West Hunsbury

The Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway Trust operates a 1+1⁄2-mile (2.4 km) long heritage railway line at Hunsbury Hill, south-west of Northampton. The line is mainly dedicated to freight working, featuring many sharp curves and steep gradients which were typical of the industrial railway, but rides are available in a variety of vehicles including a converted brake van.

Hunsbury Hill is an Iron Age hill fort two miles (3 km) south-west of the centre of the town of Northampton in the county of Northamptonshire.It is probable that defences were built at Hunsbury Hill between the 7th and 4th centuries BC. The deep ditch excavated has survived to the present day. A wooden rampart was also constructed; there is evidence that Hunsbury hill fort's inner ramparts were burned down and vitrified; this is rare in England.Ironstone extraction began at the hill fort in about 1883, after an attempt to have the site protected under the Ancient Monuments Act of 1882 failed due to the cost of compensating the landowner. Many of the fort's internal features were destroyed, but the work revealed up to 300 pits which, according to the curator of Northampton Museum in 1887, contained "numerous artefacts that now comprise one of the finest collections... of Prehistoric antiquities in England". The finds included iron weapons and tools, bronze brooches, pottery, glass and around 159 quern-stones. All were given to the town's museum.Hunsbury Hill fort is a designated Scheduled Ancient Monument. Parts of the fort's banks have been badly eroded because of the 19th century quarrying, the effects of burrowing European rabbits and damage from tree roots. It is now managed as a park by West Northamptonshire Council. Part of the route of the railway built for the quarrying remains and beginning in 1975 has been modified for use by the Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway Trust who added a new line. The track is used and maintained by the Trust. As the use of the quarries finished by 1920 the original 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge track was not used. The Trust laid a mixture of standard gauge, 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge and 2 ft (610 mm) track but from 1982 only standard gauge track has been used. The area around the hill is the large Northampton housing estate called West Hunsbury.

Hunsbury Hill Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the Northampton Loop Line of the West Coast Main Line. The tunnel runs in a straight line from the Briar Hill district of Northampton (north portal: 52°13′20″N 0°54′56″W), England about north by east to the East Hunsbury district south of the town (south portal: 52°12′47″N 0°55′10″W). The tunnel has a single bore with twin tracks and is 1,152 yards (1,053 m) long. It is about 1 mile south of Northampton railway station and the next station south is Wolverton in Milton Keynes. The tunnel opened together with the rest of the loop line in 1881.

Duston Mill Meadow is a one hectare nature reserve in Northampton. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN).This wet meadow on the bank of the River Nene is described by the WTBCN as important for dragonflies and butterflies. It has muddy areas where wading birds such as snipe and the uncommon water rail feed on invertebrates.There is access from Duston Mill Lane and from the adjacent Storton's Pits nature reserve.

Storton's Pits is a 21.9 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Northampton. It is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.This site on the bank of the River Nene has old gravel pits, meadow and fen ditch. Around 350 invertebrate species have been recorded, including some which are rare. Water birds include snipe, teal, tufted duck and the uncommon water rail.There is access from Edgar Mobbs Way. Another nature reserve, Duston Mill Meadow, is adjacent to the north-west corner of the site.

Wootton Brook is a tributary of the River Nene which runs through Northamptonshire, England.The brook has two sources, one rises at Salcey Lawn in the middle of Salcey Forest and flows northerly, the other rises at Yardley Chase and flows in a southerly direction, both converging in a marshy field southeast of Horton. It then takes a westerly direction, passing under the B526 (Northampton – Newport Pagnell road, once the A50 trunk road), and takes a meandering course between Hackleton on its north bank and Piddington on its south bank, continuing through Preston Deanery. It runs on between Wootton (northbank) – the village that gives it its name – and Grange Park (southbank) passing under the Quinton Road and continuing on to pass under the A45, into Blackymoor. Here it is used to provide man-made lakes for Collingtree golf course and balancing lakes to take the runoff from East Hunsbury. It then passes under the Northampton – Euston railway line and the old Northampton – Towcester Road (long since bypassed by the A43 dual carriageway), at Ladybridge Park, which takes its name from the 19th-century name of the brook, Lady Brook, with the Counties Crematorium on its south bank. Passing now to the south of West Hunsbury, into Rothersthorpe Vale, through Ladybridge Park, another lake has been created at Shelfleys, the south bank of which is the old course of the brook, passing over a weir as it continues on its course to pass under the A4123 (M1 – M40 link road). It then passes under the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union Canal, which is carried over it by an aqueduct. Turning now in a northerly direction it passes under a humpback bridge on the Northampton – Rothersthorpe Road, once the old drovers track known as the Banbury Lane. It then passes through Swan Valley and Pineham where there are further man-made balancing lakes for the industrial estates here. Turning easterly sweeping around the western end of Hunsbury Hill it enters the River Nene at Upton Mill. From source at Horton to the Nene, the brook runs approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi).

Sixfields is an area of Northampton, Northamptonshire, England about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the town centre along the A4500 St James Road and Weedon Road towards M1 junction 16 about 2 miles (3.2 km) further west. It is close to the Duston, Upton and St James areas of the town. Located next to The River Nene and The Grand Union Canal (Northampton Arm), Sixfields is often called "The Starcity of Northamptonshire" .

Sixfields Stadium is a 7,798-capacity all-seater sports stadium in the Sixfields area on the west side of Northampton, England. It has been the home ground of Northampton Town Football Club following their move from the County Ground in October 1994. It was also rented by Coventry City between July 2013 and August 2014. Aside from being a sports venue, Sixfields also houses conference facilities.

Far Cotton is a village and neighbourhood of Northampton and former civil parish, now in the parish of Far Cotton and Delapre, in the West Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England.

Cotton End is a small district of the town of Northampton, England, about half a mile south of the town centre, north of the area known as Far Cotton and west of the road from South Bridge to Ransome Road known as Cotton End. The district population is included in the Delapre and Briar Hill Ward of Northampton Council.

Abbeyfield School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Northampton in the English county of Northamptonshire.It was previously known as Mereway Upper School which had an intake of 13- to 18-year-olds. Due to school reorganisation in Northamptonshire in 2004 the school expanded its intake to 11-year-olds to become a full secondary school, and it was renamed Mereway Community College. The school moved into a new building in 2008 and was renamed Abbeyfield School. In October 2012, the school was converted to academy status sponsored by the Creative Education Trust.Abbeyfield School offers GCSEs and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils, while sixth form students can choose to study from range of A Levels and further BTECs.

The National Lift Tower (previously called the Express Lift Tower) is a lift-testing tower built by the Express Lift Company (a lifts division of the General Electric Company (GEC)) off Weedon Road in Northampton, England. The structure was commissioned in 1978 with construction commencing in 1980 and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 November 1982. It has been a Grade II Listed Building since 1997.The tower can be viewed from Arbury Hill, the highest point in Northamptonshire.