Rising like a phoenix from the flames of 1675
‘Honouring our past while shaping our future’ – that was the overriding sentiment coming out of a memorable service held at All Saints Church to mark Oak Apple Day.
Hundreds of people turned out for a very special edition of this peculiarly ‘Northampton’ ceremony, held every year to celebrate the restoration of the monarchy and the return to the throne of Charles II – a monarch who will always be held in close esteem by the town for his generous donation of 1,000 tonnes of timber to aid the regeneration programme in the wake of the Great Fire of Northampton in 1675.
By now you will, hopefully, be aware that this year marks 350 years since those fateful flames engulfed our town centre. Oak Apple Day kickstarted a five-month programme of events and activities to commemorate the milestone.
From downloading an app and joining an augmented reality trail of the destructive path of the fire, to exhibitions, concerts and lightshows – this will be the summer where the town unites once more to remember. There’s even a specially brewed beer and an extra hot mustard available to accompany your celebrations.
Northampton BID is proud to have curated this events programme and we encourage residents, friends and family to get involved. For full details of the event programme visit discovernorthampton.co.uk/GFON350
The Great Fire is a symbol of our town’s resilience in the face of adversity. It acts as a prime example of how, by working together, we can rebuild stronger than ever before.
Those traits are as valuable now as they were all those generations ago and, at a time, when our town centre is once again going through a period of significant regeneration it serves as a reminder that by pooling resources we can create something very special.
There’s a lot of activity in our town centre right now, with development at every corner. We will, as always, support our businesses through this inevitable disruption and work with local authority partners and their suppliers to ensure this is kept to an absolute minimum. We need our town open for business.
Talking of which, it’s hugely encouraging to see new units opening.
Congratulations to the team at Mission Chicken who have done an incredible job in restoring a much-loved old building in Dychurch Lane and turning it into a modern restaurant fit for the Instagram age. Do support them and give it a try.
The opening of H&M in the Grosvenor Centre has been hotly anticipated and we look forward to seeing this flagship store further add to the list of prominent retailers underlining their commitment to Northampton.
With more new openings expected later this year the future for Northampton is looking encouraging. It’s on the up. It’s rising like a phoenix from the flames…