The
aim of this section of the website was to keep a log of some of the events and matters
of interest affecting the town and surrounding area, around about the time of the millennium. More recent events (and ancient) may be added from time to time depending on my workload, but if anyone can spare some time to assist, I would be most grateful, even if it is only details for one event - please email me.
To search a specific time range, use the Time Line on the left.
To see more information on individual items click on the  (text),  (camera)
or  (movie) icons. Items
marked with an  are fact only, and have no more information.
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20/8/2005 Harborough's first "Harborough By-The-Sea" event. |
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13/6/2005 Official opening of the "Foxton Locks Inn", formerly known as
"Bridge 51 pub" after extensive refurbishment, which is part of
a £2.8m improvement project for the entire Foxton Locks site. |
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10/6/2005 Official opening of grade II listed building "Our Lady Of Victories"
Catholic Church after a £1.5m redevelopment. Seating capacity doubled
from 160 to 330. |
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15/11/2004 Car Parking charges introduced. |
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12/09/2003 Lubenham's "Weekend of Straw" proves more popular than ever! |
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19/02/2003 Official opening of the Great Glen Bypass. |
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21/09/2002 Earth tremors 4.8 on the Richter scale shake Harborough. Looking back through
this chronology, it looks as if we are getting one every Autumn! |
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07/09/2002 The town's first 'Arts Fresco' comes to fruition. |
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28/10/2001 An earth tremor measuring 3.8 on the Richter scale was felt by Harborough
residents at around 4:20pm. The epicentre was later reported to be just
north of Melton Mowbray. |
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23/10/2001 Anderson Greenwood Crosby - one of Harborough's oldest and largest industrial
factories, announces plans to close its factory, with the loss of over 100
jobs. The company, formerly known as Crosby Valve and before that, Harborough
Construction, has traded in the town since the middle 1800's. |
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26/03/2001 East Norton's 130 year old viaduct is demolished. The structure was blown
down by the use of explosives, after British Rail Properties deemed it to
be in a dangerous and unstable state. |
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03/03/2001 Footpaths across fields and canal towpaths in the district are closed due
to the worsening foot and mouth crisis. Although there have been no confirmed
cases in the Harborough District to date, there have been close to 100 cases
nationally. |
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10/01/2001 Harborough's Newest School 'Meadowdale Primary' opens with the first 40
children. The school has a capacity for 200 pupils, and the opening Head
teacher is Sue Hunnings. |
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09/01/2001 First Lunar Eclipse of the Millennium. |
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13/12/2000 Farmer's Market staged on the Square in Harborough. |
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15/11/2000 Unveiling of the U3A Millennium
Tapestry in the Pen Lloyd Library. |
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11/11/2000 Armistice
Day display in the Remembrance Garden. |
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23/09/2000 Earth Tremors
hit Harborough. Many people were woken at 5.25 am, as earth tremors rock
parts of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. |
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11/09/2000-16/09/2000 Harborough fuel supplies dry-up. Filling Stations in Market Harborough,
like the rest of the county and most parts of the country, ran out of fuel.
This was due to lorry drivers and farmers blockading oil refineries in protest
at high fuel prices. |
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05/08/2000 Harborough
District Council in conjunction with Onyx and Serviceteam launch new recycling
service for the district. |
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19/07/2000 Chemical Fire
sweeps Factory. A chemical fire at Pacegrove Ltd in Bath Street, caused
fallout of dangerous green chromium compound in the immediate vicinity.
Polluted water from the fire found it's way into the river Welland, causing
the death of several hundred fish. |
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02/07/2000 Harborough
Band Millennium Concert in the park. |
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01/07/2000 The newly
refurbished Jubilee hall was officially opened today. Alterations cost £30,000,
and the hall is now part of the Congregational Church Centre complex. |
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29/05/2000 Market Harborough
takes part in BBC's Music live event. |
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21/04/2000 Market Harborough witnessed the first collection of mystery plays for 500 years in the Town
Centre and Adam and Eve Street. |
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01/04/2000 Official opening
of Union Wharf, Leicester
Road Market Harborough, after a £4 million pound face lift. |
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07/03/2000 Shop Mobility
Project officially opened at Settling
Rooms. Shop Mobility operates from small building behind Council offices
in Adam & Eve St. |
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08/01/2000 Millennium
Mile Walk officially opened at Welland
Park. |
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22/12/1999
- 23/12/1999 Harborough lit by lunar luminance. |
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10/12/1999 Harborough's
Late Night Shopping event. |
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06/12/1999 HFM
Radio returns to the airwaves of Market Harborough. |
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26/11/1999 Local Building
Society help Children In Need. |
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01/11/1999 Local Society
launch new book. |
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09/10/1999 Mick
Taylor, formerly with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones,
played at Welland Park College. |
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29/08/1999 Petition to
save building. |
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11/08/1999 Total Solar
Eclipse over Market Harborough. |
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18/07/1999 French Traders
set up shop in the Square. |
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06/05/1999 HFM Radio
Station back on the air. |
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27/03/1999 Canal Basin
sculpture exhibition. |
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17/10/1998 One man's crusade to stop housing development. |
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19/08/1998 A flower festival
was held in the parish church. |
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../..1994 The pavillion in Welland Park is converted to a cafe. |
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15/07/1994 New A14 brings relief to town centre. |
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20/11/1993 Official opening of Saint Mary's Place Shopping Centre. |
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15/11/1991 Harborough Leisure Centre officially opens. Along with health and fitness
studios and indoor sports halls, Harborough has at last a modern swimming
pool! |
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10/12/1987 Gangland boss John Kendall and murderer Sydney Draper staged a daring escape from Gartree Prison using a hijacked helicopter. |
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..12/1983 Convicted murderer Michael Hickey took to the roof of Gartree prison to protest his innocence. |
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17/11/1981 Harborough's new library, which
is to be named "Pen Lloyd" opened in Adam & Eve Street. |
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18/01/1978 Tungstone factory fire. |
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../5/1978 Ritz Cinema in Northampton
Road closes after showing the last film "The Amsterdam Kill".
EMI hands over lease to Silverstone Entertainments. |
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../07/1971 "Pop-Pickers" were in for a treat, as this year's Harborough Carnival
was opened by Alan Freeman. |
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20/03/1971 Arthur Rogers from Lubenham struck gold this week when he uncovered a hoard
of George IV gold coins beneath former premises of Mawer & Saunders. |
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12/05/1967 The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh visit Market Harborough. They arrived at
the Railway Station by car and were received by civic leaders before boarding
the train to Rugby. |
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06/06/1966 Lubenham Station on the Harborough to Rugby line closes in the Beeching
Plan. |
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../08/1965 Harborough cyclist George Hall completed the Canadian Tour De St-Laurent 1,700 mile cycle race, even though he had an injured shoulder. |
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31/09/1961 The Paget Arms public house at Lubenham closed its doors to the public for the last time. |
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26/09/1959 A performance of Handel's Messiah was held in St Peters church, Church Langton, to mark 200 years since the very first performance was held at the same venue in 1759. |
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09/04/1945 A Lancaster Bomber crashed in dense fog near Foxton Airfield, killing all
members of the crew. |
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../05/1939 Ritz Cinema in Northampton Road opens as part of the ABC chain. |
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25/10/1938 New Market Hall opens on the site of the old one in Northampton Road at
a cost of £5,000. |
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../..1922 John William Logan, Liberal MP for Market Harborough dies. |
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16/02/1920 The "best hunt of the season" started at Cransley Gorse and ended with a kill in Market Harborough, 10 miles and 2.5 hours later. A plaque was later erected in Coventry Road to mark the incredible event. |
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30/09/1899 Aviation pioneer Percy Sinclair Pilcher, receives fatal injuries when his
glider broke-up and crashed at Stanford Park near Market Harborough. |
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29/09/1896 Official opening of Public
Swimming Baths in Market Harborough by J W Logan. |
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16/08/1877 Official opening of the Chapel of St. Mary (now Our Lady of Victories) in
Coventry Road Market Harborough. |
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05/07/1841 Travel Agent entrepreneur and Harborough citizen Thomas Cook arranged his
very first excursion on this day. Almost six hundred members of local Temperance
Societies traveled by train from Leicester to Loughborough to attend a religious
event. |
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13/10/1809 Formal opening of the Canal Basin at Harborough, which was marked as a local public holiday. |
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../../1788 The Town Hall is built by Robert Sherrard on the site of an old butcher's
shambles. |
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04/06/1645 Oliver Cromwell takes control of the Battle of Naseby, imprisoning captured
Roundheads in St Dionysius Church, Market Harborough. |
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../../1530 Birth of Anthony Jenkinson at a residence in the High Street, Market Harborough.
Jenkinson was famous for establishing trade links and diplomatic relations
with Russia. |
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../../1202 Harborough's first livestock market opens. Weekly markets are held on Mondays
until 1220, when it was changed to Tuesdays. |
