Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust

Delapre Abbey is the home of Action for Happiness Northamptonshire Hub and the Charity supports our financial governance.

On May 16, 2026, I will be taking on the Jurassic Coast Ultra Challenge, trekking 36 miles of rugged coastline with good friends Andy Roberts and Alan Hakes. This isn’t just a test of physical endurance; it is a journey of deep personal significance.

Why This Date Matters

May 16 marks exactly 46 years since I lost my sister Janet to epilepsy. This walk is a tribute to her memory and a way to honour the vital work of Action for Happiness Northamptonshire Hub as I have channelled my grief and pain into trying to make a difference for a happier kinder world together.

The Cause

Action for Happiness Northants Hub www.inktr.ee/A4HNorthants

The science of promoting positive mental wellbeing leads to better health, productivity, long life and better relationships.

As a previous General Practitioner, I know the evidence and benefits of walking especially with friends. It is our behaviours that create health and happiness matters.

The benefits to mental health of walking have been long known from Hipocrates to Thomas Prichard of St Andrews hospital. He is buried at St Peter and St Paul in Abington where there is an art installation of “Hands of Healing” celebrating his pioneering work of releasing shackles and using nature as healing for mental distress, one of his patients was John Clare the Northampton poet. Perhaps visit the artwork and tie on a key.

Moving together in nature isn’t just exercise; it’s medicine for the soul. By supporting this walk, you are helping us bring that "medicine" to more people across Northamptonshire.

Our Goal: £2,000

Every penny raised will go directly toward two transformative projects:

• Spreading the Word: Funding our Communications Lead will increase awareness of our free, evidence-based resources, ensuring they reach those who need them most—including our local schools. www.actionforhappiness.org

• Training Champions: Funding Champions Training to empower local people with the skills to spread happiness and resilience within their own neighbourhoods.

How You Can Help

Your donation, no matter the size, helps us build a kinder, more connected Northamptonshire. Take a look at www.actionforhappiness.org - share with at least one other person

• £10 could help provide resources for a school workshop.

• £50 could contribute toward training a new Happiness Champion.

• £100 helps us reach hundreds more people through our digital outreach.

Thank you for standing with me, remembering Janet, and helping us spread a little more "happierness" across our community, remembering too “it’s OK not to be OK”

Help Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust raise funds for a memorial near Delapre Lake to mark the site where a Lancaster bomber crashed in 1945, resulting in the loss of 5 lives.

On Thursday 26th April 1945, at 16.55hrs, a Lancaster bomber of 50 Sqn (based at RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire) was in low flight just to the south of Northampton. It had passed low over Wootton Hall and Delapré Abbey, when it struck a tree in the course of banking steeply to avoid cables and slipped in on the turn and crashed on farm land close to Delapré Abbey, where the lake is now. On crashing it burnt out and, of the seven crew, only two RAF air gunners survived, one seriously injured, the other only slightly. Four of the five airmen that died that afternoon were members of the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Those killed were:

425740 Flg Off (Pilot) Cedric John Evans, RNZAF, 22, of Inglewood, Taranaki, NZ

4215760 Flt Sgt (Nav) Thomas Richard Thwaite, RNZAF, 20, of Hamilton, Auckland, NZ

1817207 Sgt (Flt Engr) Denis Harold Millichamp, RAFVR, 21, of Nottingham, UK

425688 Flt Sgt (Air Bomber) Ralph Franklin Carrodus RNZAF, 23, of Hastings, Hawkes Bay, NZ

425580 Flt Sgt (W.Op/Air Gnr) Ian James Loveridge RNZAF, 24, of Rongotai, Wellington, NZ.

The two surviving members of the crew were: Sgt E.R. McRae RAF (Mid Upper Gunner) and Sgt G.A. Fuller RAF (Rear Gunner).

This aircraft was one of eight 50 Squadron Lancaster bombers on detachment for the first day of ‘Operation Exodus’ - a large scale 12 day airlift to repatriate some 75,000 recently liberated British prisoners of war to Britain. PD339 was returning to its base after transporting one of the first batches of prisoners from Brussels to an RAF base near Aylesbury and was just 15 minutes into its flight home.

Two local farm workers, Mr Albert Brown and Mr Harry Richardson, were awarded the British Empire Medal for their brave efforts in trying to save the airmen.

Please help Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust raise funds towards this important memorial which has been requested by the families of the men involved and the Trust's volunteers who have worked hard to research and raise awareness of this important event. Every donation will help. Thank you in advance for your contribution.

Images kindly loaned by the families of Ian Loveridge and Ted McRae.

A rare opportunity to bring a piece of history back to Delapré Abbey has presented itself... and we need your help to raise the funds to do so!

Everard Bouverie was the owner of Delapré Abbey from 1858-1871. A sword belonging to Everard from when he was in the Royal Horse Guards and fought in the Battle of Waterloo has recently come up for auction.

The auction will take place on Tuesday 4th April so we need to raise the funds by Monday 3rd April 2023.

Why is the sword of significance?

It will always be incredibly rare that items that can be identified as belonging to a resident of Delapré Abbey will come up for auction. The auctioneer has said that this sword is special because it:

• Is a heavy cavalry officer’s sword (usually light ones come up for auction)

• Has a link to the Battle of Waterloo

• Has a provenance, we know who owned it.

For Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust to own something that would have been a personal possession of a resident of the house is really special. He spent his entire working life in the army, later as an Equerry for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and only retired when he finally inherited Delapré aged 69. These items from his time in the army are very important to helping to tell his story.

How would this help to transform Delapré Abbey's offer?

The sword will help us to develop our interpretation and the stories that we tell about the Abbey and Northampton's rich history.

Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust already owns Everard’s medal from the Battle of Waterloo and a cartoon of him when he was in the Royal Horse Guards and the sword would be a natural fit to add to this as part of the storytelling of Everard.

It is also a step along our new aspiration to be an accredited museum with a collection which we display and share with as many people as possible.

Your donation

If we’re unsuccessful in winning the sword at the auction, we will use the money we raise to create a collections development pot so when other original objects come up for sale that would help us to tell the stories of the Abbey, we’ll be in a stronger position next time.

Thank you

Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause which means so much to all of us here at Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust.