The Towcester Story Poem by Paula Glynn

The name Towcester to come from
The Roman name Lactodorum
Located on Watling Street
Known today to be the A5
Where the town is full of people
Living their busy lives
As they mostly work nine to five
From shops to cafes
And hairdressers to a library
Churches, bridal shops,
Car mechanics, newsagents
And many other establishments.

Towcester featured in The Pickwick Papers
The novel by Charles Dickens
The character Mr Pickwick stopping by town
For Towcester has stood the test of time
Where history is remembered
And even celebrated
For time does go by
But Towcester lives in The Pickwick Papers:
A novel never forgotten by time.

And the local racecourse hosting
Many national horseracing events
Money by the public to be well spent
For the racecourse was where everyone went
Entertainment and betting money
Worth every penny spent.

And Towcester being the frontier
Between the kingdom of Wessex
And the Danelaw,
Towcester 10 miles south west
Northampton nearby this distance
Making living in Towcester
A place where other areas
Are easy to access
For Oxford is 20 miles away
Roads to be M40 Motorway
And the A34 road
To make travelling easier
Than other places to go through
Towcester to be central
In the midlands of Britain
No matter where you want to go,

Population of Towcester to grow and grow
The 1961 Census telling of 2,743
The 2011 Census 9,252
The numbers to have shown
That Towcester has grown
Beyond wildest means
For employment has increased
And expansion has not ceased
For even properties have been built
And expansion will never cease
This town in central Northamptonshire
Wonders to never cease
Work opportunities to boom
And life doesn't loom
For it is lived and celebrated
No matter tourist or townsperson
Or even celebrity visits.

Towcester town council
To do all the town's work
South Northamptonshire council
Keeping the townspeople
Paying their taxes and having free services
Libraries and clubs to be popular
And keep the town booming
Towcester exploding with popularity
For people come far and wide
To see all the sights
That Towcester brings
People to wear their bling
From jewellery shops:
That type of thing,

And to see the Brooke,
The recreation park
The old roman buildings
The churches, the schools
The shops so full of jewellery
Clothing, trinkets,
The charity shops also famous for this
And shops full of paraphernalia,
Is a wonderful thing
For Towcester is a town
That carries on with tourism
And also welcomes strangers to live
Bus rides to where everyone lives,

And the St Lawrence C of E church
To have a 12th century
Norman transitional ground plan and foundation
Likely laid over a Saxon 10th century stone building
Its ecclesiastical heritage
Probably - although not proved -
To relate back to Roman times
As St Lawrence was patron saint
Of the Roman legions
The building constructed in 1480 - 1485
In perpendicular style
Work to make people
Travel mile after mile
To attend the church
No matter where in town,

During the Second World War
Towcester received many evacuees
From busy, bombed out London
The government feeling
The town far away enough
From major settlements
That could be a target
So Towcester used to escape major aerial attacks
But was brutally bombed
By a plane that dropped
Two bombs on nearby Rugby,
A few months later
The German plane dropping eight bombs
During an "drop and run" attack
The town to be rebuilt
Although time never to go back
To those important buildings lost,

But Towcester lives on
With its schools and bus services
Its whole amenities and
Just beautiful surrounding countryside
Northamptonshire people
To travel to from far and wide
Towcester with its farmland
And its Roman architecture
A town to carry on with life
And everyone celebrates
A town that is full of life,
And full of history and allure
Everyone accepted:
Even those lesser or poor,
The town always nice with its ways.