality player, and Ben Foden. You’ve got to get quick ball for them to get opportunities.”

Fotuali’i is the man tasked with cajolling the pack to keep the team on the front foot, but he says he doesn’t have to impart too many words of wisdom at scrum time.

“They know their job,” he said. “The coaching staff have made it really simple for them and they all know what it is.

“I’ve just got to boss them a bit more, especially when they get tired. We all get tired but it’s about outworking teams, especially with our forwards with Samu Manoa, Sam Dickinson, great players.

“As long as we play nice and tight as a team, we should finish teams off.”

Clive Platt admits there is currently not enough confidence in the Cobblers side to win games in which they lead by a single goal.

Town were 1-0 up after only six minutes against Exeter City on Saturday but contrived to lose the match to an injury-time winner.

It extended the team’s winless streak to six games and ensures they remain firmly in the lower reaches of Sky Bet League Two.

Although the side is playing well at the moment, and producing lots of goalscoring chances, Platt says there is a concern over their confidence and that it is holding them back.

“There were times last year when we would’ve been 1-0 up and everyone in the side would have felt comfortable, from the front to the back,” he said.

“You can just tell at the moment that there’s not a confidence right across the team that 1-0 is enough to win the game.

“When it got to 1-1 on Saturday we were edgy, even though we were dominant and we were the ones penning them inside their own half.

“You can feel that edginess out there and maybe that’s because we haven’t won the games that we should have so far this season.”

Northamptonshire could seal promotion from LV= County Championship Division Two this week - but they will have to do it without David Willey.

The County entertain Kent at Wantage Road starting tomorrow knowing victory will put them in an almost unassailable position in second place and could send them up to the first division if their nearest rivals Essex fail to beat Glamorgan.

However, their talisman and star all-rounder Willey is not fit to take part. His absence does give Lee Daggett, who retires at the end of the season, a chance to say farewell to the County Ground, though.

Head coach David Ripley said: “Unfortunately he has not recovered from a problem in his back.

“He’s not responded to treatment as quickly as we had hoped.

“It is a blow because we are a better side when he is in it. His all-round contribution to the team is excellent.

“But we’ve had a fair number of injuries this season and people have always come in and stepped up.

“This gives Lee Daggett a chance to play.

“We probably didn’t expect to use him that much in the red ball stuff once the one-day cricket had finished.

“But he has looked good in practice and we hope the wicket will suit his style.

“He might also have an extra spring in his step and he will hope to go out on a high.”

Another change sees David Murphy return from international duty to reclaim the wicketkeeping gloves from his temporary replacement Jon Batty.

Ripley added: “Murphy is back to keep wicket and we will be keeping Matt Spriegel to bat at seven.

“We don’t think it will turn enough to include Graeme White but Matt can offer some back-up spin if needed.

“He’s in primarily to give us a left-handed option in the middle order but he also gives an option with the ball on day three and four if we need it.”

David Ripley wants his men to seize their chance and thrive on the big-match pressure when they start their final home game of the season today.

Victory in their LV= County Championship clash with Kent will almost certainly send them into the first division as runners-up to Lancashire.

After their opponents over the next four days denied nearest rivals Essex victory last week, Northamptonshire are certainly in pole position to go up.

And Ripley wants to make sure they take the opportunity.

“We know this is a very big game and we’ve thought that side of it through,” the County’s head coach explained.

“We know matters are in our own hands and that is a nice way to have it.

“We certainly don’t want to be going to Worcester (in their final game next week) chasing too much and keeping an eye on what is happening elsewhere.

“If we win it will take a strange set of circumstances for us not to go up.

“That makes this a pressure game but I don’t want us to be put off by that. We will look forward to it.

“There has already been some big games for us this year in the Twenty20 and we’ve got some experienced campaigners in the team.

“There is a slight shift in personnel from the one-day stuff but not huge so we have already been through big games.

“Four-day cricket is a little bit different in that it is more of a marathon.

“But we will get stuck into it, use that pressure and thrive on it.”

Tony Hewitt says it is a ‘fantastic honour’ to have been given the role of Saints chairman on a full-time basis.

Hewitt was named as Northampton’s new chief at the club’s AGM on Monday night, taking up the role left vacant by the passing of Leon Barwell in June.

He had been in command on a temporary basis but the decision was taken to extend his stay for what is provisionally planned to be another two years.

And he is now looking forward to continuing his work at Saints, who have performed well on and off the pitch this year.

“It’s a fantastic honour,” said Hewitt, who was vice chairman during Leon Barwell’s tenure. “It’s obviously going to be a very difficult act to follow in Keith and Leon.

“You wish the circumstances were different and it’s obviously tempered with that. Our thoughts are with the Barwell family.

“From my point of view it’s a custodial role. It’s a fantastic club, founded in 1880 so we’ve got to make sure it keeps going from strength to strength.”

Saints have also announced the appointment of a deputy chairman, John White, who joined the Northampton board last year and is a former chairman and chief executive of Persimmon Homes.

And in a third piece of news from the AGM, it was confirmed Keith Barwell has accepted the ambassadorial role of president, remaining on the board.

Rob Verbakel doubled up as the Wanderers ran in eight tries on their way to crushing Worcester 52-26 at Franklin’s Gardens on Monday night.

It was the second win in as many ‘A’ League games for the Saints shadow team as they added the Cavaliers’ scalp to the victory at Leicester a week earlier.

Kiwi second row Verbakel, signed from Otago during the summer, was joined on the scoresheet by Teimana Harrison, GJ van Velze, Tom Collins, Ethan Waller, Alex Woolford and Howard Packman.

There were also plenty of points for another former Otago man, Glenn Dickson, with the fly-half kicking six conversions.

Harrison was the one to start the scoring, turning on the turbos to blitz past the Worcester defence and dot down.

Dickson thumped the conversion through the uprights and the Wanderers had a 7-0 lead inside the first five minutes.

GJ van Velze added a second score soon after, making the most of an unstoppable maul as the Cavaliers folded.

Collins, who could sidestep a defender in a phonebox, went over for the third try, gliding through the Worcester defence to add his name to the scoresheet.

Dickson, impressing at 10, added the extras and the Wanderers were eyeing a huge tally with more than 60 minutes still to play.

Verbakel used his power to make it four home scores inside the opening half an hour and the Cavaliers were being shot down with alarming regularity.

They did show some defiance in defence before the break, stopping what looked a certain try with the Wanderers camped on the away line.

And after the interval the away side showed began to show real spirit, pegging back the Wanderers.

Howard Packman’s yellow card in the second minute of the half was key, with the Cavaliers scoring twice while the wing was off the pitch.

Max Stelling was the man with both the tries, which were converted, before Waller got the Wanderers’ fifth score of the night.

Again the Cavaliers responded, with Ben Howard on target.

Tom Chapman brought the visitors back to within five points, but Verbakel wasn’t about to let the lead slip as he dived over for the Wanderers.

Dickson converted to make it 38-26 and he also added the extras to replacement Woolford’s try with seven minutes to go.

But the score of the night was still to come as Packman ghosted past several Cavaliers challenges to put the seal on a comfortable night for the home side.

Wanderers: Artemyev (Skelcey 70); Collins, Diggin (Olver 56), Stephenson, Packman; G Dickson, A Day (Glynn 40); E Waller (Hobbs 56), Haywood (McMillan 40), Ma’afu (Parkins 53), Verbakel, Craig (Woolford 43), Harrison (Harry 70), Nutley, van Velze.

Former Cobblers midfielder Nick McKoy could be facing a 10-year prison sentence after being arrested following allegations of match fixing in Australia.

McKoy, who made nine appearances for Town two seasons ago and was memorably sent off in back-to-back matches, is one of four players who will be questioned by Victoria Police after they launched an investigation following irregular betting patterns.

In total, police in the state of Victoria arrested nine foreign players – reportedly all or mostly British – from the Southern Stars Football Club, a team in the second-tier state league.

The players were part of a ring whose winnings allegedly totalled more than £1.2 m and are competing in Australia during the British off-season.

The group is reported to include Reiss Noel, Joe Woolley, David Obaze, McKoy and head coach Zaya Younan.

Police believe the syndicate heads used relatively low-level players and a little-known competition because they believed it would make it easier to avoid detection.

The bets were reportedly made on the internet and on underground betting markets in Asia, including Singapore and India.

Police said the players were due to be paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that the bets included wagers on match outcomes and the number of goals conceded.

“The players are not unwitting pawns, they’re in full knowledge of what was going on,” a Victorian police deputy commissioner, Graham Ashton, said.

A topping-out ceremony has been held at Northampton’s new £7 million bus interchange, which will be called the North Gate Bus Station.

The name for the site, which was announced today, has been chosen because the development sits at Northampton Castle’s original northern entrance.

The new station is expected to open towards the end of March 2014, and will enable the dated Greyfriars building to be demolished.

The development is funded by Northampton Borough Council, the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation and Northamptonshire County Council, and sits on the site bordered by Greyfriars, Sheep Street, Bradshaw Street and Silver Street.

Dignitaries attended the ceremony at the former Fishmarket site this morning, where the last coping stone was pointed in at the top of the building by Northampton Borough Council leader, David Mackintosh.

Councillor Mackintosh, (Con, Rectory Farm) said: “This is a positive step forward for the town and a long time coming. It allows us to free up the Greyfriars site for new development.

“We felt we needed a proper name and this was the entrance you would have taken if you had come through the castle’s north gate. We wanted to give it a name which really resonated.”

Northampton South MP Brian Binley said: “It is very important seeing it pretty close to being finished, and I recognise that it is going to serve the town and be a great asset.

“I’m delighted, because Northampton is on the way up. For 40 years we have had an inferiority complex with Milton Keynes, and Milton Keynes has not got half as much as we have got to offer.”

Graham Howe, managing director of contractors, Kier, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be entrusted with this project. We are on programme to complete early in the new year.”

The demolition of Greyfriars, which Grand Designs television presenter Kevin McCloud once labelled ‘the mouth of hell’, is set to begin in July 2014 and is expected to take several months.

A contract signed by the previous Liberal Democrat administration means owners, Legal and General, are first in line to expand the Grosvenor Centre on the Greyfriars site, if it wishes to do so.

A replica of the head of King Richard III is coming to Northampton next month as part of a nationwide tour.

The replica head – made from detailed scans of the Northamptonshire-born king’s skull – was revealed to the public for the first time in the Channel 4 documentary The King in the Car Park.

Northampton is one of just four places that the head will tour before going on permanent display at Leicester’s new Richard III visitor centre next year.

It will be at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery from October 18 to January 5.

The head, which was commissioned by the Richard III Society, was constructed using details from the king’s skull following the discovery of his remains beneath the Greyfriars car park in Leicester in August 2012, by a team of archaeologists from the University of Leicester.

It was created by the forensic art team of the University of Dundee, and offers the most accurate interpretation yet of what King Richard could have looked like in life.

Councillor Brandon Eldred (Con, East Hunsbury), cabinet member responsible for museums, said: “King Richard’s story is a fascinating one. He was born in Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, which is why we have been chosen to host this very special exhibition.

“As well as the replica head, which is incredible, the display will include other exhibits that give a good insight into the king’s connection with our county. It is going to be fantastic and I really do urge people to come along to the museum and see it for themselves.”

Opening times for the exhibition will be Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm, and Sunday from 2pm to 5pm.

Last week I spent a few days in London, mixing a bit of business with a little tourism down south. We were blessed with good weather and the hotel we stayed at was directly opposite the London Eye – which always gets my attention.

I’m not sure what it is about London – getting there is simplicity itself and for many the task is not much more taxing than that of getting on a train. For me, I find the process of travelling to be an excitement. I’ve done plenty of it – at one stage in my life I regularly drove over sixty thousand miles a year to cover home and work commitments and did lots of international travelling before that. But even now there’s something special about planning a journey before heading off, getting wherever I need to be and hopefully on time.

STIMULATING BREAKS

I like short breaks away. A couple of nights spent in unfamiliar surroundings can be really stimulating and I always learn something new, wherever I’m going. Such was the case this time. We took a boat trip from Westminster to Greenwich and as the scenery slid past, the guide told his own stories of what we were seeing, pointing out where Cher once lived, Helen Mirren’s penthouse and the filming locations of “Oliver!” as well as the more regular tourist attractions of centuries past. It was also a great way to get a sense of how small London really is and it reminded me of how, at one time, Northampton itself rivalled what is now the capital of trade and commerce for the country.

Incorporated into my few days away was attendance of an awards ceremony at the Natural History Museum. I was just a guest but on the table I sat at there was a team 
of young people who had 
been entered into one of the categories – and their nervous anticipation was palpable. Sitting next to one of them I asked why she was looking so anxious at the possibility of 
going up to collect an award. “Oh I won’t be going up there” she said, nodding at the flight of stairs behind the massive dinosaur skeleton. In this dress I’d be scared of falling over”. In the event her team DID win, and after the screams of elation had 
subsided briefly, Emily not only led the way to the stage, she virtually sprinted to do it. Rightly so too – congratulations to the Bexhill brigade.

FILMHOUSE SUCCESS

Back here in the county, film has been getting a good deal of exposure. In the first instance The Errol Flynn Filmhouse team have been celebrating over 5,000 (I’m told that it’s nearer to 6,000) seats having been filled since the county’s newest cinema opened for business in June. Given the variety of films that the Filmhouse offers, the 
figure becomes all the more remarkable. At the same 
time, this week saw the sixth annual Film Northants awards being celebrated at Cineworld. Local film makers were honoured for their creativity and bravery in dealing with some tough and uncompromising topics.

FUTURE’S BRIGHT FOR FILM

Take a look at “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side” from young collective The Rest and you’ll see why we have cause to anticipate our 
already strong cinematographic offer becoming even stronger. Their short film 
took the Judges Choice award and although the language used in it is undoubtedly 
offensive, it is powerfully 
appropriate to the film’s subject.

Young people flexing their future wings here in the present. We must encourage them to fly because their future will shape ours – hopefully for the better.

The crisis in the Middle East has been compared to the state of Europe in August 1914.Are we alarmed? No way, we’ve far more important things to worry about... like what sort of coalition we will have in 2015.

After all we are a nation that gets its priorities right. One of the first out of the traps was our own Brian Binley. On a whole page in the Mail on Sunday Brian made it clear the next Government must be a whole hearted ‘blue bloodied’ 100% Tory specimen.

Binners has no time for any more coalitions, yet other voices are advising the three party leaders to give no hostages to fortune, to be kind to the other party leaders.

So Miliband is being advised to be kind to Clegg and maybe include in his manifesto stuff about Lords Reform and boundary changes and even a casual nod to some human rights legislation (fat chance there, with people like Alan Johnston lurking on the back benches)

Cameron is being advised to keep his options open too, after all what can he say after five years in coalition?

Then of course there are the Lib-Dems. All the pundits seem to agree on one thing: If they get less than 40 seats then the game’s over. Not for Clegg the proud boast that David Steel once made when he told his party conference to go home and prepare for government. The danger is that Clegg might have to say ‘Go home and prepare for oblivion’.

The most likely scenario is that Labour will fail to become the largest party and, to the joy of most Tories, Cameron will get into bed with UKIP.

There was a time when I quite liked Liberals. Back in my days as a member of Hackney Youth Parliament, we used to create some curious alliances. Firstly we all ganged up on the few Young Tories, then we split the Young Labour group into Trots and non-Trots and cruelly slaughtered them leaving the most astonishing coalition of the Young Liberals and the Young Communist League.

We didn’t last long.

There was a time when the Liberals were bright, cheerful and iconoclastic .They were principled in a starry-eyed sort of way. Not any more. When they merged with the right-wing Labour Party hacks of the SDP, they became just like the other two parties.

When I first started in local politics, Northampton was controlled in turn by two traditional party machines. They were well organised and knew how to run the town.

I remember when the first Liberals appeared, bright eyed and bushy tailed but with no guile and little experience. They claimed they were bringing a new sort of politics, Focus leaflets and grumble sheets. Then they got to form an administration and it wasn’t their youthful exuberance they got to show, it was their tragic lack of experience and the arrogance of responsibility without power.

They thought they had power, but truth to tell the senior officers thought all their Christmases had come at once. All their favourite schemes were dragged out of retirement and Legal & General took over the leadership of the council.

For decades the Liberals were the consciences of the political classes. By propping up this stunningly useless coalition and by their failures locally to understand how to manage power, they have shown not a youthful enthusiasm, but a childlike naiveity.

The Syria debate has not helped grow their maturity either, the summing up by Nick Clegg was dreadfully inept. He really should have been tucked up in bed with his teddy!

We must never forget the importance of the Battle of Naseby, after all, to people who live elsewhere in the UK, it is, along with boots, shoes and Princess Diana, just about all they know about our wonderful Northamptonshire.

But do they know there was once a famous ship called The Naseby. At least, it bore that name for five years and her story is a fascinating one.

The Naseby was an 80-gun ‘ship of the line’ and was built at the Royal Dockyard in Woolwich in 1655, during Cromwell’s rule, by Peter Pett, a master shipwright and son of the Master Shipwright to Charles I.

Although Peter had been introduced to the king, he was a staunch supporter of the Parliamentary cause and so it was no surprise that he was commissioned to build The Naseby to commemorate the Parliamentary victory over Charles I here in the county in 1645.

She was the largest ship in the English fleet and in 1656 her General- at-Sea (the term Admiral was never used during the Parliamentary rule) was Lord Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich whose family later made their home at Barnwell where many are buried.

In 1660, The Naseby was sent to Holland to collect King Charles II and his brother, James, Duke of York, from exile in Holland. Naval traditional has it that His Majesty bumped his head on a low beam in the cabin when responding to a toast.

He is reputed to have exclaimed: “When I get ashore, I’ll see that my naval officers run no such risk, for I will allow them from henceforth to remain sitting when drinking my health”.

As a naval administrator working at Trinity House, Samuel Pepys was there too, he was a junior member of the official party on board The Naseby, who accompanied the king to his homeland.

The fact that this huge ship had been named after Cromwell’s victorious battle over Charles I made it a painful embarrassment when Charles II was restored to the throne. So it was only natural that Pepys entered an account of the renaming of the ship in his diary:

“His Majesty came to the Nazeby, and came to the shore-side and boarded the said vessel. The ships saluted the King with all their guns twice over before he came on board. This day his Majesty was pleased to change the name of the Nazeby into the Royal Charles.”

The King not only gave the ship his name but, once the laurel-crowned figurehead of Oliver Cromwell had been removed, he also invested her with the royal coat of arms and in 1664 the stern was decorated with the royal insignia.

After her re-naming as The Royal Charles, the great ship had a distinguished service history especially during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and was victorious in the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665.

But disaster, in 1667 she was captured by the Dutch in the Medway and was auctioned for scrap in 1673.

Northamptonshire have been frustrated by the weather on the opening day of their penultimate LV= County Championship match of the season.

Knowing victory will almost certainly seal promotion to Division One, they were hoping to make early inroads into Kent at the County Ground.

But, having won the toss and put their visitors in, only 17.1 overs of play were possible with Kent having progressed to 60-1 when everyone finally called it a day.