Kettering's A14 - a look back at three decades of town's dual carriageway

Remember 1991? It was the year that introduced to us Mr Blobby. US troops stepping into Kuwait in the First Gulf War were televised live to the world. Bryan Adams topped the charts with Everything I do (I do it for you): Nirvana released Never Mind. Gazza's knee caused much consternation and Freddie Mercury tragically died from the complications of Aids.

Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling sought Hannibal Lecter's help in the 'Silence Of The Lambs', whilst Arnold Schwarzenegger was true to his word after saying "I'll be back" when he was, in Terminator 2.

And the A14 was constructed between 1989 and 1991, created from stretch of road that had been the A6 from Kettering to Rothwell, and the-then A604 heading to Thrapston, opened in sections to provide the M1-A1 link road.

From Rothwell to Thrapston the A14 took shape cutting a swathe through fields, cutting footpaths and lanes in two and finally relieving the appalling congestion that blighted Kettering town centre.

Readers of this paper were invited to take part in a fun run along the soon-to-be-opened road to raise money for charity.

But the road was not universally welcomed as some sites of Special Scientific Interest were bulldozed and later more controversially the route ploughed through close to the site of the Battle of Naseby.

Not fully finished until 1994, the section around Kettering between Junctions 7 and 9 was widened to three lanes between November 2013 and April 2015 at a cost of £42m.

In 2016, the remodelled Catthorpe Interchange was opened much to the relief of those often sat in traffic jams waiting to join the motorways.