January 1926

Emma Compton was summoned for pretending to tell fortunes.  She was fined 10 shillings, on the promise not to repeat the offence.

Goodwin-Hallett Opera Company appeared at Rushden Palace where they performed ‘Il Trovatore’, ‘Barber of Seville’ etc.  The place was crowded.

Mr Joseph Allen (Liberal) was elected to the RUDC.  He was born in Huntingdonshire and formerly taught at Croydon and Finchley.  He started teaching at Alfred Street in 1905 before moving to North End.  When North End became the Intermediate School he moved to Newton Road.

There was a fire at Jones, Butchers, in Harborough Road.  A fire had been left on in an upstairs room where the owners lived over the shop.  The Fire Brigade, under Captain Knight and 2nd Officer Packwood, put out the fire by 11.30pm.

A Woolworths Store was proposed for Rushden High Street.  A representative of the Company expressed the opinion that Rushden was much more go ahead than Wellingborough.

Community Singing was introduced at the Royal Theatre and became a popular feature of the first half of the programme following a short film.

H E Bates’ one-act play ‘Loyalty’ was broadcast on the radio from Bournemouth.

Rushden beat Higham Ferrers 4 – 1 in the Senior Cup at Higham Ferrers.

A suggestion was made that a new road should be built from Higham Road to Bedford Road from the Higham Ferrers boundary, across the railway, passed the top of Upper Queen Street bordering Newton Road (Court Estate).

February 1926

The gas main burst under the pavement in Rushden High Street.  Slabs nearly a yard square were thrown up.

‘Holy City’, appropriate to the Lent Season, was given by local soloists at the Independent Wesleyan Church.  The choir was trained by Mr W.T.L.Flood, with Maud Stapleton as organist.

The formation of the Rushden Chamber of Trade took place.

Residents in Harborough Road complained that heavy motor lorries from the factory at the top of the road were causing portions of their ceilings to fall in several houses.  They hoped that publicity given would encourage drivers to have more thought for others.

More New Shops were proposed for High Street: Sketchley Dye Works and Maypole, next to Woolworths.  Maypole was formerly at the bottom of Orchard Place.

Hylda Gates (later Mrs Don Bugby) won first prize (gold medal) for recitations at Kettering Eisteddfod.

March 1926

A gale felled a tree in the Rectory garden.

The Aurora Borealis, rarely seen in this part of England, was seen in the district.  The lights were faint but most noticeable when red.

Mr & Mrs William Dear of Queen Street celebrated their Diamond Wedding.  They had two sons and three daughters, and were in good health.

A preacher at Park Road Methodist Church was Thomas Watson of Swindon, son of Alfred Watson (Manager of Rushden & Higham Ferrers Gas Works).  There was a large congregation.

April 1926

Rushden Temperance Band met at the Co‑op Hall for a special tea and social to celebrate their Jubilee – 50 years of banding.

A change in control of Rushden Football Club took place.  It had previously been run by a General Committee which covered cricket too, but would now be run by the Directors of the Football Club.

There was a non‑stop dance in the Co op Hall when two full orchestras attended.  It was organized for the benefit of lst Rushden Scouts.

A child was knocked down by a slow moving car coming out of Rollie Cox’s and was found under the car unhurt but suffering from shock.

The wage bill at John White Ltd was £1,500 per week, as production increased.  12,000 pairs were being made per week.

Shares in Rushden Coffee Tavern Co were bought at 25 shillings per share in an auction at Wellingborough.

May 1926

Five boot factories closed in Rushden due to the General Strike.  They had no wish to strike themselves but were short of supplies.  News of the strike was given daily.

A meeting of boot and shoe operatives took place in the Alfred Street School playground to hear speeches on measures to be taken to obtain unemployment pay because of the strike.

A couple cycled through the district as part of a world tour.  They came to Northamptonshire to find some size 15 shoes.  Leicester could not produce anything above size 12s.  The man was 6ft 5½ins and the lady 5ft 11½ins.

June 1926

‘Skinner’ Mabelson’,a centre-forward left Rushden at the end of the 1924/5 season and signed for Peterborough United.

Three unemployed men had an adventure at the river near Chester House.  They rescued a 75 year old man from the river after great difficulty.  He lived at the Poor Institute at Wellingborough.

Another H.E.Bates novel ‘The Two Sisters’ was published by Jonathan Cape.

July 1926

Two new hard tennis courts were opened in Spencer Park by Charles Claridge, chairman of RUDC.  They were the first in Rushden.

Mr L.Perkins, head of Rushden Intermediate School, was awarded the MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours.  This caused much satisfaction in Rushden and District.

August 1926

An earthquake was experienced at Rushden.  Northamptonshire was on the fringe of the disturbance which covered 22 counties.

September 1926

Rushden Clubs formed a Fishing League.  Six competitions took place at Felmersham and three at the Mad Dog, Odell.

As a bus passed Woolworths it knocked into a stack of goods on the path and pushed them through a plate-glass window.

Two young ladies riding bicycles through Spencer Park had had two previous warnings.  Letters were sent to them both regretting the infringement and they promised not to offend again.

There was a slight improvement in trade for some boot and shoe firms.  The industry as a whole was working at less than half capacity.

Mr & Mrs George Denton of Eastfields celebrated their Golden Wedding.  Both were well‑known for their public activities and interests.

October 1926

The score was Rushden 3 – Kettering 2 at the annual Feast Monday fixture.

Residents of St.Crispin Estate had only received one postal delivery per day.  A second delivery of letters had been instituted.  Previously they had to go as far as the Oakley Arms to post their letters.

Roe Bros opened a shop on the corner of Victoria Road and High Street.  The entrance lobby was chocolate‑brown and grey non‑slip rectangular tiles, finished with a step of Sicilian marble.

A New Parliament was opened at Rushden, known as the Missionary Parliament.  Honourable members were elected from various constituencies in Rushden.  Government supporters were allotted one side of the house facing the opposition.  Their business was to further the interests of the Baptist Missionary Society.

John White offered a 14‑acre field off Bedford Road as a Sports Field for his employees.  They agreed to pay 1d per week towards the fund.

A Smoking Concert at the Conservative Club was attended by the prospective Conservative candidate Wing Commander A.W.H.James, MC.

November 1926

A Rushden Motor Club was formed for motor cyclists.

An appeal was made for more bowlers at Spencer Park.  There were 54 members but membership could be doubled.

The Free Library came of age.  It had been 21 years since its opening.

The Rushden accent was described as a mixture between Arabic, Aztec and Eskimo.  There was a report of a family in Rushdenese by I.L.Goo.

There was a presentation to Mr Bert Sanders on his retirement as conductor of Rushden Choral Society.  The baton was handed to Mr W.Wright.

December 1926

A painting by Dr D.G.Greenfield realised £12.8s.0d in a competition for the Rushden Hospital week.

Joseph Allebone Abbott and his wife celebrated their Diamond Wedding.  They lived in Wymington Road and were well known in the area.  Mr Abbott was a maker of hand-sewn boots and was paid 1s.7d per pair just after the Crimean War.

‘A piece of sound surrounded by noise’ was the description of Jazz by Mr Walter Hampson, well‑known violinist.

Newton Road football team 26 – Stanwick 0, in the Elementary Schools Football League.  One lad scored a treble hat-trick.

Rev Ion Carroll, the controversial Vicar of St.Peter’s, left Rushden.  Some people had agreed with innovations he introduced and others dissented.  He left for St.Mary’s, Halifax.

A Rushden boy got the birch for robbing a till of £5.10s.0d   He had been dragged into crime by other people.