How Others See Wellingborough

Hey everyone,

Not every important story about Wellingborough comes from council meetings. A lot of the time, you see the town through sports write‑ups and short education snippets – and those outside views can be quite harsh if you don’t add context. This email breaks a few of those headlines down in simple language so someone reading about Wellingborough for the first time actually understands what’s going on, not just the scoreline or the scandal.

Bedford Athletic’s match report on their early‑December Friday‑night game at Wellingborough paints a very specific picture: bottom‑of‑the‑table Wellingborough, miserable weather, and a visiting side doing a professional job. Bedford Athletic won 37–7, describing the evening as “torrid”, with heavy rain and cold sapping “all the energy and creativity from proceedings”. They still managed seven tries – six of them from forwards, with prop Ryley Longmuir scoring a hat‑trick and hooker Charlie Darlow grabbing two – and they finished the first half of their season in second place in the Regional Two Midlands East table, just two points behind leaders Market Harborough.​

For Wellingborough RFC, that report underlines how hard this season has been. They are at the bottom of the division, and a heavy defeat like that at home affects more than the league table – it hits confidence in the changing room, how many people bother to turn up next week, and how much money is taken over the bar. In a town like ours, the club is not just about rugby; it is a social hub, a place where kids come through the age‑group sides, where local businesses sponsor shirts, and where people meet on Friday nights. When an away report focuses almost entirely on the score, the tries, and the weather, it misses the bigger local story: a club trying to keep going in a tough league, with limited resources, still turning out a team in horrible conditions because that’s what community sport looks like here week after week.​

A regional education update recently reported that a teacher linked to a Wellingborough school has been banned from the profession after being caught drinking alcohol on school premises. The notice is short, but the key facts are clear: the teacher was seen drinking and “stumbling” during a lesson, the case went to the national regulators who oversee teacher conduct, and they decided the behaviour was serious enough that this person should not be allowed to teach for at least several years.​

In plain terms, teachers are held to a very high standard because parents trust them with their children for most of the day. Drinking at school – especially during teaching time or on duty – breaks that trust and raises obvious questions about judgment, decision‑making, and safety. When something like this hits the press, it can feel not very pleasant for the school and for Wellingborough as a whole, because the town’s name is attached to the headline. But there is another way to see it: the safeguarding and professional regulation systems did what they are supposed to do. Someone raised concerns, the behaviour was investigated, and strong action was taken to protect pupils and public confidence. One teacher’s poor choices do not define the quality of all schools in Wellingborough; they show why clear rules and oversight are there in the first place.​

Put side by side, the rugby match report and the teacher‑ban story build a slightly gloomy outside picture of Wellingborough. In the sports pages, we appear as the club rooted to the bottom of the league on a wet Friday night, out‑muscled by a promotion‑chasing side. In the education coverage, we appear as the place where a teacher crossed a very clear professional line and paid a heavy price.​

For people who actually live here, the reality is more complicated. A bad rugby season does not mean Wellingborough RFC is failing long‑term – it might reflect a tough run of fixtures, injuries, or simply a rebuilding year where younger players are getting game time against stronger, more settled squads. And one serious disciplinary case in a school does not mean local education is broken; if anything, it shows that when someone does something unacceptable, the system is willing to step in, investigate, and act. Part of this newsletter’s job is to add that missing context in simple language: to explain what happened, why it matters, and equally what it does not mean about Wellingborough as a whole, so readers don’t just see a headline and panic.​

Away from the headlines, North Northamptonshire Council has just approved a new Corporate Plan that runs up to 2029 and is supposed to “improve the lives of residents” across the whole area, including Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, and East Northants. The plan was formally adopted on 12 December 2025 after a Full Council meeting, and it sets out four big priority themes: Family, Community, Prosperity, and “Smarter, Faster, Fairer” public services. In short, that means supporting children and families, building safer and more connected communities, boosting jobs, housing, and infrastructure, and making council services easier and quicker to use.​

The council says the plan is based on a public consultation held in September that drew 467 responses, with very high support for the main priorities – around 90% of people agreed with the Family and Community themes, 85% supported Prosperity, and over three‑quarters backed the push for better, fairer services. For Wellingborough, this document is basically the council’s four‑year to‑do list: it will influence how quickly potholes get fixed, what support is available for vulnerable residents, how town centres are treated, and how new housing and local infrastructure are planned and paid for. It ties in with the annual budget you’ve read about before, but this plan is more about direction – the kind of place North Northamptonshire, with Wellingborough in it, should feel like by the end of the decade.​

Finally, just down the road in Northampton, December is busy enough that a lot of people from Wellingborough head over there for a change of scene. The Discover Northampton listings include cosy “Pottery and Wine” evenings, where you can hand‑build your own festive ceramic decorations with a local potter while sipping a drink – the sort of slow, creative night that suits dark winter evenings. On top of that, the town’s Market Square is being turned into a winter attraction, with “Market Square On Ice” bringing an outdoor ice‑skating rink and Christmas atmosphere right in the centre. There are also community events like carol singing and family sessions in parks and at Delapré Abbey, plus gigs at local bars in the run‑up to New Year.​

For readers here, it’s useful to know these options exist within a short journey, especially if Wellingborough’s own Christmas calendar feels a bit quiet this year. Including a quick look at nearby Northampton also reminds people how our town fits into the wider county: plenty of residents live in Wellingborough but go to Northampton to work, shop, or relax on weekends, so what happens there still shapes everyday life for a lot of us.​