Transport

Much of the history of Northamptonshire reflects the extent to which its various parts were accessible and improvements in transport. The major changes made possible by the formation of canals and advent of the railway system are described and explained in many of the pieces that appear below. But they are not the entire story. For instance, you can see a directory which as early as the 1630s set out the destinations and timetables of carriers who connected the whole country with London.

• A Railway Station for Rothwell? by J V Gough [2001] (page 80) Unfolds why the railway line from Kettering to Market Harborough took a route through Desborough rather than Rothwell.
• A mid-Seventeeth Century Scheme for Navigation on the River Nene by H J K Jenkins [1989] (page 25)
• A Survey of the River Nene in the Reign of James I by H J K Jenkins [1991] (page 190)
• Boat families of the Grand Junction Canal Research into people connected with this canal which stretched from Middlesex to Braunston and is now known as a part of the Grand Union Canal.
• Construction of the M1 Motorway Pictures and descriptions of various aspects of this major development appear on pages 218, 242 and 267 of the issue.
• Fenland Lighters: Research and Preservation Involving a Traditional Type by H J K Jenkins [1987] (page 349)
• Locks, Lords and Coal: A Study in Eighteenth Century Northampton History by Victor A Hatley [1980] (page 207) Account of the role of elites and the importance of coal supply in improving water-bourn access to Northampton.
• Medieval Bridges in Northamptonshire by Peter Goodfellow [1985] (page 143)
• Northampton Re-vindicated: More Light on Why the Main Line Missed the Town by Victor A Hatley [1959] (page 305)
• Northampton's First Railway Station by Arthur & Elizabeth Jordan [1995] (page 133)
• Rothwell: The Railway Station That Never Was by Philip R Martin [1980] (page 161)
• Ships at Peterborough: Efforts to Create an Inland Port by H J K Jenkins [1995] (page 147)
• Some Notes on Railways in Northamptonshire 1960-80 by E S Beavor [1982] (page 351)
• The Beginnings of Motoring in Kettering by Tony Ireson [1987] (page 353)
• The Boy who saw the Railway Come to Raunds by Harold Wagstaff [1996] (page 273) Detailed recollections of Francis James Thompson about the making of a railway line and station in the 1860s.
• The Carriers Cosmographie by John Taylor [1637] Directory of exactly where in London carriers and other means of transport to and from beyond could be found and the days of the week when they operated. The numerous destinations mentioned include Brackley, 'Coleashby', 'Daintree', Northampton, 'many parts of Northamptonshire' and 'Torceter'.
• The Coming of Railways to Northamptonshire by Norman Marlow [1964] (page 203)
• The Development of Inland Navigation in the Early Eighteenth Century by J D Alsop [1985] (page 161)
• The Geography of Coaching in Early Nineteenth Century Northamptonshire by David H Kennett [1974] (page 107)
• The Impact of the Grand Junction Canal on Four Northamptonshire Villages 1793-1850 by Margaret Hawkins [2011] (page 53) The villages concerned are Blisworth, Grafton Regis, Weedon and Yardley Gobion.
• The Turnpike Roads of Northamptonshire with the Soke of Peterborough by Arthur Cossons [1950] (page 28)
• Why The Railway Missed Northampton: Some Further Thoughts by John Lovell [1994] (page 80)
• Woodford Halse: The Village with a Heart of Steam by J W Anscomb [1982] (page 341) Construction of the Great Central railway which ran through the parish, operating from 1898 to 1966.