Northampton Flashmob - Thriller 11th July 2009

A huge Michael Jackson Thriller flashmob in the middle of Northampton market square 11th July 2009.

The TV Show goes to... Northampton

Channel 4 interviewed the people in Northampton market square about thier favourite TV programs.

Touch the Tree - Comedy Map of Britain - BBC Two

Bizarre E.R.

It may not be a great thing to promote Northampton, but the new series of Bizarre E.R. was filmed at Northampton General Hospital. It's not for the squeamish, following patients with unbelievable injuries, most of them gruesome. Definitely makes you cringe.

'Bizarre ER is a BBC Three television show that deals with hospital mishaps. It is narrated by Freema Agyeman. It first broadcast on 14 February 2008. Every episode shows a miraculous survival story and strange facts, like the women who fell out of a plane at 35000ft and survived. Series 2 began airing on 21 April 2009 and consists of ten 30 minute episodes.[1]

Following the first five episodes, the show's animal counterpart Bizarre Animal ER, narrated by Kevin Bishop, aired for eight episodes on BBC Three in Bizarre ER's Tuesday slot.[2] Bizarre ER returned after for five more episodes.

Bizarre ER returns for a third series now airing on Mondays from 10 May 2010.[3] The series was filmed at the Northampton General Hospital.'

Watch it on iPlayer here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00sf2rs/Bizarre_ER_Series_3_Episode_1/

Interesting Facts About Northampton

Interesting Northamptonshire facts ( http://www.information-britain.co.uk/countydidyouknow.php?county=14 )



Daventry

• Did you know that the worlds first RADAR station was cited at Daventry

Northampton

• Did you know that Northampton has the biggest market square in England. It is also home of the British Shoe making industry
• Did you know that the first car chase in Britain involving the police occurred in Northampton in 1899

-----------------------------------------------

This website ( http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/hotspots/northampton.php ) has a huge list of all the places in Northampton that are said to be haunted.  It gives you locations and what to look out for if you fancy ghost hunting.

-----------------------------------------------

Northampton is the 21st-largest settlement in England, and the UK's 3rd-largest town without official city status, after Reading and Dudley.

Northampton has two twin towns - Poitiers in France and Marburg in Germany.



Poitiers is the county capital of Vienne in the South West of France. The town has more than 100,000 inhabitants and is expanding into new districts for industry and housing. The area has many ancient buildings and monuments and is only two hours drive away from the Atlantic coast. The town was twinned with Northampton on 20th April 1979.


Marburg is a picturesque town situated in the state of Hessen, in the heart of Germany. It is a university town of approximately 75,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the district of Marburg-Biedenkopf. A friendship has existed between Northampton and Marburg since May 1981 through our joint twin town, Poitiers. The official twinning took place in ceremonies in Germany in October 1990 and in Northampton in May 1992.



-----------------------------------------------

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northampton )

Northampton's Famous - Matt Smith

Matt Smith
The 11th Doctor Who

Name - Matt Smith

D.O.B - 28/10/1982

From - Northampton

Profession - Actor

Acting past - 'The Ruby in The Smoke', 'Party Animals', 'Swimming With Sharks', 'Doctor Who'

'Smith was born and raised in Northampton. He planned to be a professional football player, having played for the youth teams of Northampton Town F.C., Nottingham Forest F.C. and Leicester City F.C. After a serious back injury, his drama teacher introduced him to acting by surreptitiously signing him up as the tenth juror in an adaptation of Twelve Angry Men. Although he took part in the play, he declined going to a drama festival that his teacher had signed him up for. His drama teacher persisted, and eventually persuaded him to join the National Youth Theatre in London. After leaving school, Smith studied drama and creative writing at the University of East Anglia. He has cited his favourite band, Radiohead, as an inspiration: "That’s what I want when I go to the theatre, when I’m in a play, is them, and that experience that I get from them."

Smith's first theatre roles came as part of the National Youth Theatre were Thomas Becket in Murder in the Cathedral and Basoon in The Master and Margarita. His role in the latter earned him an agent and his first professional jobs: Fresh Kills and On the Shore of the Wide World. His new professional roles led to him being required to seek an agreement with his university so that he could graduate without attending lectures in his final two terms.

He is a supporter of Blackburn Rovers F.C.'

Links - http://whoismattsmith.com/

Matt Smith on the Johnathon Ross Show

Northampton's Famous - V V Brown

V V Brown

• (Click for VV Brown Video Channel)
• (VV Brown Official Website)

'Vanessa Brown was born in Northampton. She is the eldest of six siblings and is of Caribbean parentage, her mother being Jamaican and father being Portuguese. She attended Overstone Park School near Northampton, which her parents own and work at. Brown learned to play the piano, developed her vocals and took classical and jazz piano lessons at a musical arts school which she attended at the weekend. Growing up, Brown listened to early 20th-century jazz artists like Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie. Brown gained four "A" grades at her A levels, studying at Kingsthorpe Upper School (now Kingsthorpe Community College) a year early and was offered places at five top UK universities including Oxford, King's College London, LSE and York. She declined the offers to follow a career in music.'
 

• (VV Brown M&S Advert Interview)

Northampton's Famous - Alan Carr

Alan Carr

Male



32 years old

From Northampton

Son of professional footballer and former Northampton Town Manager Graham Carr

Openly gay Comedian

'Carr made his television debut as a guest on the ITV1 lunchtime show Today with Des and Mel. He also champion co-presents Channel 4's The Friday Night Project (alongside Justin Lee Collins), has appeared for a week on Countdown's dictionary corner, and has made regular appearances on gameshows such as FAQ U and 8 Out of 10 Cats. He also appeared in a Royal Variety Performance.' (http://www.myspace.com/alancarrcomedy )

• http://www.alancarr.net/

Love where you live - Ellie Bevis

Student housing provides the perfect safe environment for young people to live and gain their independence. Students love living here! It's not expensive and it's close to town and university, and we don't have to worry about people breaking in and stealing our stuff.

I LOVE NORTHAMPTON!

People have no love for our glorious town. But why? Is it because there aren't any good shops to spend our money in? Is it because our buildings look like they are stuck in a time warp? No jobs? Nothing to do? Nowhere to go and eat except a pub, nandos or italian? Who knows exactly why, but people wouldn't live here if they didn't at least like it. So many great things happen in Northampton, so many great people come from Northampton. We need to fall in love with Northampton, or back in love with it, LOVE the place you live, or why would you live there?

Kinky Boots

Inspired by a true story, Kinky Boots sees Charlie Price set about rescuing his dad's ailing Northampton shoe factory, which has been the pride and joy of his family for generations.Facing the imminent closure of the factory, Charlie begins to feel all is lost. A chance encounter with sassy, flamboyant Soho cabaret star Lola provides a glimmer of hope and a surprising last chance for the factory and its employees. Lola's quest for stylish, kinky women's boots (for men) might just provide the answer to Charlie's prayers but is Northampton open-minded enough for the likes of Lola?

(http://www.britfilms.com/britishfilms/catalogue/browse/?id=C666DB831682d29BB2sYv4086361)

Northampton - Ellie Bevis

Northampton is a large market town and a local government district in Northamptonshire, in the East Midlands region in central England


Northampton, traditionally known for its shoemaking and other leather related industries, has now developed into an important regional business centre for many of Britain’s top companies, due largely to its unbeatable geographical location, (67 miles (108 km) north of London). In recent years over 200 companies, including 70 from overseas have moved into the town including National Panasonic, Wells Soft Drinks, Barclays Head Office, Avon Cosmetics, Carlsberg-Tetley and British Timken. Others that have joined them are Coca Cola Schweppes, MFI, Scholl, Tesco, Black and Decker, Nationwide.

Northampton attractions:
• Abington museum- Abington Museum is a 15th Century manor house now home to Northamptonshire’s military history, a 19th Century fashion gallery and the story of Northampton life ‘from the cradle to the grave’
• Northampton balloon festival- The three-day Northampton Balloon Festival takes place every August. Having previously been held on the racecourse in Northampton, it now takes place at Billing Aquadrome
• Northampton museum and art gallery- The museum houses the largest collection of footwear in the world, other collections include decorative arts, Italian 15th – 18th century paintings and British art, Northampton’s history from Stone Age to the present date. Admission if free.
• Avenue gallery- A part of the main university in Northampton, this gallery holds a large and interesting collection of contemporary art. A great deal of the pieces on show have been created by students at the centre who are some of the best trained in this field anywhere in the country. There are also regular visiting exhibitions from other academic institutions and galleries across Europe.
• The royal derngate- Royal & Derngate is one of northamptons largest attractions offering a diverse programme of work with everything from drama to dance, stand-up comedy to classical music, children’s shows to opera on its stages. Some of the biggest names and shows on tour can be found here, alongside a programme of widely acclaimed in-house produced work. The theatre also offers a programme of Creative Projects that gives people the chance to get involved in performing, writing or to find out more about what goes on behind the scenes.

Further Reading -

• http://www.ukattraction.com/heart-of-england/northampton.html
• http://www.explorenorthamptonshire.co.uk/exec/112345/4928/

.

Never Mind Britain, We Love Northampton!

More New Town nostalgia: The Northampton Development Authorities had a novel approach to boosting investment - releasing a single. The a-side of the single was called 60 Miles by Road or Rail (the distance to London). The b-side, featured in this old news clip was Energy in Northampton, about extraterrestrials choosing Northampton as a landing site. Both were sung by Linda Jardim - also a vocalist on Buggles's Video Killed the Radio Star. (http://www.strangeharvest.com/mt/archive/blog/northampton_sci.php)



'From the sleeve notes:




A love affair with Northampton is a journey into space.

Northampton has had many love affairs. After all, it is like a human being, having evolved, matured and developed its character with passing years. Succeeding generations of lovers have established its importance, traditions, employment, social, recreational and cultural amenities and a strong sense of community. Experience has proved how necessary these qualities of life are.

But, of course, these qualities take generations to mature. In Northampton we are fortunate. We are able to harness all the advantages of an historic and well established town of regional importance, with those of an expanding town and major growth point, providing new opportunities for a total population of 180,000 by 1990.

Add to this - Northampton's location, little more than 60 miles from London, on the M1 motorway with 50% of Britain's industry and 57% of its population within a 100 mile radius; the immediate availability of factories, offices or sites; a workforce of some 87,000; a wide choice of homes to rent or buy - and it's easy to see how love affairs begin...'

Fox Hunting - Mikyla Pickett

From my research of seeing how people from another countries see the British people, one of the comments i found was they thought Britain had posh people who fox hunted and that the red jacket was instantly recognisable as British.

James Long S/S 2010

Where did you train? The Royal College of Art.

Where are you from? Northampton

Describe what you do. I design garments and accessories. They're sometimes wearable, sometimes not so wearable, but always body concious.

What makes talent? I don't suppose you can make talent, I suppose it is nurtured.

What is your inspiration? Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith's life in New York at the Chelsea Hotel in the 70's.

Who do you admire? Ladies with attitude, fellas that are in the mood.

What is your favourite colour? When i think of colours, i think of people and their personalities. My friend Cat is red, James is orange, Sara is green, Rosie is yellow, Virginia is gold.

What are you doing next? Today I'm working on a new bag and a leather jacket design for my new collection going into The Library Room on Brompton Road.

- From an article in I.D magazine by Sam Ranger

'Acid Army' Spring Summer 2010

Designer Profile - Luella Bartley

Luella Bartley
D.O.B - 1974

Born - Warwickshire

Has Designed For - New Look, Mulberry

Currently Designs For - Her own Label, 'Luella'

Most Notable Moment - Awarded an MBE for Services to Fashion in 2010

Design Aesthetic - Feminine with attitude

Further Reading -

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/fashionnews/3526266/Luella-Bartley-in-profile.html
• http://www.vogue.co.uk/biographies/080420-luella-bartley-biography.aspx
• http://www.luella.com/

Designer Profile - Gareth Pugh

Gareth Pugh

D.O.B - August 31st 1981

Born - Sunderland

Has Designed For - English National Youth Theatre, Kylie Minogue, Roisin Murphy, Lady Gaga, Ashlee Simpson

Currently Designs For -

Most Notable Moment - Global Recognition

Design Aesthetic - Autobigraphical, Experimental, Voluminous, Sculptural

Designer Profile - Henry Holland

Henry Holland

D.O.B - 26th May 1983

Born - Lancashire

Has Designed For - Levi Strauss, His Own Label, Pretty Polly

Currently Designs For - His Own Label, Debenhams

Most Notable Moment - His slogan t-shirts

Design Aesthetic - FUN

Further Reading -

• http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/article-23740414-my-london-henry-holland.do

Designer Profile - Zandra Rhodes

Zandra Rhodes


D.O.B - 19th September 1940

Born - Kent

Has Designed For - Princess Diana of Wales, Marks & Spencers

Currently Designs For - Her own label

Most Notable Moment - 1997, made Commander of the British Empire by the Queen

Design Aesthetic - Eccentric, Brightly coloured, Fun

Further Reading -
http://www.zandrarhodes.com/biography/indexbiography.html

Designer Profile - Vivienne Westwood

Dame Vivienne Westwood

D.O.B - 8th April 1941

Born - Derbyshire

Has Designed For - The Sex Pistols, Sex and the City, Her Own Label

Currently Designs For - Her own label

Most Notable Moment - Becoming a Dame in 2006 for 'Service to British Fashion'

Design Aesthetic - Attitude, Rebellion, British with an edge

Further Reading -

• http://www.zimbio.com/100+Most+Influential+People+in+Fashion/articles/280/Fashion+Influential+17+Vivienne+Westwood
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8004710.stm

Designer Profile - Giles Deacon

Giles Deacon

D.O.B - 1969

Born - Darlington

Has Designed For - Cadbury, Daks, New Look, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren

Currently Designs For - His own label

Most Notable Moment - Won British designer of the year 2007

Design Aesthetic - "Hopefully, if you saw someone wearing one of our frocks you'd think she looks quite interesting to have a chat with and say hello to. They're a bit 'We're on, we're out, we mean business',"

Further Reading -

• http://www.vogue.co.uk/biographies/080422-giles-deacon-biography.aspx
• http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/fashion_motion/giles_deacon/index.html

The Best of British

This is a blog to bring you a selection of the best Britain has to offer in terms of art, fashion, music and people. Posts will be made by four different students, currently studying Fashion at The University of Northampton. The group is made of Lois Addison, Ellie Bevis, Emma Lloyd and Mikyla Pickett.
Together we will collect imagery, articles and videos and express our opinions on what makes Britain so great and try to understand what makes us British, and to explore the individuality of our 'bloody good' nation.
We invite you to follow our journey of exploration as we dig deep into the heart of our British people and also we look forward to finding out what forms our national identity.

- Emma Lloyd