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The Iconic Rushden Police Station that was seen by millions of TV viewers in the mid 1970's, was built back in 1900. This doubled as Broadstone police station in Hunters Walk, produced by ATV. The actors on the show found it very difficult to portray our local accents, as it was not London or Brummie. And the desk sergeant in the series was rather amusing when answering the phone with his effort at pronouncing "Broadstone Police". (Rushden). Luckily you can purchase some DVDs of "Hunters Walk" on Amazon for about £15.00. Sadly only a few episodes survived, but we can enjoy a nostalgic view of old Rushden. You might be surprised just how much the town has changed since the 1970's?
That original police station was replaced in the 1970's (it was closed in 2017), but towards the end of its use; it seemed to keep strange opening hours for a police station in such a large town. No doubt many a person rolled up there, only to find it closed!
It would seem that as Rushden got bigger, our local services seem to have got smaller, including the Rushden Hospital, the Hayway Clinic, the Ambulance Station, the Police Station in Shirley Road/North Street. And now the news that some other police buildings are going under the hammer, and will be sold off. Our own police station is up for sale for £500,000, although there is a problem with asbestos in situ. The others include Kettering, Corby and the police house in Earls Barton. The former staff flats at Mereway in Northampton, which had been used as police office buildings for many years, are to be sold subject to contract, and are currently being demolished by their new owner.
Selling these now redundant buildings will hopefully raise £3 million in total, plus a welcome annual saving of £250,000, which will be an going boost to the coffers. The county’s Police and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold say this money will be reinvested in buildings that meet the needs of the community and the police both now and in the future. Locally the outcome of this sees the bed fellows of Rushden Police now sharing home with Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service. This seems to be following the American trend that we see cropping up in TV programmes.
It may have crossed other readers’ minds about the accessibility of a "police" officer at the "fire station" in Washbrook Road? For the object of an exercise I rang the enquiries button near the front door, no reply was the answer. Secondly I chose to ring one of the other buttons available, one was for the fire service, and the second was for the police. On ringing the police I was connected to a call centre with a message giving me options of getting a police officer to answer my test enquiry.
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