An Idyllic setting on the platform of Northampton Bridge Street station in the days when staff were given the opportunity to take pride in their station surroundings. Porter J G Law is seen tending the roses, the garden speciality, in September 1961. The other gardeners among the station staff included porter E. Watts and clerk W F Withams and they had just won the coveted title of the Best Kept Station Garden in the Rugby District. This was quite a feat in the days when many other stations in the local area were competing. They also won in 1956 and 1957, giving them a hat trick. CE picture Blue 108

. Bridge Street Station (bottom left) won its award for the best kept railway garden, says Marjorie Bateman, whose grandparents Mr and Mrs Flatt lived in the house at the station. The man in the mackintosh is Mr Hicks, she says. The uniformed man on the left is Fred Page, says his son Bernard, who reckons the picture was taken in 1955. Former railway worker Norman Burdett was based at Bridge Street for a while and recognised old workmate George Phipps, the young man in the centre of the group.

The station was built in 1845 and was the first station in Northampton. Here is a drawing at the opening ceremony