Long stays for work spanning Northampton and Coventry

Northampton grew on shoes. Its population rose from 7,020 in 1801 to 15,351 in 1831 on the demand for boots during the Napoleonic Wars, when a third of the adult men made shoes. Its factories later supplied more than 23 million pairs of boots to the forces in the First World War.

Water and rail came early: the Nene was made navigable to the town in 1762, the Grand Union Canal arrived in 1815 and the first railway station, Bridge Street, opened in 1845. Today Stagecoach runs from the North Gate bus station to Rugby, Leicester, Milton Keynes and beyond.

For a contract with most of its days in Coventry, Rugby or at DIRFT, Humber Hub is about 32 miles from Northampton, with a washing machine, a kitchen and free parking at the house.

Longer stays come in at a lower nightly rate and run for up to twelve months, with bills and council tax included.

Northampton Power Station, built in the 1920s, sent electricity as far as Wolverton. Many terraced streets around the old shoe factories were built for the people who worked in them.

Two of the old tram shelters survive, one at the Racecourse Park and one in Kingsthorpe. BBC Radio Northampton and Heart are the main stations, with four community stations including Inspiration FM.