Is a 'Wedding' Arranged?
Amalgamation bound to come say residents

THREE days to go to B-Day for the residents of Rushden and Higham Ferrers. On Monday the respective councils will meet to make up their minds about the hottest issue in local government circles in recent times—the boundaries revision.

And the question everybody is asking is, will a union between Rushden and Higham be discussed. This is not a new idea. It goes back to 1944 when the subject was almost settled.

Then both councils agreed on amalgamation. This was published and was to have been put before the Boundary Commission then as an urgent priority.

Retracted

On December 26, 1947, came the news that Higham council had changed its mind. It did not want a straightfor­ward marriage any more, but instead favoured a union to include Irthlingborough, Raunds, and some surrounding villages.

Rushden stuck by its original idea, but compromised to include Wymington and there the matter ended. Both towns have gone their own way for the last 17 years.

With all this in mind the "Echo" went out into the streets of the two towns to see what the citizens think of such a move.

By and large, the people of Higham do not want anything to do with Rushden. For hun­dreds of years Higham has been Higham, and that is the way they want it to stay.

Housewife Mrs. E. P. Britchford, of 8 Charles Close, Higham, told the "Echo": "I would not want to see Higham and Rushden join up. Higham is totally different from Rushden."

Two Town Boundaries

The two signs near Tollbar

"I have been here for 76 years and I do not know that I want any more to do with Rushden. If the amalgamation was going to save money and staff I should say yes, but it won't." Because Rushden was bigger he feared that Higham would soon become the under­dog.

Mr. T. Neville, of 55 Kimbolton Road, Higham has lived in the town for about seventy years "and I definitely want Higham to stay as it is now," he said. "I hope it never comes, but I think amalgamation is inevitable." Higham had always prided itself on being a clean town, and its people were above average, he said.

Another housewife, who did not want her name printed, believes that amalgamation has been in the air for so long that they have come to accept it. "Does it make any difference what we think? I think it is coming whether we like it or not, but I would like Higham to be independent," she said.

At Rushden, public opinion tends to swing the other way.

Mrs. M. Hodgkin, of 83 Park Road, thinks it would be as well for the two towns to marry, since they join up in places now. "It is almost 'pointless to be separated when they are so close together," she said.

A Rushden postman also thought it would be a good idea. "We might get a grammar school out of it, and possibly a hospital. It will come in the end," he said.

Mrs. M. L. Smith, of 76 St. Margaret's Avenue, Rushden, said she would not oppose such a scheme. "I do not know much about it, but what difference is it going to make?" she asked.

Rushden Echo, 25^th September 1964

Towns Seek New Horizons Summing up the battle for the boundaries

THE boundary battle has started. Raunds wants more territory to the north, Irthlingborough wants Raunds, Rushden and Higham Ferrers want Irthlingborough and Raunds . . . and so it goes on

The various council plans for setting up government at meeting up to Northamptonshire sort them out.

At independent meetings, Rushden and Higham Ferrers councils came out with almost identical plans for setting up a new non-county borough with a population exceeding 34,000.

They recommend that Rushden and Higham Ferrers should amalgamate to form the nucleus of this new borough, which would include the urban districts of Irthlingborough and Raunds and the parishes of Chelveston, Irchester and Newton Bromshold.

Different

At the time as this was being discussed, Raunds and Irthlingborough were putting forward entirely different proposals.

Raunds feels that there would be no advantage in joining with a link-up between Rushden and Higham Ferrers.

Raunds suggests that it should be allowed to expand on its northern boundary, taking in a total of 18 parishes, including Chelveston.

Higham Ferrers Borough and Rushden Urban Councils proposals were not passed unanimously.

At Higham Ferrers no amendment was voted on, although two people voted against the proposal. They were Mr. D. C. Lawson and Mr. H. O. Binder. At Rushden three voted against the proposal—Mr. R. H. S. Greenwood, Mrs. G. Marriott and Mr. G. J. Penness.

Irthlingborough says it would like to retain its autonomy with an expanding area, including Finedon, Great and Little Addington—two villages also wanted by Raunds—and possibly Burton Latimer and Raunds.

On the face of it Rushden and Higham have taken the most realistic step by agreeing that they should amalgamate.

But even Rushden and Higham's plan is likely to receive a good deal of opposition from the areas they have listed.

Raunds has already made it clear that it does not want to be taken over, and although no official protests I have been made yet by Irchester, Newton Bromshold and Chelveston, it is quite likely that there will be some.

Protest?

If interviews carried out in the three parishes this week by the "Echo" are any guide, by far the biggest protest may come from the sixty-odd inhabitants of Newton Bromshold.

Eighty-four-year-old Mr. N. M. King, the village's representative on the Wellingborough Rural Council for the past twenty years, said he was entirely against any change.

He pointed out that Newton Bromshold was strictly rural, and it would feel completely out of place as part of a borough.

It is difficult to say which way Irchester will jump. Many people, particularly housewives, have a strong leaning towards Wellingborough, mainly for shopping and the market facilities.

On the other hand, many of the men come to Rushden and Higham Ferrers for work.

Why Change?

Mrs. H. Vickerman and Mrs. B. Hornsby, of Station Road Irchester, both pointed out that children in the village either went to Wollaston or Wellingborough schools.

At Chelveston, the majority seem to be undecided. But, if anything, they seem to have, a stronger affiliation to Rushden than to Raunds.

In all three places there will be many who will ask: Why change at all?