Pam's Story

Getting Involved With Local Life

So, I guess, I am a typical migrant, though there are some family connections to Greens Norton where, apparently, Great Aunts and Uncles worked in the shoe trade as outworkers in the 1930s and beyond. Since I arrived here as a complete stranger, I tried to get involved in the various groups I discovered in the area. I went to the pubs, now sadly gone, connected to residents’ groups, joined the Credit Union that had an outlet in Mount Pleasant church and helped set up a collection point in the Swan and Helmet pub.

I later joined the Board of the Credit Union and became their secretary. I also worked as an adviser for Citizens Advice, later becoming the chair of their Trustees for a while.

Whilst doing all that I guess I watched what was happening around me and what was changing. I spent quite a lot of time just walking round the area being fascinated by the different styles of architecture and the buildings that had clearly been factories and were now flats. I particularly liked the range of different people, different cuisines to be found on the Kettering Road and the mix of nationalities. For the previous 30 years I had lived in an area that is best described as a white ghetto where the only non-white faces were either the Chinese takeaway staff or the doctors at the hospital. The Mounts was then and is now a perfect representation of the ethnic diversity to be found in the UK, especially in England. For a sociologist this is fascinating.

First Impressions of The Mounts

Amenities, Shops and Everyday Life

When I first arrived, there was just about everything needed for life within walking distance, except perhaps a secondary school, though that has now been altered by the opening of Northampton International Academy. There was a post office, public houses, food stores such as bakers, butchers, greengrocers, a grocer, two launderettes, several restaurants and takeaways. There was, and still are, GP surgeries at the edge and the hospital can be reached within 15 minutes. There are buses to town, which is very close anyway, and the station takes me half an hour to reach with the prospect of being in London within the hour. There was even a small theatre. Before I got here there were clearly more shops since every street corner seems to have had a shop on it.

How the Area Has Changed

So, has it changed? Clearly it has, the post office closed after the poor postmaster was forced out by the Post Office Horizon disaster. Many of the pubs have closed: the Crispin, the Victoria, the Bat and Wickets, the Cricketers are all gone. The butcher, the baker and the grocery stores all went as did the drum shop which I forgot to mention and many of the charity shops have gone too. We do still have many shops selling fruit and vegetables, vapes and there are now several barbers - but still only one hairdressing salon for women. As the European Union opened up in 2005 there was a welcome influx of people from Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova and elsewhere who kindly set up food stores thus greatly increasing choice. Along with Asian food stores already here it is possible to cover just about any cookery item imaginable.

Neighbours and Community Stories

I have found my neighbours on Clare Street throughout the last 25 years to be a fascinating mix of long standing and newly arrived, all with amazing stories. My next door neighbours when I first arrived , a family originally from Bangladesh with 6 children, have grown up, left home, got married and invited me to their sumptuous weddings. I now see the grandchildren coming to see the grandparents who are still the same kind people I have been privileged to know.

My other immediate neighbouring house is possibly more typical of the area insofar as when I arrived it was owned by two nurses and their little daughter. The later arrival of twins in a two bedroomed house meant they needed to find somewhere larger and after knowing them for about 12 years they left for a house about 600 yards away but outside the Mounts. Then, after the next owner only stayed for 3 years, getting married and moving to another part of the country, it became a rental property. The Indian professional couple stayed for three years until they got indefinite leave to remain and had saved up enough money for a deposit whereupon they moved to Wootton.

Since then, tenants have tended to stay for a shorter time. Further along the row of about 10 houses the majority are still owner occupied or have very long-term tenants though the block of flats in the former Hammond Shoe factory seem to change hands/tenants more frequently.

Diversity, Faith and Social Change

What is strange to me is the age range and the apparent scarcity of children in the Mounts. Obviously there are children as I see them going off to school, but given the range of housing, mostly two/three bedroom, one might have expected more families. However, this could well be a reflection of the social fabric of the UK today with more pensioners than under 16s. As I said earlier, the Mounts is a very good reflection of the wider society.

Kindness, Challenges and Community Action

I have found great kindness and a willingness to treat other people gently, whilst living here. Sure, there are problems: cannabis factories are never a good amenity and the fairly open drug dealing at certain times of day is less than ideal, but it is less than I have witnessed in other locations.

There are good community enterprises such as The Good Loaf around. We also have the starting point of the McCarthy-Dixon Foundation set up during Covid times to help with food poverty and social isolation. I have the privilege of being one of their trustees and will be sorry when we finally move from the Mounts to larger premises in Semilong. But the Mounts has many community groups of residents trying to help each other. We have the Good Neighbour Group south of Clare Street and CRANWRA north of Clare Street.

One of the things I forgot to mention earlier, because I espouse no religion, is the diversity of religion in the area: the synagogue, a mosque, at least 5 Christian places of worship, a spiritualist place and probably others I am unaware of, though no coven of witches to my knowledge.

Hopes for the Future

What I would dearly like to see is the whole of the Mounts being turned into a no go area, where the only cars on the road are those of residents. With one way in and one way out. It is not an impossible dream and would certainly improve the lives of everyone.

I am so glad I discovered this area and hope to remain here for many more years. Well, I can always hope.