Cricket wins, Midsummer Music and refunds

Morning Towcester.

This is one of those weeks where there is not a huge Towcester-only news story trying to kick the door down. So the wider civic updates are short, and the stronger NN12 bits get the proper space.

If this saves you a search, send it to one person in NN12 who would use it. And if you have a local event, result, concern, planning wrinkle, school note or quiet act of community brilliance, hit reply. The best Waffle tips usually start with "not sure if this is useful, but..."

No major Towcester-only news landed this week. A few West Northants updates still touch NN12 life, so here is the short version:

Northampton Saints did rather more than reset after the Leicester loss. They beat Bristol Bears 94-33 at Franklin's Gardens on Friday 15 May, a 14-try result that the club says secured their Gallagher PREM play-off place with two matches to spare.

The useful bit for Saints-watchers is not just the scoreline, although that is hard to ignore. It changes the run-in from "can they recover?" to "how sharp can they be before the semi-finals?", with Gloucester next at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday 30 May.

Northampton Saints say the 2026 Saints Schools Cup will include a Northamptonshire regional tournament at Towcester RFC on Wednesday 3 June.

That is not one for this weekend's diary yet, but it is a properly local sport marker for the next few weeks. If schools around Towcester fancy getting involved, this is the first clear sign that the competition is landing on the town's doorstep rather than just somewhere else in the Saints catchment.

Towcestrians CC's 1st XI beat Thrapston CC 2nd XI by 107 runs on Saturday 16 May, making it three wins from three in May. Towcestrians were all out for 182, then bowled Thrapston out for 75.

There was a mixed wider club card too: the 2nd XI beat Dunchurch & Bilton 1st XI by four wickets, while the 3rd XI lost to Dunchurch & Bilton 2nd XI by six wickets. The 1st XI are away at Loddington & Mawsley 2nd XI this Saturday.

Towcestrians Cricket Club is also running its All Stars and Dynamos cricket sessions on Friday evenings through May and June, with the club listing 5.30pm to 8pm as the junior coaching window.

That is a softer line than a scorecard, but it is properly local and useful: if the Saturday teams are the visible bit of the club, these are the Friday-night sessions that keep the next wave coming through.

WNC has opened the next round of work on its SEND and Inclusion Strategy, with surveys now open until 17 June and a community conversation at Towcester Forum on Monday 15 June, running 10am to 2pm.

This is one of the better kinds of consultation: specific, local enough to show up in Towcester, and still early enough that readers can shape what happens next. If SEND support has been good, patchy or exhausting, this is exactly the sort of process that should hear that out loud.

Towcester's Midsummer Music Festival is back from 18 to 21 June, with music across town and proceeds going to Towcester's primary schools.

The festival is presented by the Rotary Club of Towcester and Towcester Town Council, with Towcester Mill Brewery as official festival partner. Organisers are also asking for sponsors, volunteers, photographers, videographers and marketing help, which is the less glamorous bit that makes the good-vibes bit possible.

WNC says council-run libraries, including Towcester Library, are offering free SIM cards through the National Databank for residents who are struggling with internet access or data costs.

The eligibility is deliberately simple: residents aged 18 or over from low-income households may qualify if they have no or limited internet access, or cannot afford their existing contract or top-up. No formal evidence is required. That makes this a practical nudge rather than a grand policy line: if data is the thing stopping someone from handling council services, job searches, homework or everyday admin, the library is worth a quiet visit.

Northamptonshire Police lists a Cuppa with a Copper session in Silverstone on Thursday 21 May, 11am to 1pm, on Church Street.

It is just outside Towcester, but still in NN12 and useful for anyone nearby who would rather ask a neighbourhood question face to face than send it into an inbox and hope for the best.

Towcester Town Council says local neighbourhood officers will be holding a free bike marking event on Islington Road on Wednesday 27 May, from 2pm to 4pm.

This is a small, practical one: bring the bike, get it marked, and use the chance to speak to officers about local crime or antisocial behaviour concerns. The council notes that police engagements can be cancelled if operational demands change, so check before making a special trip.

English Greyhound Derby Quarter-Finals -- Sat 23 May, Towcester Racecourse. The quarter-finals are scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with general admission listed at £15 and under-16s free.

Ferrari Challenge UK -- Sat 23 to Sun 24 May, Silverstone. Silverstone says the weekend includes Ferrari Challenge UK racing, paddock access, Ferrari displays and grandstand viewing.

Free Bike Marking Event -- Wed 27 May, 2pm to 4pm, Islington Road. Towcester Town Council says local neighbourhood officers will be marking bikes for free and taking questions about crime and antisocial behaviour.

Vinyl Night -- Wed 27 May, 6pm to 10.30pm, Towcester Mill Brewery. The Mill says no tickets are required: bring records if you want to play them, or just turn up and listen.

HitMix Bingo waiting list -- Thu 21 May, 7.30pm, Towcester Mill Brewery. This one is sold out, but the Mill says people can email to join the waiting list.

The Towcester Waffle is read by people who actually care what happens in NN12: residents, parents, volunteers, club people, local businesses and the professionally nosy.

If your business or organisation wants to sponsor a future issue, hit reply and tell us what you do. We are keeping it local, useful and not annoying.

There is a theme running through this week's issue, and it is not glamorous: the route matters.

A youth strategy only becomes useful if young people can actually get into the room. A parking refund only helps if people know whether theirs is automatic or needs a form. A SEND conversation only works if families know there is a Towcester session and a survey deadline. Even the free SIM-card scheme is really about route-finding: where do you go when the thing blocking everyday life is not a grand crisis, but not having enough data to get online?

Small towns are full of these little routes. Some are obvious, some are buried three clicks deep, and some only work because a volunteer, librarian, coach, councillor, officer or parent knows who to nudge next.

So this week's useful act is simple: if one item made you think of someone, send it to them. Not as homework. Just as a shortcut.

If this was useful, forward it to someone who likes knowing what is happening before it becomes pub-chat archaeology.

Got a tip, correction, result, event, concern, question, rumour-that-needs-checking or quiet bit of local admin we should know about? Hit reply. The more NN12 sends in, the less we have to scrape from dusty council corners.

See you in the next one.

-- Atlas & Lee, somewhere in NN12