Northampton [NHN]

Northampton Castle Station in May 1963, taken before redevelopment required its demolition the following year. Photograph from the Tommy Tomalin Collection.
Northampton Castle Station in May 1963, taken before redevelopment required its demolition the following year. Photograph from the Tommy Tomalin Collection.

Welcome to the Northampton Branch of the Society.

Apart from the summer months, June to August, we hold regular meetings, mostly in the afternoon from 2pm to around 4:30pm. They are generally held on the third Monday in the month, but can vary owing to prior bookings or Bank holidays. We endeavour to  hold one meeting in the evening in May, when it is still light for returning home afterwards, and  arrange visits on an ad hoc basis.

Meetings are held at Weston Favell Village Hall, Booth Lane South, Northampton,  NN3 3EP. There is plenty of parking and it is on a bus route into the town centre. We have held the occasional joint meeting with the Milton Keynes Branch at Roade Village Hall, a railway village close to Roade Cutting.

In order to cover hall hire costs and refreshments, our meetings charge is £3 for Members and £3.50 for non Members, who are always welcome.

We release our annual programme of  talks for the forthcoming year at our AGM in December of the preceding year.

What's on

Venues

Click the venue name to see more

Contacts

Secretary
Richard Deacon
tel: 01604 890275
email: rjd156@btinternet.com

Chairman

Richard Deacon
tel: 01604 890275
email: rjd156@btinternet.com

Meeting reports

21st October 2024: End of Steam  Part 1  1966-68, a photographic presentation by  Michael Smyth

24 Oct 2024

Michael grew up in West Yorkshire and the end of steam coincided with his departure for university in the autumn of 1967, but in those years he captured film of…

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25th September 2024: Signals and Routes, a talk by Bill Davies

29 Sep 2024

This was a joint meeting with the Milton Keynes Branch of RCTS. Although Bill didn’t use this title on the day, this was another opportunity to hear of Bill’s life…

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13th May 2024: Cambridge Area Railways Part 3 by David Scudamore

19 May 2024

This was our only evening meeting this year, enabled by the lighter evenings in May. Branch Member David accompanied by his wife Rob, completed his three part tour of the…

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22nd April 2024: Nothing Stays the Same  by Mike Corbett

23 Apr 2024

Mike was a graduate entrant to a career in Engineering with BR. Having grown up close to the railway at Northwich and witnessing 8Fs and 04s on freights heading to…

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19th February 2024: Swindon Works – The Collett Years, by RCTS President Canon Bryan Arman

21 Feb 2024

Although billed as The Hawksworth era, following on from last year’s talk on the Collett Years, Canon Bryan retold the story of Collett’s time at Swindon as CME. The tale…

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22nd January 2024: Harringworth Viaduct, a talk by John Hillier

19 Feb 2024

John began by comparing this viaduct with that of the nationally better known Ribblehead viaduct. They were both built for the Midland Railway in its drive north and south in…

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20th November 2023: Sheet Stores Junction, a talk by Ian Mitchell

21 Nov 2023

This name will be familiar to those with an interest in railways, especially MR or LMS, as it forms part of the triangle at Trent Junction where the lines to…

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Reports of meetings from October 2022 to October 2023

20 Nov 2023

2022 20th September 2022:  A joint meeting with the MK Branch was held in Roade Village Hall. Tony Ellershaw from the Ivatt Diesel Re-creation Project gave an insight into the…

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Hill Railways of the Indian Subcontinent by Richard Wallace 22nd November 2021

04 Feb 2022

This presentation consisted of a review of railway journeys from the foothills of the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas to the Western Ghats and the Blue Hills of the South…

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24th January 2022 North Staffordshire Railway Part 3

04 Feb 2022

Our first meeting of the year on the 24th January was necessarily held on Zoom, when Member Brian Sullivan presented Part 3 in the series on the North Staffordshire Railway.…

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A Ninth Colour-Rail Journey

20 Sep 2021

Presenter: Paul Chancellor The Northampton Branch first live meeting was held at Weston Favell village hall with an audience of about twenty members suitably distanced from each other. Paul Chancellor…

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19th April 2021: The Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway by Brian Sullivan

20 Apr 2021

A Northampton Branch ZOOM meeting due to Covid 19 restrictions. The Norfolk and Suffolk Railway was unusual as it had two lines which were not connected to each other. There…

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15th March 2021 · ‘The Railways of Northamptonshire Part 6’

15 Mar 2021

Presenter: Robin Cullop This part covers two branch lines – Stamford to Wansford and the small part of the M&GN near Peterborough to Thorney. Thorney is just in Northamptonshire (Soke…

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2nd March 2020 · ‘Railways of Zurich’

02 Mar 2020

Presenter: Ken Follett On Monday 2nd March Ken Follett gave a presentation entitled “The Railways of Zurich” to a smaller than usual Northampton audience at the Wellingborough Museum. Ken has…

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24th February 2020 · ‘The Railways of Cambridge – Part 1’

24 Feb 2020

Presenters: David and Roberta Scudamore David and Roberta Scudamore gave almost thirty Members and friends an excellent talk on “The Railways of Cambridge, Part 1”, at Weston Favell on 21st…

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10th February 2020 · ‘The Bank Job’

10 Feb 2020

Presenter: Lester Hillman Of the 25 or so persons present at Weston Favell on 10th February 2020 to listen to Lester Hillman give a presentation headed “The Bank Job”, there…

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27th January 2020 · ‘Funicular Railways’

27 Jan 2020

Presenter: David Hanger For our first evening Meeting of 2020, David Hanger came from Wellingborough to give a talk and slide show on Funicular Railways. Of these there were plenty…

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13th January 2020 · ‘Steam In and Around York – Part 2’

13 Jan 2020

Presenter: Chris Nettleton A fair sized attendance was present at Wellingborough Castle Museum on Monday, 13th January. The subject was Chris Nettleton’s presentation of ”Steam in and around York, Part…

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16th December 2019 · Branch AGM and Christmas Evening

16 Dec 2019

There was an attendance of 20 or so Members for this Meeting, which doubled as an AGM and a Members Evening. The AGM , usually a fairly short part of…

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2nd December 2019 · ‘Freight Then and Now’

02 Dec 2019

Presenter: Brian Ringer The joint Branch meeting on the 2nd December was conducted by one of MK’s own members Brian Ringer, who was a former railwayman n the freight sector.…

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4th November 2019 · ‘Rhapsody in Blue’

04 Nov 2019

Presenter: Ken Grainger Thirty Members and friends were present at Weston Favell on Monday afternoon. Many of us had pondered the content, and we were delighted to discover that Ken…

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21st October 2019 · ‘South African Steam in the 1980s’

21 Oct 2019

Presenter: Roger Whitehead On Monday 21st. October a rather limited audience were fascinated by Roger Whitehead’s presentation entitled “South African Steam in the 1980s. The programme consisted of a large…

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7th October 2019 · ‘The Peter Bland Collection – Parts 4 and 5’

07 Oct 2019

Presenter: Bryan Cross There was an attendance of approximately 35 Members and friends at Weston Favell on Monday afternoon, 7th October. Bryan Cross showed Parts 4 and 5 of his…

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23rd September 2019 · The Railways of Northamptonshire Part 5 – Developments around Northampton

23 Sep 2019

Presenters: Robin Cullop and Barry Taylor A predictably large attendance gathered at Weston Favell on 23rd September for the first indoor meeting of the 2019/20 Season. Robin Cullop introduced, and…

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29th June 2019 · Visit to The Welshpool and Llanfair Railway

29 Jun 2019

A dozen or so members gathered at Northampton station for an early start for the journey to Welshpool on Saturday, 29th June (others would join the main party later by…

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13th May 2019 · ‘Outdoor Meeting – Roade Cutting’

13 May 2019

Fifteen or so hardy souls gathered after teatime at the fabled Bridge 209 straddling the southern end of Roade Cutting. From the time the first Members arrived at 6.15pm until…

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29th April 2019 · Member’s Evening

29 Apr 2019

Our last Branch Indoor meeting of the 2018/19 session was a Members Evening. It was well supported, but a few of the non-attendees would have enjoyed the fare of offer…

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16th April 2019 · “The Ashes” Quiz versus LCGB Bedford

16 Apr 2019

A most enjoyable evening at Bedford with plenty of good natured banter and a very positive result for the Northampton RCTS team who retained ‘The Ashes’. The results were Northampton…

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8th April 2019 · ‘Steam in and around York’

08 Apr 2019

Presenter: Chris Nettleton Monday, 8th April brought a return visit from Chris Nettleton, who travelled from Eaglescliffe to speak, with film and slide accompaniment about “Steam in and around York”.…

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25th March 2019 · ‘North Staffordshire Railway Part 2’

25 Mar 2019

Presenters: Tommy Tomalin & Brian Sullivan Despite an enforced change to our Programme, occasioned by a loss of digital material, our ever reliable super-subs, Tommy Tomalin and Brian Sullivan, stepped…

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18th March 2019 · ‘1960’s Steam in the East Midlands Area’

18 Mar 2019

Presenter: Michael Clemens A joint afternoon Meeting with the Milton Keynes branch was held at Roade on 18th March 2019. Over 50 Members and friends attended to see a selection…

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11th March 2019 · ‘Ramblings around the UK 1962/3’

11 Mar 2019

Presenter: Brian Holland Approximately forty Members and friends were at Weston Favell on 11th March to see a presentation by Brian Holland, assisted by Michael Chapman, entitled “Ramblings around the…

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