When Rushden was just a village in the early 1800s it was run by a parochial committee who met in the vestry hall and was under the Wellingborough District for poor law, sanitary and highway care. In 1880 first attempts to get a Local Board were made, and Urban Status was granted to Rushden in 1895. The meetings were reported in the local newspaper, and give a real insight into the growth of Rushden. They took out several loans to provide facilities for the town, all paid for through the rates. The Council Yard in Newton Road was used by all the workmen who repaired the town roads, cleared the brooks, swept the streets, and generally kept the areas looking neat and tidy. A series of workshops and stores for tools and ladders were built on the site. A Fire Station was built next to it in 1902. A Library was built in 1905 and the Council Offices were built in 1906.
Closed 2011
The street sweeper is put into a skip!
and two vans are taken away on the back of a lorry
Photos by Trevor Walker:
Taken when the yard closed
on Siunday 31st July 2011 at 4pm.
left: thought to be the old stables
below: Mick Jones locks the gates
The old Council Yard was demolished - May 2014..... Photos: Paul Wright
The gates to the yard, next to the old Fire Station house
