60 Miles by Road or Rail was an arts, heritage and community project in Northampton and Corby.
On 14th February 1968, Northampton was designated a New Town as part of the government’s ‘masterplan’ for post-war revitalisation. 60 Miles by Road or Rail provides a unique opportunity to celebrate these New Town stories in an unprecedented way, during a period of county-wide political and financial uncertainty. As thousands of families migrated to quickly expanding Northampton, a 1960s marketing campaign advertised the town as being only 60 miles from London, by road or rail.
Launched in September 2021, the project champions Northampton’s rarely heard New Town story through arts, heritage and community activities.
The project included a theatre production, supported by and staged at Royal & Derngate, audio projects, heritage open days, heritage talks, community led audio projects, photo stories, and a documentary film.
60 Miles by Road or Rail is led by local Northants artists and actors.
You can find out more about the projects in 60 Miles by Rail or Road below.
Photo Credit: Ben Gregory-Ring
Credit: Ben Gregory-Ring
60 Miles by Rail or Road was a year-long arts, heritage and community project created by Northants artists, led by Andy Routledge and Courtenay Johnson.
In 2018, Andy brought together a group of local, professional artists to create a new show with, for and about Northampton. After over 100 interviews and many hours diving into the archives, we previewed the show on 28 September 2018 to a packed audience at Royal & Derngate, Northampton.
Whilst it focuses on Northampton’s largely untold New Town story, we were thrilled to host events in Corby, which was also designated a New Town 18 years previously in 1950.
60 MILES BY RAIL OR ROAD PROJECTS
60 Miles by Road or Rail production
“How can Northampton become a New Town? It’s been here a thousand years.”
It’s the 1960s and Northampton is at a crossroads. The town’s population is set to double as part of the government’s New Towns masterplan. But as new estates welcome thousands of families from London and the old town centre undergoes radical changes, some fear Northampton’s identity is being stripped away.
Tasked with Northampton’s expansion over twenty momentous years, the newly formed Development Corporation will go to hilarious lengths to ensure they keep on track – even adapting their radio jingle into a legendary pop record…
Inspired by true events, 60 Miles by Road or Rail brought Northampton’s extraordinary past and present crashing together to celebrate our hometown at a time when uncertainty threatens to pull us apart.
The production premiered at Northampton’s Royal & Derngate in September 2021. It was filmed by Eight Engines.
Led by local artists, Hometown was a project that captured how we feel about the towns that we call home.
Hometown Northampton
Over the Spring and Summer of 2021, local artist and writer Subika Anwar-Khan interviewed and worked creatively with a variety of Northampton residents to draw out their stories of what home means to them. Participants ranged from global migrants who have sought refuge in Northampton to those whose roots in the area date back generations.
Subika drew on these stories and worked with artists to write and curate the final piece: a poetic response integrating verbatim quotes from the collected stories with creative contributions. The audio poem explores themes of migration, why people decide to settle and why we call Northampton home.
Hometown Corby
Hometown Corby is an audio story curated and written by Ryan Leder in collaboration with James Jip, Elspeth Robb and James Robb as part of the HOMETOWN CORBY project, supported by the National Heritage Lottery Fund. It tells the story of one family and their connection to Corby throughout the history of the town – beginning with the Scottish Migration, through the building of the Steelworks, and even covering Corby’s New Town designation.
The story was edited together from hours of interviews facilitated in August of 2021.
Learn more about Northampton and Corby’s New Town heritage.
Held from September to December 2021, Old Town New Town, was a series of online events which introduced audiences to the idea of a ‘New Town’ and its development. We explored urban planning, housing, parks and green infrastructure, wellbeing, and community and public arts and culture.
Old Town New Town was led by Sabine Coady Schäbitz and Bob Colenutt from the New Town Heritage Research Network.
Over the course of the project we spoke to individuals who took part in the Corby or Northampton Development Corporations, as well as the families who moved into the town’s new estates to document and create artworks out of their experiences.
We gathered personal stories documenting different people’s experiences of Corby and Northampton becoming New Towns from the 1950s to the 1980s, and created photo stories, written stories, oral stories, a documentary film, and Heritage Open Days.
