The marchers reached Northampton on the Saturday afternoon of October 24th. While spirits were high, among the men, arrival in Northampton found them tired and exhausted from the constant up one hill and down the next for the last 17 miles to Northampton. The trek had taken in some wonderful views of the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire countryside.
Ever since the Norman Conquest in 1066 the position of Northampton was given national importance It is also known as the county of ‘squires and spires.
A visit to the renowned Northampton Museum and Art Gallery celebrates Northampton’s past. There is a fine market square a well-preserved Norman church of the Holy Sepulchre, there’s a splendid Guildhall designed by the celebrated architect, Edward Godwin.
The town has many attractive parks, gardens, and riverside walks. Members of the royal family have visited the town on many occasions, from the time of Henry I right up to the late Princess of Wales, whose family home was at nearby Althorp, and again I remind you this list is short and no way does justice to the many places to see and things to do.
This was their third weekend away from home and was spent in Northampton. As we have seen in other cities, towns, and villages controversy was never far from the marchers. Here a letter from the Bishop of Durham appeared in The Times stating his disapproval of the Jarrow March. His letter to The Times read.
Is the method of marches to London likely to illumine the intelligence of the Legislature or quicken the conscience of the nation?
Bishop of Durham The Times on the 24th October 1936.
Ellen Wilkinson lost no time in her reply which appeared in the same newspaper a couple of days later explaining that all legal methods had been tried both in and out of Parliament.
Follow the Marchers: Northhampton to Luton.