The ‘Needs to Know’
Distance: 2.1 miles (3.4km)
Time to walk: This is a short village walk so with, stopping to read the details & maybe explore a it more, it should be roughly 1.5 hours
Difficulty: Easy & all on hard surfaces
Dog Friendly?: A town walk so always on the lead & not allowed in certain buildings
Parking: Use the car park at the Village Hall in Bailey Brooks Lane
Postcode: NN7 2LS
what3words: overpower.family.decent.
Public toilets: Cafes & pubs
Map of the route:
Firstly… thank you to Roade Local History Society to allowing me to reproduce the Roade Heritage Trail ‘Shelia’s Walk’ on this website. The sole aim is to promote it & to encourage people to visit the village
The Society kindly spent a couple of hours showing me around the village & telling me many tales. I have also added my own thoughts from that day
Before I go any further though, I should answer the question “Why is it called Sheila’s Walk?”….
It’s names in memory of Mrs Sheila Fitchett who was born in Roade in 1937 & lived here until her death in 2022. She was the founder of Roade Local History Society in 2005. She achieved many things including the establishing of links to the descendants of six Canadian aircrew whose story we’ll tell on the walk
The village lies roughly 2 miles south of Junction 15 of the M1 & four tracks of the West Coast Main Line from London Euston to Manchester & Scotland go through the village in a deep cutting, which we’ll see shortly
The name Roade means ‘Place at the clearing’. It’s a real community village as shown when in 1963 a fund was formed to help the aged of the village. The scheme was thought up when a pensioner, living alone, was found ill & dying
Since the bypass was built the village has become much easier to walk around
I’ll talk more about the railway that splits the village in two as I walk. As everyone knows I am a fan of the Bradshaw Guides…so what does it say about Roade? Firstly you’ll see that, when it written, the newer part of the village over the railway line didn’t exist…
“The village of Roade is situated on the right of the line, but requires no object requiring notice”
Well let’s see if we can change that statement…
Let’s Walk!
1. This walk starts from the car park of the Village Hall which was built in 1974…
With your back to the Hall turn left & walk, stopping at the end of Legion Close which until 2010 was the site of the Roade Branch of the Royal British Legion
2. Turn back, cross the road & walk along Hyde Close. It was interesting to hear that the whole of this Close once had trees all along it. Today only a few remain…
Stephenson Court flats on the right were built in 1992 to replace post WWII prefabs erected to house returning servicemen
There’s still a few remaining trees that once used to line the road
3. At the end of the Close turn right onto Hyde Road & stop on the railway bridge…
Have a look over the wall to see the four lines. At its deepest point the cutting it’s 65ft deep & was dug out of almost solid rock. In 1838 when the first train travelled through Roade it was the largest man-made cutting in the world. The station opened in 1851 & was sadly closed in 1964
The line was widened in the 1880s to create the Northampton loop
Click on this link to read more about the history of the cutting…
Roade Cutting – A Brief History – Roade Local History Society
4. Retrace your steps along Hyde Road heading towards the A508. Note the white cottages built in the 1830s by the London & Birmingham Railway Company to house Engineers & Overseers engaged on the original cutting excavations…
Cross at the pelican crossing & then turn left down Croft Lane, formerly known as Lucas Lane
5. The entrance to the housing estate on the right was once the access to a WWII Ministry of Supply depot which was established in 1942 & referred to locally as the ‘Rubber Dump’. In the 1950s it was taken over by Pianoforte Supplies Ltd as a satellite to its main site
Continue down the lane passing the Victorian cast iron stench pipe on your right. These tall, hollow cast-iron columns, installed during the 19th century were used to vent foul & explosive sewer gases safely above street level
6. Pass Churchcroft open space on the left…
Turn right along the alley past St Mary’s Church which is the oldest building in Roade dating from the early 12th century, when it was owned by the Norman Lords of Hartwell & Ashton
To read more about the history of the church click on this link…
https://roaderemembered.org.uk/11086-2/
7. You’re now entering the village’s Conservation Area…
Walk to the junction with the High Street. The lime tree on the small green was planted in 1936 , one of two trees commemorating the coronation of HM King George VI
8. Look to your left to see the large house known as Warwick House which was formerly a private boarding school for girls run by the Misses Lea…
Turn right & walk up the High Street. On the left you’ll see a row of cottages called Yew Tree Terrace. These were built by Richard Dunkley of Blisworth for the London & North Western Railway when Roade cutting was widened (1877-82)
At the end of the terrace is No.35 which, in the 1830s, provided a meeting house for those of the Wesleyan Methodist faith
9. The lane on the left just past the house leads to Candida Cottage which was converted from two cottages to a summer retreat by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke, the famous model railway manufacturer whose house 78 Derngate was redesigned by Charles Rennie MacKintosh
The cottage was named after his friend George Bernard Shaw’s play ‘Candida’
Retrace your steps back along the High Street…
On the right side is the village store & post office which was previously a butchers & greengrocers
10. Further along’s a right turn into The Leys. The entrance in the picture below is the avenue leading to the former vicarage which was demolished in the 1950s & is now home to Roade Bowls & Northamptonshire Croquet Clubs
Continuing up the High Street, the white House on the left (now the Roade House) was once the The White Hart
11. Next up on the left’s a wall with a engraved stone showing where the Church Institute once stood…
On the opposite side of the street’s the former Baptist Chapel which dates from the 1730s. The Manse is to the rear
12. Pass the pharmacy which was once Jim Howard’s paper shop…
Turn left down the alley…
…&, on reaching the yard, look at the building on your right which was the Old Bakehouse where villagers would bring their ‘hotpots’ to be cooked in the cooling ovens. It’s also remembered the property over the wall was the local abattoir / butchers
13. Cross the road to ‘The Cock’ which was once a farm as well as an inn. It appears on a map dated c.1720 & is now the last remaining pub in the village & features on all of our walks that take in the village – the food is excellent so give it a try!
The High Street now arrives at another Green upon which stands an oak tree. The second tree was planted to commemorate the coronation of HM King George VI
14. Ahead’s the road leading down to the water tower which was constructed during the 1930s to alleviate severe water shortages that the community suffered from the railway cutting excavations 100 years previously, which severed the many natural water courses that served the village
Bear right where, behind the pub garden’s the 1st Wesleyan Methodist Church which opened on 5th September 1875 & now serves as the Church Hall…
15. Next door’s the 2nd Church where the first service was held on 30th May 1908. A hollow stone casket was built into the foundations when they were laid on 3rd October 1907. Inside were sealed newspaper reports of the event, coins of the realm, names of Stewards & Ministers together with the preacher’s plan for the current quarter…
Before the Churches were built, the village Methodists used several ‘meeting houses’ throughout the village, including at 35 Yew Tree Cottages, another on the Green &, finally, an old malting house on Ashton Road in 1852
16. Move along to the adjacent property which has a plaque on its front…
The plaque bears the mark ‘T R 1900’ having once been the office of Thomas Roddis Ltd who operated a threshing & steam ploughing business between 1900 – 1919
17. Continue along Hartwell Road where on the left’s Roade Board School which opened in 1876 for children aged between 5 & 13. It later became Roade Council School & is now Roade Primary School…
Slightly further on, now residential houses, used to be the site of Northampton
Co-operative Society which opened in 1920
The field on your right was formerly a limestone quarry which cannot be built on. A horse-drawn wagon ran from this point to the sidings at the railway goods yard
18. At the junction of Hartwell Road & Ashton Road is the village War Memorial…
The Memorial was unveiled on 31st July 1921. The names recorded are of men from village families who perished during both World Wars , including 3 Every brothers
There’s also a memorial to 6 Canadian airmen who lost their lives when their Wellington bomber was struck by lightning over Roade on 29th June 1944
19. Continue along Ashton Road…note the thatched cottage on the right with some superb ‘thatcher’s signatures’ on the roof…
Look for ‘The Gravel’ passage on your right but, before you walk down it, look ahead to see another water tower which was built by Pianoforte Supplies Ltd to satisfy the demands of its extensive metal plating process. It was supplied by 3 bore holes & is being developed as a private home
It featured on the ‘Grand Designs’ TV programme
An event of great historic significance occurred in an adjacent field on the evening of 27th April 1910. This was where aviator Charles Grahame-White was forced to land his Farman aircraft due to failing light whilst attempting to win a Daily Mail challenge to be the first to fly from London to Manchester in under 24 hours
Upon being advised early the next morning that his French counterpart was many miles ahead in his attempt, he took to the air once more at 2.54am on the 28th April in an attempt to catch up
This was the world’s first recorded night navigational flight
Unfortunately mechanical problems prevented him from overcoming his rival & winning the prize of £10,000
20. Turn right down ‘The Gravel’…
The housing estate you see on the left was where once stood the Pianoforte Supplies complex. Look through the gaps in the hedge on your right to see the Roade Bowls & Northampton Croquet Clubs
21. At the end of the passage bear right past a ‘Section Bender’…
This was originally a rail bender & is sited close to its original position outside the blacksmith’s shop within the former Simplex Works built by J Masters & Co in 1908
22. Cross the bridge over the railway line. The footbridge was constructed around 1881 as a result of the number of railway lines being doubled. This doubling enabled Northampton’s connection to a major north / south line via the ‘Northampton Loop’. The bridge is positioned in the exact position of the 1st Roade station (1838). A new station was built 200m to the north
After crossing the bridge, look to the left to see the new window in the water tower development
23. As the path bends right look through the railings at the sadly decaying building that was once The Swan pub which closed its doors in 1959
On reaching the main road stop. Look left to see Elizabeth Woodville School, originally Roade Secondary School which opened in 1956
24. Turn right & walk past the garages & across the railway bridge built in the 1880s. This road bridge now has an adjoining footpath which was bolted on in 1953
Bear left along the road & then turn left down Bailey Brooks Lane once more to arrive back at the Village Hall car park & the start of this walk
So that’s the end of this wonderful village walk & thank you so much for the people that showed me around it – I hope you think it does your village justice & that people will come & explore its delights
If you want to know more then using your phone’s camera on this QR Code will take you to the History Society
It’s fab so…
Go Walk!