Local History

What would it be like to travel through time and walk through the streets of Burton Latimer in 1918?

The town's Heritage Society, with backing from the Heritage Lottery Fund, have painstakingly recreated High Street and Kettering Road using computer animation.

With the help of computer company Redhead Designs they've reproduced, brick-by-brick, buildings which have long since vanished from the town.

Another view of Burton as it used to be

Disappearing town

The Heritage Society's Roger Drage helped produce the film and provides the commentary. "Over half the High Street disappeared in the last 50 years," he says.

"We feel it's important that we 'catch' some of the people and buildings in Burton Latimer before they disappear," adds John Meads, Secretary of the Heritage Society.

Emotional

The DVD, called 'A Sense of Place', was launched in April and has won praise from local people. "It made hairs stand up at the back of my neck... it was very emotional" said one viewer of the film.

Margaret Craddock found the film a moving experience: "It brought back many memories, right back from my childhood. I found it very emotional and I shed a tear on the first viewing," she says.

The two-hour film also features the development of the town, the nearby wind farm, the shoe and clothing trades, modern industry, parades, fairs 'faces of Burton'.