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January 1955
Joining the ranks of Record Breakers, Rushden born Captain D.Nichols, piloting a BEA Viscount, set a new unofficial record for the Glasgow – London flight, taking 61 minutes at an average of 376 miles per hour – 3 minutes inside the record.
February 1955
The John White Footwear Band made a successful broadcasting debut with a concert relayed from the Parish Rooms in Higham Ferrers. Mr George Thompson conducted.
March 1955
There were 500 more school age children in Rushden than there were before the war. One of the most important problems since the war was the need for new accommodation. Numbers of school aged had risen because of the raised school leaving age and the increase in birth rate since the war.
April 1955
Rushden Town Football Club, once a powerful force in local soccer, was going through its worst season since the war. Since the war they had always been amongst the top five teams in the United Counties League Division One. In 1955 they were ninth having won only 9 out of 21 games.
May 1955
Rushden had been selected for an important road safety experiment – the first of its kind in Northamptonshire. Until 10th June 1955 every possible attempt would be made by the authorities to inspire a high standard of conduct by all classes of road users on the mile‑long stretch of the A6 from the Higham Ferrers/Rushden border to the junction near St.Mary’s Church.
June 1955
One of Rushden’s largest houses, The Shrubbery in Higham Road, was purchased by Mr W.J.A.Peck for the benefit of the town’s old people. It had been offered to the County Council and was expected to become a residential home for veterans in need of communal accommodation.
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July 1955
Squatters, who lived in three dilapidated cottages in Warmond Hill in Higham Ferrers for the past three years, were evicted by representatives of the Borough Council and the owners of the property. The roof had been removed to discourage occupation but this did not prevent a family of 8 moving into the only two habitable rooms in all 3 houses.
August 1955
Parts of the new school near Hayway, Rushden, would be used when the new term started. The building, which was to supplement the accommodation at the North End Modern School for Girls, was not complete although work had commenced about Easter 1953.
September 1955
“Saturday is Market Day”. That statement in many towns would represent a normal, routine occasion, but not in Higham Ferrers where Market Day was held once a year – even that was no ordinary market but an annual carnival. Over the past 36 years of Higham Ferrers Market Day, £33,411 had been raised and donated to local charities.
October 1955
A resolution asking Parliament to clear the way for possible Sunday cinema shows in the town was adopted without discussion by Rushden Urban District Council. November 10th was fixed as the date for a meeting at which local electors could vote for or against.
November 1955
The Right Reverend T.Leo Parker, Bishop of Northampton, laid the foundation stone of the new Roman Catholic Church of St.Peter, Rushden.
December 1955
In the Public Poll regarding Sunday opening of cinemas in Rushden, 38% of Local Government Electors voted – 3,193 voted in favour and 1,419 against. It was expected that Sunday cinema shows would begin in Rushden in 1956.
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