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| Memories of D Muscutt, written in 1994, transcribed by Kay Collins |
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Rushden 1924 - 1939 |
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Denis Muscutt had written his Notes and Memories about the town between the two wars. He also listed trades and shops and churches, etc. Most of these have not been copied as they are already well covered on our website. See the indexes via the Main Index pages, and the Trade Directories. Also lots of information may be added in any overview pages. For earlier information the Genealogy Index has Cemetery, Census and Church Registers to provide the many indexes created by our team over the past 20+ years. KC The Town of Rushden, situated in Northamptonshire, was, like most towns in the county, a boot and shoe centre with factories all over the town. Rushden before 1939 had a population of between fourteen thousand and fifteen thousand and most of these depended on the boot and shoe trade, as did their fathers before them. The boot and shoe trade employed the majority of the town's folk who usually spent the whole of their working lives in the same factory. There are now very few of these businesses surviving in 1994, possibly less than a dozen altogether, owing to the importing of cheap shoes and leather from India, Italy and Taiwan. Before 1939 Rushden was a very prosperous town. There was very little unemployment in the town and the High St., which was the main shopping area, was filled with shops all occupied by tenants. There were several fish and chip shops in the town. There was also one in Moor Rd., now owned by Mr. Northover, and one in Wellingborough Rd. owned by Mr. Prince. There were numerous milkmen in the town who delivered daily. Several bakers, butchers, barbers, hairdressers and ladies’ hairdressers were in the town before 1939. Gents’ hair-cuts cost 4d or four old pence. There were a good many newsagents in the town. Charles Robinson was the biggest newsagent in the town. He employed thirty-two paper boys. He paid three shillings and sixpence a week, equal to about eighteen new pence. Daily papers cost one old penny each-equal to one and a fifth new pence. Most magazines were two old pennies each. Freddie Hales had a stand outside The Rose & Crown and sold Telegraphs and The Pink Uns.
There were three Doctors’ practices before 1939 with surgeries in John St., Griffith St. and Park Rd. There was a house up Griffith St., known as the Cottage Hospital, where two trained nurses named Woods did minor dressings. Rushden had two other hospitals, The Sanatorium in Wymington Rd., a TB hospital with patients from all over the county and the other was a large timber and zinc building in Bedford Rd., erected after the First World War as an isolation hospital to combat smallpox epidemics. The last time it was used was in the thirties. The last inmate was lad named Groom, known to all affectionately as Bubbles. Northampton and Kettering hospitals cared for the people of Rushden. St John's Ambulance Brigade was responsible for the one ambulance in the town. Undertakers Ash Abbott owned a team of black horses which were used to pull the hearse at funerals. They could also be hired for weddings or pulling little traps for a journey into the country on a weekend. Quite a number of the town's folk worked for local Builders. The big firms, i.e. Marriott's and Sanders, had their own plumbers and decorators. Marriott’s had their own blacksmith. Rushden Council had their own building department and employed all tradesmen to carry out the maintenance on Council property. Rushden had its own brickyard. This was situated in Wellingborough Road. Half of the town was built with these bricks, which can still be seen in abundance in the Cromwell Road area. Townsends owned a timber yard in Washbrook Road. Watts owned a timber yard in Bedford Road.
Bill Bailey had a large scrap yard in Washbrook Rd.
Electricty, Gas & Coal The electric current used in Rushden was made at the works in Shirley Road, apparently by donkey engines and dynamos. Rushden had its own Gasworks, also in Shirley Road. The coal gas for Rushden and Wymington was made here and stored in gasholders until required. The coke made at the Gasworks was delivered by local coalmen. The coal came into Rushden by rail, delivered by Wiggins, Rushden & Wellingborough.
Coalmen
Firewood Merchants Bayes of Newton Rd. and Watts of Bedford Rd.
Transport - The railway was a branch line from Wellingborough to Higham Ferrers, where it ended. This belonged to the London, Midland & Scottish Railway. It had sidings in Rushden for heavy goods and ran a daily passenger service for Rushden. There were a few haulage firms in the town. Peck's - the largest, in Washbrook Rd., Lack Bros. in Moor Rd., & Spriggs' in Duck St.
Barker of Harborough Rd., George Moore of High St. South and Wadsworth of Newton Rd. each had a taxi for hire. Seamark Brothers ran small private buses. The United Counties Company served the town with buses and the Eastern National ran daily from Bedford. A London based bus company which belonged to Birch Bros. ran a service from Rushden to King's Cross in London, eventually running an hourly service. The first one in the morning at 6.15am., the last one arriving from London at 10.15 at night. The minimum fare was one shilling to protect the local bus companies. The fare from Rushden to King's Cross was six shillings and ninepence. Rushden to Bedford cost two shillings return. There was not a better bus service in the country. They had good buses and were always prompt to the minute. If the main road was blocked with snow and Birch's could not get through it was no good anybody else trying. There were a few private coaches in the town, owned by the following:
The following were Garage owners.
The following are places used for Dancing and belonged to the churches and chapels.
The Salvation Army had a Band of Hope and so did the Baptist Chapel. All were welcome, provided you signed the pledge. It was put on one night weekly. Entertainment such as conjurors was put on, or a magic lantern show. It was one way children were kept off the streets. They were very good. Newton Rd. and South End schools were used as Sunday schools by St. Mary's Church. South End was a church school.
The Adult School in Wellingborough Rd. had a large Malevoice Choir and like the YMCA it had billiard and snooker rooms. There was also a billiard Hall in Duck St. which had fifteen tables. Most of the clubs had billiard rooms, as did the Waverley Hotel in Coffee Tavern Lane.
The Masonic Hall in Wellingborough Rd. had a large membership. This hall was hired out for special occasions.
The Free Gardeners ran a Friendly Society, as did The Foresters and The Rechobites.
The British Women's Temperance Hall was in Newton Rd.
There were several Men's clubs in the town, and public houses.
Most of these had dance floors where they staged entertainments or dances for the locals. The Windmill Club had one of the biggest dance floors in the county. As well as dancing, they put on wrestling and boxing and engaged some of the big bands, such as Joe Loss.
The Victoria Hotel Higham Rd. & The Waverley Hotel High St. were the hotels that served the town. The Intermediate was the most modern school. To go there it was necessary to pass the eleven plus exam at the other schools. This school was the only school in the town to have its own sports ground. The others used the public parks and Rushden Town football and cricket ground in Hayden Road. This was also used for the District Schools Sports Day. South End School was the oldest school in the town with rows of toilets quite a distance to get to on a wet day. There were two hand basins in the boys' and girls' cloakrooms and the school was heated by large tortoise stoves. One lad from the school, named Vann, won the Victoria Cross during the First World War.
I have listed the teachers in attendance at South End St. School from 1924 to 1936. [Dennis attended there]
There were several Chimney Sweeps in the town as the open fire was the one used most.
There were two private Blacksmiths.
Mr Ginns wound the clock up at St. Mary's Church and was also a sidesman at St. Mary's. There were four Brass Bands in the town.
These bands attended all the town activities and provided entertainment for the townspeople on Sundays at the Hall Park. There were four Scout troops in the town. The 4th were based at St. Peter's Church, the 1st based at Skinner's Hill, the 2nd based at St. Mary's Church and one at the Salvation Army. St. Mary's had a Brownie and Guide troop, as did St. Peter's Church. The Baptist Boys and Girls Brigade had their own Bugle Band. [and the Methodist] Rushden had a Police Station-manned 24 hours in Shirley Rd. and a Fire Station-manned 24 hours in Newton Rd. St. John's Ambulance-local volunteers, Public Baths and Swimming Club Bill Elliott of Tennyson Road was the attendant at the baths for many years, assisted by Wilf Robinson of Little Street in the summer. He was a Rushden Council employee. Rushden had its own Labour Exchange and Telephone Exchange adjacent to each other in Rectory Road. Previous to these being built the Labour Exchange was in Brookfield Road. Rushden had its own General Post Office and sorting office in High Street, previous to College Street.
The town had several Recreation Grounds and Sports Felds.
The town had its own Free Library in Newton Road. A Drill Hall in Victoria Road and a large unit of Territorials. There were other small businesses in the town.
The town owned its own water supply at Sywell, near Wellingborough. The water being pumped from Sywell to a reservoir in Bedford Road in Rushden, and gravity fed back to supply the town. There were two sand pits; one in the Hayway and one between Hall Avenue and St. Margaret's Avenue. The local rubbish tip was in Bedford Road, Rushden. The Rugby Club now occupies this site. The river and fields at Ditchford were the local holiday resort, being used by people from Irchester, Higham Ferrers, Irthlingborough and Rushden. Families who could not afford to go to the coast enjoyed their holidays at Ditchford. Some days there must have been more people there than on Brighton Beach.
Rushden held a Carnival Day & Parade each year. This was a huge success and the proceeds from it went to the hospitals. The men's clubs in the town, once a year, paid for their members' families to go to the seaside for the day. This was the only way many of the families saw the sea during these years. The churches and chapels held sports days and tea fights for their children. You had to take your own cup. The Fair visited the town once a year and was stationed in Spencer Road for seven days. Tommy Essom, one of the fairground families, stayed in Rushden for the winter, on College Street-later in Duck Street. The large Council Housing Estates were being built in the town and many of the old houses were being demolished and people rehoused. Rushden railway station used to put on special trains to visit the illuminations at Blackpool, and excursions to Matlock Bath in Derbyshire. The railway also ran day trips to Skegness and Clacton. Most firms had a day trip to somewhere or other for their employees, once a year. There was plenty of entertainment, of a sort, before the days of television. The Rushden Hall and grounds belonged to Mr. A. H. Sartoris. When he left the town they passed to the people of Rushden. The house is one of the old houses left in the town, another being the house to the shop in Little Street at the corner of Harborough Rd. Willmott's Manor farm house in Bedford Road is another, Florence Simpson’s in High Street South, and Higham Park House off Avenue Road. Some of the well known people in the town were:
Mr. Jack Harrison, boxer, won the Lonsdale Belt when a young man. The Town Crier was Mr.Buck Turner, a large man and ex-pugilist. Buck Turner used to travel the town shouting out his information, always followed by crowds of children. When he finished reading out his information, he always finished up with; "Don't say Old Buck aint told yer."
Perhaps I should finish on this note, too, but don't take the information as gospel, herein. Please bear in mind the fact that it occurred over fifty years ago. A.D.Muscutt
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