The Carey Memorial Baptist Church is surrounded by terraced streets that once housed Kettering's boot-and-shoe workers. Some of the factories where they worked can still be found there.
Once every street corner was home to a shop - the streets must have been buzzing with commerce. What drained that spirit from these streets. Supermarkets? Planning laws?
This former shop still bears some signage from the days when it was open for trade. Was it a family butcher?
Even the street name sign higher on the wall has a spectral companion. The ghost of an earlier prince?
The rapid demise of the shoe industry broke the spirit of Kettering imo. I worked for the better part of my working life in shoe factories from J.W.Towells (remember that one? Stamford Rd.)to Dolcis, Loake Bros to Burlingtons Int. Bath Road. Even had a spell at FS Bryants leather dressers. Back to my point, most all workers had family, friends or neighbours working within the same factory. When the shoe trade disappeared, people were thrown everywhere to find work.Corner shops and many more small retailers went the same way through lack of factory workers footfall.
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