We had a Maypole, which sat beside what was Woolworth’s in the High street, several Co-Op shops located all around Rushden, which covered just about every mortal need.

A Fine Fare was also a High street dweller, a Kwiksave, a Budgen’s which was next to the Post Office in College street. But alas these have now all disappeared, and to be replaced by what?

Two new food ventures have opened down our High street, and are catering towards a continental palate. You may be wondering what is on offer? The tastes of Albania and Turkey, if you fancy it.

Located in southeast Europe, on the coasts of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, both part of the much larger Mediterranean Sea, Albanian food is representative of the widely known Mediterranean cuisine, recognized by many as the healthiest diet in the world.

If you would like some of that, Rushden Food Centre welcomed customers when it opened on October 27th, 2023, in the unit that had been occupied by Peacocks.

And Food plus Europe is next door to Thing-Me-Jigz.

The question is, are we all wishing to eat a more varied diet, or is Rushden now more Cosmopolitan in it’s make up? The precise answer to that question, I cannot not answer with any knowledge.