[HDNG]INTRODUCTION:[EHDNG][PARA]Northampton is not the northern bit of Southampton. It's a [ITAL]pleasant [EITAL]market town, slap bang between Brum and London, a bit too far east to be properly in the Midlands, and too far north to be in the Home Counties. Its nearest neighbour is the [ITAL]dreaded [EITAL]Milton Keynes, but there's some [ITAL]lovely[EITAL] countryside nearby to get lost in. Historically, it's the centre of the British shoe industry, [ITAL]which is very nice if you like shoes[EITAL], and, more recently, Carlsberg UK has set up shop here. [ITAL]Northampton; probably the most Northampton-ish town in the world. [EITAL]Now we've got the town placed, Nene College is about 21/2 miles away[ITAL], [EITAL]on two landscaped campuses, with modern building developments, [ITAL]tastefully arranged. [EITAL]There's a ú25m building programme currently underway[ITAL]. [EITAL]It's just been allowed to award its own degrees, making it a university in all but name. Talking of which; it's pronounced 'Nenn', not 'Neen', or 'Ne-Ne', which is a Hawaiian goose, or 'Nena', who had a hit with '99 Red Balloons' in 1983, and didn't shave her armpits.[HDNG]ATMOSPHERE:[EHDNG][PARA][ITAL]The main campus is buzzing and friendly, benefiting from the mixture of management trainees (suits and hair-gel), a good few mature students, as well as the expected post A-level starry-eyed lager kids. The Avenue Campus, a couple of miles away, throws this social miscegenation into even sharper relief, by letting the drama, art and fashion luvvies run wild alongside the less luvvy engineers. But everyone seems to get on, a level of friendliness which is extended to relations with the locals, possibly because the college is small enough not to get on their nerves too much.[EITAL][ITAL][HDNG]NORTHAMPTON:[EHDNG][EITAL][PARA][ITAL][STAT][BULL] Population: 200,000 [BULL] Distance 1: miles [BULL] Distance 2: miles [BULL] Distance 3: miles[ESTAT][EITAL][PARA]Northampton has managed to maintain its ancient market square (the largest in Britain) in [ITAL]something approaching good nick[EITAL], and there are some [ITAL]lovely[EITAL] examples of Victorian and Georgian architecture around the city centre. [ITAL]Some of the outer reaches are closer to prefab hell, however[EITAL]. In amongst the urban planning practical, you can find the usual array of banks, malls, supermarkets, book shops (new and 2nd hand), art galleries and museums, [ITAL]although the leather museum isn't as much fun as it sounds[EITAL]. Other attractions include regular hot-air balloon festivals ([ITAL]why don't they get together with the museum people, and make a leather balloon?[EITAL]) and one of the best-preserved Norman round churches in the country.[HDNG]TRAVEL:[EHDNG][PARA][BOLD]Trains:[EBOLD] Northampton station is about 4 miles from the main campus, offering mainline services to London, Birmingham and Milton Keynes.[PARA][BOLD]Coaches:[EBOLD] Midland Fox and National Express services to, among others, London (ú7, 1:55hrs, 5/day) and Birmingham (ú3.25, 1:35hrs, 4/day).[PARA][BOLD]Car:[EBOLD] The M1 goes right past Northampton, although there's about 3 miles of wiggling before you get to Nene. There's also the A45, A50, and A43.[PARA][BOLD]Hitching:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Hitching is reasonably easy near the M1 junctions.[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Local:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Buses are reliable, [EITAL]running every 15mins to the Park campus (70p one way). There's also a free bus between the 2 Nene campuses.[PARA][BOLD]Taxis:[EBOLD] Westbridge and Favell companies offer student discounts.[PARA][BOLD]Bicycles:[EBOLD] [ITAL]There are some bike lanes, but not throughout town, and the roads are pretty busy. Park campus has locked sheds.[EITAL][ITAL][HDNG]LIBRARIES and COMPUTERS:[EHDNG][EITAL][PARA][ITAL][STAT][BULL] Books: 160,000 [BULL] Periodicals: 1,000 [BULL] Study places: 515 [BULL] Computer workstations: 2,000[ESTAT][EITAL][PARA]Libraries on each campus, and 24-hour access to computer facilities.[HDNG]CAREER PROSPECTS:[EHDNG][PARA][STAT][BULL] Careers Service [BULL] No of staff: 2full/2part [BULL] Unemployed after 6mths (1992): 18%[ESTAT][HDNG]FAMOUS ALUMNI:[EHDNG][PARA]Daniel Ash, David J (Bauhaus/Love and Rockets); Lord Hesketh (Tory peer, Formula 1 team manager); Jonn (Ned's Atomic Dustbin); Des O'Connor (entertainer).[HDNG]FURTHER INFO:[EHDNG][PARA]Prospectuses for undergrads and part-timers. Student handbook from SU.
