Woolmonger Street - Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about 67 miles (108 km) north-west of London, around 50 miles (80 km) south-east of Birmingham and around 15 miles north of Milton Keynes, Northampton lies on the River Nene.

Originally a major centre of shoemaking and other leather industries, Northampton's main private-sector employers are now in distribution and finance rather than manufacturing, and include Avon Products, Barclaycard, Blacks Leisure Group, Nationwide Building Society, Panasonic, Travis Perkins, Coca Cola, Schweppes, National Grid, Texas Instruments and Carlsberg. 

There are plenty of parks surrounding Northampton including: Abington Park; The Racecourse, which used to be home in summer to the Balloon Festival, Delapré Park; Bradlaugh Fields, Becket's Park, named after Thomas Becket. There is also West Hunsbury, a park situated around an Iron age fort.Billing Aquadrome is a fantastic leisure park on the eastern outskirts with a caravan site, marina, funfair, bar, riverside restaurant and converted water mill with original workings. Other smaller ones attractions include Thorntons Park and Victoria Park.The main shopping centre is the Grosvenor Centre built in the 1970s. The town has one of Britain's largest market squares, dating from 1235. 

Theatre lovers will be enthralled by the performances at The Derngate and Royal theatres. Whilst for fine art enthusiasts Northampton Museum and Art Gallery has a world-class collection of historical footwear, and also Italian art, glass and ceramics, plus visiting exhibitions and local history. There is also a smaller historical museum in a former mansion within Abington Park.