Northampton is a town, population 189,474, famous for shoes and rugby.
Northampton is a town, population 816, famous for wildflowers and the annual Quilting festival.
The top Northampton is my old university stomping ground in the West Midlands and the bottom one a sleepy village in Western Australia. The similarities between the two places couldn’t be more different.
One is famed for being an industrial heartland of the shoe industry being responsible for famous names such as Clarks and XXX, whilst the other doesn’t appear to have any particular industry maintaining its way of life.
One is built almost entirely of concrete whereas the other is predominantly timber.
One has an immediate strong sense of community whereas the other could be just another town.
One critical difference between the two towns is that Northampton, WA is a declared historic town that means that Australia’s equivalent to the National Trust have protected the entire town. I’m not entirely sure what legal entity this affords but I believe that future development has to go through strict planning regulations similar to the UK’s Listed Building rules.
The town is rich in mining industry history from many moons ago and various collections of machinery related to that industry still remain dotted around.
Both however have a strong focus of sport. Whereas Northampton, UK is a rugby and football focussed town, the elegant sport of lawn bowls is the highlight of the sporting calendar in Northampton, WA. It was here than a lazy afternoon watching a club doubles tournament was spent taking in the glorious sunshine and getting to understand a bit more about the sport with the club captain.
The campground at Northampton, WA was a basic affair with a grassy patch ready for Stan but it boasted excellent toilets and showers within a few minutes of a general store and a pleasant walk through the town. It was $15/night – just what I was looking for! Friendly and attentive owners were on hand to answer any query or provide spare items for weary campers.
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