First students to attend Northampton College return to Booth Lane to celebrate 50th anniversary

Some of the first students to ever walk through the doors of Northampton College returned this week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its official opening.

Northampton College opened in Booth Lane on May 18, 1973, but it actually welcomed its very first students a few months earlier in September 1972.

To celebrate the landmark anniversary, four of Northampton College’s first five students – Paul Howard, Tony Metcalfe, Martin Watford and Lindon Morris, known as Taffy to his classmates – returned.

When Paul, Tony, Lindon and Martin first arrived in 1972, their craft engineering course was the only one to have started so there were only five students. Now – 50 years on – the college has thousands of students enrolled.

Paul, who attended the college as part of a five-year apprenticeship with Towcester-based Plessey, said: “Back then it was a bit like being on the Mary Celeste because we had the whole college to ourselves for at least a month. There were our teachers and the canteen staff but that was it.

“Later, we were joined by students training to be hairdressers, nursery nurses and chefs – who used to practice their dishes on us – but to start with it was just us.

“It’s incredible to be back here now. It’s hard to believe it’s been 50 years; it feels like it’s only been a decade at most.”

Paul later went on to become a successful professional photographer in Towcester but said he enjoyed having the security of knowing he always had his engineering skills to fall back on.

One student whose engineering training shaped the course of his life was Martin Watford who went on to launch Northamptonshire’s M W Engineering Services.

Martin said: “It was so different being here compared to being at school. One month you were being treated like a child at school and the next month you were being treated like an adult at college which made you grow up quickly.

“Coming here gave me a fantastic foundation in engineering and set me on the career path which would lead to me running my own business.”

During their visit, the former students saw work by some of today’s students who have recently been crowned regional winners of the global F1 in Schools competition.

Lindon Morris, who put the skills he learned at college to use and went on to run BDL Tool & Die Engineering in Daventry, which worked with the likes of Cosworth, Mercedes and Red Bull, said: “Coming here was a big thing for me. I’ve always loved engineering and being here helped me achieve the qualification I needed.”

Tony Metcalfe added he still uses the skills he learned at Northampton College today.

He said: “The time I spent at Northampton College was the best time of my life. It was fantastic to be learning something new in an environment where I wanted to be and I made friends for life.

“It’s amazing to be back here today – I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”

Deputy Principal Patrick Leavey added: “It speaks volumes about what Northampton College means to its students that all these years on, they were keen to return to see what life is like here now.”