UKH

There's a possibility I might be moving to Northampton in the near future and was wondering if anyone had any opinions on whether this is a wise move or not? Climbing wise is there much rock nearby (i see there's a new wall just opened)? Quality of life-wise is it a nice place to live, much to do in the evening, good people etc?

In reply to Dead Goat's Society: i never lived there, but used to go out with a girl who did years ago. I then used to visit with work occasionally and have friends who live in the county.
Personally, i never liked the place. It always felt edgy at night and didn't have a lot to offer. good links to Birmingham and London, but that's more a negative for me. generally pretty dull.
climbing wise, non existent.
the county has some really nice villages though, but not a lot going on.

In reply to Dead Goat's Society:
I was born and brought up in Northampton. Its not a pleasent place now, very busy roads, huge housing estates and a depressing town centre. The surrounding countryside is pleasant though, good for running, walking, cycling. The locals are usually quite friendly, although they are now hugely outnumbered, a lot of people live here because it is cheaper than London and South East. There is a tiny amount of climbing if you are very optimistic, although this is on railway bridges and other man made structures. I moved to Derbyshire in my twenties, it was a good decision.

In reply to Dead Goat's Society:

I lived there for a year in the early 90s and would never go back. It wasn't terribly unpleasant but just quite dull and so far away from anywhere that I might want to go. It does depend on where you're comparing it to, of course - as in, where you're moving from and what your other feasible options are.

In reply to Dead Goat's Society:
Some nice villages in Northamptonshire, but you'd never persuade me to live in Northampton! The transport links are pretty good and there is loads of great countryside for cycling etc but you won't find any climbable rock for a goodly distance.

In reply to Pilch:

Average sort of large town then

In reply to Dead Goat's Society: Northampton is quite literally in the middle of no where. I lived there for two years after graduation and it was not a highlight of my life by a long way. The Peak is 2 hours drive away (if you are lucky) but the thought of sitting on the motorway to get back again on Sunday always spoiled my weekends away.

When I was there, there were no walls around so that may improve matters, but it really does not have much to offer unless you like quaint thatched cottage type countryside.

In reply to Dead Goat's Society: i like comments, well i moved down from glasgow when i was young as its closer to big citys etc, the life in northampton is mostly good and bad.. areas i reccomend are nice and clean are like west hunsbury , easdt hunsbury anywhere like spinney hill also.. prices are reasonbly ok, fairly dear as too where we are posiostioned in england! its places to avoid are far cotton,semilong,spring boroughs kingsheath and some parts of eastern district.. you have to remember your in a very large town with varied backgrounds... people are ok not the best buts its life in places down here! if you want any other info email me

In reply to Dead Goat's Society:
Its not a great place to live, pretty boring and not very much to do in general and its in the middle of nowhere.

In reply to Dead Goat's Society: I moved here in '79, age 13. I'm quite lucky in that I work all over the country, so Northampton is a home and a base to live my life from.
As a town, it's the same as any other city/town of a quarter a million - good areas, bad areas, a diverse community and plenty of opportunities available to carve decent lifestyle.
I lived in one of the best areas of town when I was married and now I live in the above mentioned Semilong - I've had less grief here than in 10 years than I did in 3 years in the posh area. Make of that what you will. Lot's of mates who are estate agents too, so if you need to buy, can get fairly decent advise if you need it.
People who say it's boring just have closed eyes if you ask me. Find some new mates if you feel like that, as life is about people, or should be. Don't know what age you are but there's always something to do, somewhere to drink and as stated before, everywhere is not far away. London, Birmingham, Oxford and Cambridge are all about an hour away. As for hills and rock... not a sniff!
Both my kids are doing great living here, the lads 22yrs old, a fully qualified plumber who's never had a day unemployed (neither have I) and my daughter goes to the norhampton boys school... you'd have to pay a lot of dollar to find a better school than that place anywhere in the country.
I've found Northampton to be 'bad' enough to be exciting and quiet enough to be 'safe'...

In reply to notts chris:


This made me smile, someone, who i assume is from Nottingham calling Northampton edgy...

In reply to Dead Goat's Society: a useless fact is that the guy who wrote watchmen and v for vendetta was from northampton!
as a place to live i never had a problem and was very rarely bored, if its not your hometown then you never have good things to say about it because its not what your used to.

In reply to Dead Goat's Society: I live in leicester but work a lot in Northampton. whenever I get a job their I hate it and get depressed driving their. Don't know why. Just a gut feeling.

In reply to flash13: ... and jonny depp had had a beer and a pizza with him in the white elephant... recently

In reply to Dead Goat's Society: Not a great place to live, particually as a climber. I've recently moved to Nottingham which is infinitely better!

In reply to Dead Goat's Society: not digging on mr chewy but its vastly different to each individual maybe as your older its a bit different but wen your young personally and my opinion its a bit harder , but im glad you have had no bother just my views here are a bit more honest when haveing a freind killed at 15 stabbed to death in semilong so its hard

In reply to Northamptonclimbingjames: Sorry to hear about your friend... must have been hard to deal with. I can appreciate why you personally don't like Semilong. I don't remember that being in the news I have to say. Tragic, really tragic.
I wouldn't call your views "a bit more honest" than mine however, they are just your views, things as you see and have found them. My 16yr old daughter and her mates quite happily walk around the area and I'm no more concerned for her safety than anywhere else I've lived in the town over the years.
People's perception of Northampton is always going to vary dramatically, same as for anywhere, because people want different things out of the place where they intend to live out their existence. Their experience of other towns and cities will alter that perception too, I spent 6 years of my childhood in Scotland in a village at the bottom of the Ochils but you'd never get me to live in a village again... the more people about and the more chaos the better! It makes life interesting.

In reply to Northamptonclimbingjames: that is super sad to hear and most people feel for you but you can get stabbed on any street in any neighbourhood anywhere anytime but that is human nature..

In reply to Dead Goat's Society: grew up in N'pton but not lived there for >10 years so not sure what its like now

from a climbing point of view, although there's nothing remotely 'close' we always managed to get out and about at weekends. N'pton being pretty central meant that the locations were nicely varied too and not just the crag in your backyard, which tended to happen lots when I lived close to the Peak District.

there used to be a couple of clubs knocking around - Wellingborough Mountaineering Club (who have/had a cottage up in Bethesda that was nice to have access to) and John Clare Mountaineering Club. Both had quite a healthy scene when I lived there so it should be fairly easy to hook up with other climbers

In reply to Dead Goat's Society:

The best thing about Northampton is the Mighty Cobblers. I moved away (from nearby Wellingborough) in 1997, and I have no intention of going back. I get to see my team when they play oop north.

A rose tinted view of the area would tell you (to the tune of the red flag):


The fields are green
The sky is blue
The river Nene goes winding through
The market square with its cobbled stones
That shake the poor old ladies bones
No finer town you'll ever see
No finer finer town there'll ever be
Bright city lights don't bother me
Northampton Town I'm proud to be.
The Cobblers, The Cobblers.

I think there is a fair amount of artistic licence going on here.

In reply to mrchewy:

"This made me smile, someone, who i assume is from Nottingham calling Northampton edgy..."

Let's get another view on this then. I lived next to Northampton for all my youth. Every time I went into the town in the late 70s and early 80s I had problems and I'm not the sort that looks for trouble. I lived in Cambridge for a while, lovely place but expensive, then moved to Nottingham where I've been ever since. Lived for the first 8 years in The Meadows (until '92), one of the roughest estates in the city, and was out in the city centre most evenings and never had any trouble. There were loads of fights in those days but generally amongst those who wanted to (like those from rival mining towns) the nasty dangerous random's that gave me so much trouble in Northampton wouldn't have lasted a week. Since that time Northampton has improved a bit and Nottingham has got worse but compared to Nottingham (a city with almost the same population) Northampton is still really dull. Your point about life being about people would apply to an antarctic base: I still visit Northampton and enjoy life with my friends there. Some of the villages around Northampton are still really nice.

In reply to Dead Goat's Society: yh i get you all i guess he did ask for opinions and just putr it out there lol! thats as we are hehe, but hey yes stabbings happen here there and every where but its life wrong plaace at the wrong time i guess! but hey its 2nd home you just expect more out of smaller places compared where i lived in glasgow ha! but hey so northampton is good and bad i guess but hey shoot it and try it and see how you feeel

In reply to Dead Goat's Society: I was born in Northampton and have lived here most of my life (with a couple of years in Swindon). I'd say its alright, and as many others have said it just like any other large town. And therein lies the problem; it is a town and not a city so there isn't loads to do, but then it depends on what you're into.
Climbing wise check out the new and excellent; http://www.thepinnaclecentre.co.uk/. Real rock-wise there's not alot, infact it's pretty much not existant. But as its central you're 2/3 hours away from peaks, wales, lakes etc. Cheap flights from luton/east midlands makes scottish trips easier.

Plenty of bars, pubs etc, but not a great music scene if thats what you're into.
Really good countryside if thats of any interest to you.

In reply to Gary_jp:
I'm spending a few days in Northampton next week, and thought i might check out the pinnacle, whats it like? i'm probably just bouldering, does it have some easysih circuits?

In reply to Pilch:


Plenty of easy problems as well as some harder ones. Grades start around eng tech 4a