Secret Northampton

Explore fascinating stories from Northamptonshire.

Radio Northampton,28 episodes

Episodes

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The Kettering shirt sponsor scandal
How Derek Dougan defied the FA to make the Poppies the first team with a shirt sponsor.
03 Jun 2026,7 mins
Northamptonshire: Home of the Gnome!
How did Lamport Hall become the home of the gnome?
13 May 2026,8 mins
Northamptonshire's forgotten Land Girls
Who were the women who became farmers, foragers and "LumberJills" during WW1?
25 Mar 2026,7 mins
The Northampton "Lighthouse"
An off-beat look at Northamptonshire's most unusual and iconic building.
03 Mar 2026,12 mins
Mary Queen of Scots' final 24 hours at Fotheringhay
Imprisoned for colluding with would-be-assassin Anthony Babington, Mary awaits the axe.
17 Feb 2026,9 mins
Another fine mess! Laurel and Hardy in Northampton
Remembering Laurel & Hardy's farewell tour, which began at the New Theatre in Northampton.
05 Feb 2026,5 mins
Inside Britain’s oldest model shop
Wellingborough Road’s The Model Shop has been operating since 1937.
16 Jan 2026,8 mins
Discovering Borough Hill’s Iron Age Fort
MOLA discovered remnants of England’s fourth largest Iron Age fort.
5 mins
Irchester’s Jurassic Park
At least three dinosaur footprint casts have been found in Irchester Country Park
02 Dec 2025,4 mins
The Great Fire of Northampton: 350 years on
Looking back to 1675 for the fire that destroyed Northampton.
20 Sep 2025,17 mins
The ‘friendly Yank invasion’ of Northamptonshire
Looking back on the US Airforce’s time in Northamptonshire.
03 Sep 2025,7 mins
Inside the house of a billion words
Rushden is home to the Penguin Random House UK archive, which contains 1.5 million books.
30 Jul 2025,5 mins
Daventry calling... how the BBC spoke to the world
Daventry’s former BBC transmission station on Borough Hill, 100 years on.
25 Jul 2025,8 mins
How Northamptonshire conquered Everest
The county’s shoe industry played a crucial role in Sir Edmund Hillary’s ascent in 1953.
11 Jul 2025,4 mins
Rowell Fair: early morning pints and play-fights
The annual fair is said to be more than 800 years-old and boasts some unusual traditions.
17 Jun 2025,3 mins
Watford Gap: More than just a motorway services
Best known for its stop on the M1, this is a place of national importance on many levels.
30 May 2025,11 mins
Three thinking: The Rushton Triangular Lodge
Why three is the magic number for this iconic Northamptonshire building.
23 Apr 2025,10 mins
Northants’ ‘grandest and most perfect’ structure
The remarkable and terrifying story of the building of the Harringworth-Welland viaduct.
16 Apr 2025,10 mins
The Titanic squash coach
The tragic tale of Frederick Wright from Great Billing, the RMS Titanic’s squash coach.
04 Apr 2025,6 mins
Who was Peter The Saracen?
What is known about the earliest Muslim to be recorded as living in Northampton?
28 Mar 2025,4 mins
The Rothwell Bone Crypt
What the depths of a Northamptonshire church tells us about medieval attitudes to death.
17 Mar 2025,7 mins
Sessions House – justice from the ashes
The story of one of the first buildings to be built after the Great Fire of Northampton.
07 Mar 2025,3 mins
Daventry’s war-winning experiment
How did an experiment in a Daventry field birth British radar?
26 Feb 2025,7 mins
Remember, Remember…. Ashby St Ledgers
How was a Northamptonshire village central to the notorious Gunpowder Plot?
21 Feb 2025,7 mins
What lies beneath the Old Black Lion?
What clues do a disused pub give to the history of one of Northampton’s oldest churches?
14 Feb 2025,3 mins
The head and tale of Corby’s hero horse
Ronald led the Charge of the Light Brigade and his head is now preserved at Deene Park.
07 Feb 2025,11 mins
The Founding Father of Ecton
Exploring the Northamptonshire roots of one of the chief architects of the USA.
31 Jan 2025,10 mins
Re-discovering Northampton Castle
How the once monumental castle was ‘lost’ but is now being brought back to life.
31 Jan 2025,3 mins