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Park in the Rushden 'North Street' car park and walk past 'Home Bargains' and up Higham Hill for 200yds. Across the road can be seen the former John White factory.
John Whites modern purpose built factory was erected in Lime Street in 1939 and by 1941 there were nine factories employing two thousand workers.
The factory remained derelict after closing in 1991 but has recently been renovated and converted into luxury apartments.
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Directly opposite Lime Street across Higham Hill, the A5028 (formerly A6) is Beech Road
Here, the factory of H.T.Mackness who manufactured insoles still stands today. It has since become Steptronic Footwear, makers of fine quality footwear.
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3
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Back down the A6, cross over Hayway and turn right at traffic lights and right again will take you into Spencer Road and after a short walk of 200yds the premises of Sanders & Sanders will appear on your right.
Around the world, people wanting traditional Goodyear welted footwear still look to Northamptonshire. Sanders & Sanders Ltd of Rushden has been producing footwear for over 130 years and has developed a healthy demand from overseas. It still specialises in formal shoes including military, ceremonial and equestrian footwear.
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Walk back along Spencer Road, cross over Washbrook Road at the traffic lights and continue past the petrol station and Asda towards the High Street.
Ahead of you is the Co-operative Funeralcare undertakers, formerly the first factory of Sanders & Sanders, built in 1870.
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5
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Turn right at the Co-operative Funeralcare into Station Road and proceed towards the fork in the road.
On the right hand side, just in Midland Road sits the former factory of The British United Shoe Machinery who kept most of the local shoe machines in working order. The building has since been occupied by a printing firm and is now derelict.
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Ahead of you was the former factory of Austins, later Jaques & Clark and has recently been replaced by a block of flats.
Jaques & Clark began shoemaking in Victoria Road in 1888, but soon outgrew the space and built their first factory in 1890 in Fitzwilliam Street. From there they moved to Station Road, where they remained until the company closed down in 1980. It was demolished in 1984 and has been replaced by flats. |
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7
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Continue to walk up Station Road and turn left into Moor Road. A short way along this road on your right you will see a new block of flats that was once the site of the Benjamin Ladds factory.
Benjamin Ladds shoe factory was on this site from 1891 until 1971, and then demolished to make way for this block of flats. They made boots and shoes for men. Like so many of the factories in the town it was a family run concern employing about 75 people and according to records Benjamin’s descendants, Benjamin Hugh Ladds and Hugh Selby Ladds, were on amicable terms with their workforce.
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Proceed along Moor Road and you will see at the end of the road on your left hand side the former factory of C W Horrell Ltd.
(....a shoe factory and its contents go up for auction next month after attempts to sell the building have failed. A firm date for the auction of the Charles Horrell factory in Fitzwilliam Street, Rushden, has yet to be fixed but it is expected to be sometime in the second week of May. The factory closed at the end of February following an announcement earlier that month that the company had financial problems. Eighty shop floor workers were told there was only three weeks' work for them before they would be made redundant....Evening Telegraph 21st April 1976).
After the factory closed, the Receiver started selling off shoe stocks left in the warehouse and that too closed after three weeks in mid-March. The decision to auction the premises was made after attempts to sell it as a going concern failed. The building has now been converted to private flats.
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Proceed down Fitzwilliam Street and on the left opposite the old chapel and St.Johns hall you will see a driveway to the original Jaques Shoe factory.
This factory (currently The Jazz Centre) was built in 1890 as the first factory for Jaques & Clark prior to their move to Station Road.
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At the bottom of Fitzwilliam Street on the right hand side and fronting onto Duck Street is the former factory of R.Tarry & Co Ltd. (2018 - currently used as a Gymnasium)
The new closing room for the factory of R.Tarry & Co Ltd - opened in 1961, and it is estimated that between 70 and 100 girls were employed there, making shoes for export to the West Indies where they proved very popular with their barrelled heels design. The main factory was opposite and had formerly been the Standard Rotary Machine Company, begun by John Cave's family.
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Across Duck Street and on the corner of College Street where the Wilko store now stands, was the site of John Cave and Sons.
The original John Cave shoe factory was sited in the High Street and burned down in 1877. It was rebuilt and again burned down in 1905. As a result of the fires a modern single storey factory was erected on this site designed to achieve maximum safety. It was filled with all the latest machines and equipped to manufature 15,000 - 20,000 pairs of shoes a week. After John Caves closed the premises were taken over by Eaton & Co and eventually demolished. The site was rebuilt as a Budgens Supermarket in 1974 which became Wilko's store in the year 2007.
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12
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Turn left along Duck Street and you will see on your left a building for sheltered accomodation named Imperial Court. This was the site of the 'Totectors' factory.
Totectors had an enviable reputation worldwide which had grown much from the solid foundations laid down in 1840s and beyond. Over half a million pairs of safety footwear left the Rushden works every year, every pair made to the high standards which have been the company's benchmark. Benjamin Denton's grandson George saw the possibilities of the steel toecap when early examples arrived from the United States in 1938. The name of Totectors was created and registered by Wilkins and Denton Limited and the 1940's and 1950's saw the development of its safety footwear business towards its enviable final position. Since the 1960's, Totectors marketed a wide range of general safety items, to include the very latest developments in industrial safety workwear and personal protection.
A move to a purpose built factory on the Crown Estate outside the town centre and near the A45 for easy distribution, came in about 1990. Again, there was a factory shop and it was still very well used, and they had several mobile shops for travelling around the country to take their wares to other factories, where the workers could purchase their Totectors. The factory closed in 2000.
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Originally Bignell's Shoe Factory
and offices and below the expansion
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13
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Walk on along Duck Street to join the north end of the High Street and along past Asda back to the North Street car park.
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