Take a look at 17 incredible photos of a former Northampton bus depot and tram car shed which recently sold for millions

Take a look at 17 incredible photos of a former Northampton tram car shed and bus depot from over the years.

The former St James Bus Depot recently sold subject to contract after it was put on the market for £3.2 million. It is not yet known who bought the site or what it will become.

A grassroots campaign called ‘Save The Depot’ has been started by the Northampton Transport Heritage group (NTH), who say the site is “under threat”.

The group hopes the site will be “brought into the 21st century” and not demolished and converted into social housing.

NTH chairman, Graham Croucher, explained the cultural significance of the site and provided some amazing photos of the site over the years.

Mr Croucher said: “NTH is currently working to put together a listed building application because it’s got historical significance. It would be good if members of the public could contact us with any information regarding the history of the building and the artefacts documents, that kind of thing to support the application.

“In Northamptonshire it’s the only building of its type. You have to go miles across the country to find anything similar. There’s nothing nearby of that nature or quite as original in terms of the facilities it provided. Its contribution to the town’s growth is significant.

“Northampton is not just famous for boots and shoes. It’s famous for lots of other things. This tram system took these boot and shoe workers to work. It was the backbone of that industry. You could go from St James to Kingsley. Kingsthorpe to Far Cotton. Then there was St James to Wellingborough Road. Before trams finished in 1934 on the 15 of December.

"Next year will be the 120th year of that building’s existence, so it would be a shame if it was demolished.

“We would like to see the town, the council have a bit of vision about them and create a really attractive visitor centre. You go elsewhere, Glasgow, for example, they have converted a tram car shed building. Richmond in North Yorkshire, the old railway station has been converted into a multi-use community facility with a cinema etc.

"This could become a multi-purpose community heritage hub. In a utopian world, we’d like to see some sort of large exhibit transport museum, like the Coventry transport museum for example. That could be something really special. There’s lots and lots of uses for the site if we use our imaginations. We can bring this site into the 21st century.”

Click here to view Northampton Transport Heritage group’s campaign or contact them via email: [email protected].