Towcester Forum, Saints and a scorcher

Melting Towcester! I mean, morning Towcester!

It is a quieter news week, but not an empty one: Towcester Forum is now in a live adult social care consultation, Saints have the big pot back in Northampton, and there are enough deadlines, fixtures and heat warnings to make the calendar feel very full.

Forward this to one NN12 person who would use it, and keep sending tips, events, results, questions and corrections. That is how the useful stuff gets found.

A quieter local news week, so this section is short on purpose. The wider county pile had plenty in it, but not much that genuinely landed in Towcester or NN12.

West Northamptonshire Council has now opened its 12-week public consultation on adult social care services, and Towcester Forum is on the day-services list.

The consultation runs from 16 June to 9 September 2026 and covers a small set of council-run services, including residential care, supported living, home care and day services. No decisions have been made yet, but the review is looking at how those services are delivered, whether buildings are fit for purpose, and what future models might look like.

The practical shift since last week is simple: this has moved from "Cabinet might approve this" to an actual live consultation with named survey routes. If you use Towcester Forum, care about what happens there, or have family who do, this is the point to stop treating it as background county paperwork.

Towcester has a few new faces around the council table: the summer Towcester Town Crier records Cllr Mark Jones, Cllr Charlotte Panter and Cllr Rickie Patton as co-opted at the 13 April meeting, with Cllr Sam Cann welcomed on 18 May.

The point is not just names on a list. If you have a cemetery, allotments, planning, recreation, leisure or premises question, the next committee night is Monday 29 June. Agendas and venues still need checking on the council site before you turn up ready to make a point, but the public route is there.

Saints beat Exeter Chiefs 26-17 at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, with George Hendy's two final-quarter tries turning a tight final into a third Premiership title for the club.

The short version: Tommy Freeman grabbed the opening try, Fin Smith scored and kicked three conversions, Exeter hit back hard enough to lead after Dafydd Jenkins went over, then Hendy's double in three minutes settled it.

That is the result this section was waiting for. The preview has done its job; the local sport story now is Saints finishing the season with the big pot back in Northampton.

Towcestrians had three senior sides out on Saturday 20 June, and the results make fairly blunt reading.

The 1st XI lost by four wickets after making 167/4 against St Crispin & Harlestone 2nd XI, the 2nd XI lost by 91 runs away to Bold Dragoon 2nd XI, and the 3rd XI lost by 55 runs after MK Air 3rd XI posted 266/4 at Greens Norton.

Not every Saturday has to come with bunting. The reset comes quickly: on Saturday 27 June, the 1st XI are away to Barby CC 2nd XI at Barby Cricket Ground, while the 2nd XI host Geddington CC 3rd XI at Towcestrians. Both are listed for 12pm.

Towcestrians Hockey Club has its Summer Festival listed for Friday 17 July at 6pm through to Sunday 19 July at 3pm at the Greens Norton Road club.

It is a bit further out than the cricket card, but it is a proper Towcestrians date for teams, families and supporters who need to block the weekend before July fills itself in.

West Northamptonshire Council is asking parents and carers to share feedback on its Inclusion and Intervention Support Team services by Friday 3 July.

This is one for families dealing with SEND support in real life, not just people who enjoy the phrase "service review". The feedback will help assess how the team has worked since launching in September 2025, and both school-age and early years survey routes are live.

SNVB's update on South Northants Youth Engagement says the organisation has secured three years of Big Lottery Fund Reaching Communities funding and has also launched a new 16 to 19 Towcester group called NextGen.

South Northants has spent too long talking about youth provision in the abstract. A funded local group for older teenagers is a much more concrete answer than another round of hand-wringing about how there is nothing for young people to do.

If the formal consultation feels too dry, the more human route is WNC's Big Conversation event programme. The Rural South and East session is at SNVB's Riverside Centre, Islington Road, Towcester, NN12 6AU, on Thursday 2 July from 2pm to 4pm.

That gives local carers, service users, staff and families a proper in-person chance to say what works, what does not, and what they do not want quietly redesigned without them.

Towcester Town Council's summer Town Crier gives Thursday 25 June as the submission deadline for the autumn issue.

If your club, society, school, charity or community group wants something in front of local households later in the year, this is the bit of admin to do before it disappears under the summer pile.

West Northamptonshire Council wants people who have used, or supported someone using, the Integrated Community Equipment Service to fill in a short survey by midnight on Tuesday 21 July.

This is the kit that helps people stay safe and independent at home: mobility aids, bathroom equipment, pressure-care equipment and similar loaned items. If it has helped you, irritated you, saved your back, or made caring for someone more manageable, this is a practical chance to say what works before the next commissioning round gets wrapped in a bow.

Towcester Mill Brewery has a busy few days - Vinyl Afternoon on Wed 24 Jun; Live Comedy Night on Thu 25 Jun, headlined by Silky and Addy Van Der Borgh; and Panama v England on Sat 27 Jun at 10pm in the Steam Room, free entry with tables first come, first served.

Towcester Choral Society: The Colours of the Rainbow - Sat 27 Jun, 7.30pm, St Lawrence Church. Tickets are £15 adults and £3.50 children, including refreshments.

Church Fete and Craft Fair - Sun 28 Jun, 12.30pm to 4pm, St Lawrence Church and Vicarage Garden. Very local, very Sunday, and not a whole expedition.

Formula 1 British Grand Prix - Thu 2 Jul to Sun 5 Jul, Silverstone. The British Grand Prix runs from Thursday to Sunday, and WNC's resident information covers traffic plans, parking restrictions, local travel, rights-of-way closures and the event schedule. If you're sorting tickets, shifts, camping, trains or tactical escape routes, this is the week to do it.

Let's talk about the heat for a second.

The Met Office Towcester forecast has an extreme heat warning in play for Wednesday and Thursday, with the wider warning saying parts of England and Wales could see a two-to-three-day run above 37C.

So this week's Waffle is not a grand theory of local life. It is a practical one.

Open the windows early while the air is still cooler. Close curtains and blinds before the sun gets properly onto the glass. Once the outside air turns hotter than the house, shut the windows again and keep the cooler air in.

Check on the people who will not make a fuss until they are already struggling. If you have an older neighbour, a friend with health issues, a young family in a badly insulated home, or someone trying to work in a room that turns into a greenhouse by lunch, a quick message is not overdoing it.

And yes, this is a decent week to use the town properly. If you need a cooler hour, a drink, a late lunch, or somewhere with air con and other humans around, spend the money locally if you can. Cafes, pubs, shops, the library and community spaces are not just nice extras in weather like this. They are part of how a town looks after itself.

Thanks for reading. If this was useful, send it to someone else in Towcester or NN12 who likes knowing what is actually going on.

Got a tip, event, result, correction, local question or quiet irritation that deserves daylight? Reply and send it in.

-- Atlas & Lee, somewhere in NN12