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The existence of two coaching inns, the Wagon & Horses in Kettering Road and the Red Cow in the High Street show that Burton Latimer was on a stage-coach route. In 1812 there was a reference to a stop at the Red Cow by the Leeds to London coach ‘The Royal Mail’, after which it was robbed of sixteen letter-bags on its way to Higham Ferrers. (The Red Cow was opposite the row of shops now occupied by Arthur Turner Ltd. and others). The road from Kettering to Higham Ferrers became a turnpike road in the 18th century and was later designated part of the London to Carlisle A6 Trunk Road; the by-pass was opened in 1992.
Two bus services were provided by Burton Latimer operators. John Meadows ran trips to the seaside and a regular service to Kettering Thrapston and Huntingdon and L. Timson & Son (Harold) also ran an ‘omnibus service’. Meadows’ buses became Frost’s when Walter Frost married into the family in 1925 and the business sold out to the United Counties Bus Company in 1938. United Counties was the main provider of the town’s bus service from then onwards. Timson’s business probably came to an end at about the same time.
The Midland Railway line from Kettering to Hitchin came to Burton Latimer in 1857 and the line was extended to St. Pancras in 1868. In 1877 a short tramway was built to connect the nearby Wallis’s Flour Mill. The railway station was first known as ‘Isham for Burton Latimer’ but when Burton Latimer became an Urban District in 1923 it was changed to ‘Burton Latimer for Isham’. It closed to passengers in 1950 and goods traffic in 1964. There was an ironstone loading bay north of Windmill Cottages on the Kettering to Cambridge line, which also passed through the parish.
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BURTON LATIMER CALLING
Following representations from the National Farmers’ Union headquarters, a telephone has been installed at Burton Latimer station, with an extension to the goods office. In his defence of Post Office administration recently, the Postmaster-General said: “We are at this moment engaged in putting up thousands of telephone boxes in rural districts, knowing that they will involve us in a loss, but accepting the doctrine that public service is more important than financial gain.” It is to be hoped that increased use of the telephone will eventually make this policy a profitable one.
Northampton Mercury 25 October 1929 |
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The railway station
The designation on the name-board of
"Isham for Burton Latimer" shows that the picture was taken before 1923
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