New Hotel New Job

A Memory of Corby.

I was the secretary to Derek Vink, the first manager of The Strathclyde Hotel when it opened. He'd come from being manager of The Black Boy Hotel in Nottingham and he and his wife and son lived in the flat at the top of the building. It was an exciting time as it was only the second hotel in Corby after The Raven which was looking sad and run down by 1965. Being a member of staff, other than the catering and housekeeping staff, I used to have my (free) lunch in the hotel dining room. What a privilege it seemed. The hotel was built and owned by Newcastle Brown brewery I think, long since forgotten as a brewery. I left the job after about a year as there was so little to do. But long after it ceased being a hotel it became Corby Borough Council's offices until the bigger Civic Centre was built across the road. I went back in 1985 to the old Strathclyde to work in various council departments until I retired in 2004. I have very happy memories of both times in that unusual building which was quite architecturally innovative in the 1960s. Pat Aldaya