Report - Express Works Social Club - Irthlingborough - Dec 21

Bikin Glynn · Dec 28, 2022

Express Works Social Club

The Express Hall was once part of the sprawling Express Boot Works factory on Nene View in Irthlingborough, which once employed hundreds of locals in Northamptonshire's famous shoemaking trade. The Express Hall was used as a show factory in the 1900s according to locals. & later in 1946, Lord Woolton, Secretary of the Boot Manufacturers' Federation, opened the Express Hall as a social club.
After the war, Express Boot Works, later David Scott Shoes, continued as one of Irthlngborough's largest employers.

However, as the local shoe trade declined, the factory closed in 1982 with the loss of 320 jobs. The factory, like the social club, stood derelict until 2007 when it caught fire. It was completely demolished in 2017.
The Express Hall is now all that remains of the once huge factory, and was recently at risk of demolition itself. In February last year, developers Scroxton & Partners submitted plans to demolish the historic building so eight new "sustainable homes" could be built.