Factory fortnight in Northampton in the 1950s-1960s and then in decline – interview

Our local history piece and map on factory fortnight, Wakes week etc has sparked some lovely memories from people maybe in the 40s now who remember it faintly from childhood.  So as a person in my forties with a faint memory of it, I asked my mum what factory fortnight was like for her both as a child and then running a business in Northampton, then a boot and shoe town with a strong factory fortnight tradition.

I was particularly amused to hear of my Grandad getting everyone up early in the morning to beat the traffic jams at the start of the fortnight only to find the rest of Northampton out on the roads at 0400 doing the same thing…

We’d love to hear any of your memories of factory fortnight and whole-community holiday closures – either in the comments or in Twitter or Facebook or wherever else they pop up.

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William Perrin

Founder of Talk About Local, Trustee of the Indigo Trust, member of UK Government transparency panels, former Policy Advisor to UK Prime Minister, former Cabinet Office senior civil servant.Open data do-er, Kings Cross London blogger. Loves countryside. Two kids, not enough sleep.

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