After 50 years in the shoemaking business, Clarke and Co., of Rushden are closing down on April 1. [1974]

The closure will mean that 50 men and women, including a few outdoor workers, will lose their jobs.

But with most shoe firms in the area desperately short of skilled closers and clickers, redundant employees should have no difficulty in finding alternative work.

The firm's managing director, Mr. D. W. Nicholson, explained that the closure results from the death of the owner, Mr.Christopher Stockdale.

The firm was founded  in Victoria Road, Rushden, by Mr, Nicholson's father, the late Mr. Hugh Nicholson, who went into partnership with the late Mr Charles Clarke.

"We sold out to Mr. Stockdale about four and a half years ago, and we have been active in a sort of caretaker capacity for his widow, Mrs. Victoria Stockdale", Mr. Nicholson explained today.

"We are quite solvent. The closure is purely for domestic reasons."

Clarke and Co. have been manufacturing men's shoes for the medium grade market.

Note: A swimming pool, alongside left, was never completed (see note below)