Edward I, grieving for his queen, Eleanor of Castile, erected a stone cross at every place where her funeral procession stopped on its way from Lincoln to London in 1290. Twelve were built; three survive, and one of them stands by the roadside at Hardingstone, on the southern edge of Northampton. It is a slender Gothic monument of weathered stone, with statues of the queen looking out over the traffic, and it is more than seven centuries old.
Behind it, Delapré Abbey, a former nunnery turned country house, stands in a park. The Battle of Northampton, one of the bloodier clashes of the Wars of the Roses, was fought on the meadows nearby in 1460, and Henry VI was captured there. The abbey has been restored and is open to visitors, with gardens and a café.
Northampton is the capital of English shoemaking, and the industry still survives, with famous brands making boots and shoes by hand in the town. A museum displays thousands of shoes, from medieval leather to modern fashion.
Hardingstone itself is a village swallowed by the town, with old stone houses and a church. The M1 is close, at junction 15, and the A45 runs past. The riding around here is mostly about getting through the Northampton traffic and out into the countryside, where the lanes towards the Nene valley and the villages to the south are pleasant and quiet.
Fuel is quick to find on the ring roads. As for souvenirs, a pair of Northampton-made boots costs real money, but riders who own a pair tend to say the same thing: they outlast the bike.