You are here:
Luton
Luton maps
Historic maps of Luton and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Luton maps
Luton area books
Displaying 1 of 6 books about Luton and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Luton
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Luton.
There are 24 shared memories to read.
Add your memory of Luton
or of a photo of Luton.
Nostalgia
I used to play here when I was a child of 11. We used to run and down that wonderful spiral staircase and read all the names and dates that people had scratched on the brick work over the centuries on the first floor. This was back in 1951. I used to go back every year to see the old place. The last time I saw it was in 2010. Terrible damage had been done to the building, sucj a shame, and that damn airport coming closer and closer. I must be one of the few people still alive who have been to the cellar! The owners of the building (Luton HOO) should hang their heads in shame at the condition of this wonderful building...
Near Dunstable Place
This picture looks like it was taken with Dunstable Place as the intersection on the left. It would have had the Post office on the corner closest to the photographer and housed the old police station on the right between Upper George St. and Stuart St.
Chapel Street
This is a picture of the corner of Chapel Street and George Street showing the old Boots Chemist shop before it was taken over by Hepworths the tailors. Dewhursts butchers shop was also in the same complex between Chapel Street, the Conservative Club and the Red Lion carpark area where the taxis used to park waiting their turn to enter the taxi rank on Market Hill.
The Good Old Days
I was born in Luton in the 1940s and remember well the shops in Manchester Street with WG Durrants butchers on the corner of Manchester Street and Bridge Street. Next door in Bridge Street was a garage and further along Manchester Street towards the town hall was Wilds sports and toy store, Faiman fashions and a pub called the Horse and Jockey. On the opposite side of the road was a cafe called the Petite which served great prawn rolls. From memory there was also a jewellers and a hardware store but I can't remember the names of the stores. I remember using the side doors to the town hall which rotated and I used to go in and out several times to amuse myself. I moved to Australia in 1974 and have been back several times but each time I return the town seems to get worse. It is dirtier than I remember and George Street doesn't seem as busy. I assume... Read more
When I Was 5
I remember getting off a bus in Upper George Street with my dad and walking down towards George Street and I saw the library and said what's that pointing - my dad said "It's a library and you borrow books from there". I was amazed and wanted to borrow a book but my dad said "We're buying your shoes today" - one of several even earlier memories of how much time I spent with my dad when I was little. I had two younger sisters and my dad always took me to town or to visit his family in St Helen's by coach and then my mum would follow by train with my sisters I often wonder why it was me but think my middle sister was very naughty and I was extremely well behaved so my dad had an easy time with me!
Luton
Such a great city , I loved the peace and relaxation and the traditional english town, have even used the Luton airport parking services, which is amazing by the way.
Building The Tech
Having spent over two years at the old college on Park Square as a student, I started work in 1953 with Seaward Brothers Builders as an apprentice. After two years on the firm they won the contract to build the new Tech. Overall I was there about two years and helped lay the drains, build the walls, point the damp course on the main building and the cycle sheds and lay tiles on the window sills and staircases. Many years after the college was opened, it was renamed Barnfield College and in 1995 I ended up as a Building Lecturer at the college, albeit not on the main campus.
Technical School Park Square
I attended this school from the 8th January 1951 until the end of March 1953. Every morning all classes would attend assembly in this building and would then disperse to their classrooms which were often at other points around the town. My classroom was in the Weslyan Chapel in Chapel Street where I remember I was when the death of George VI was announced on the 6th February 1952. Other places used were the Waller Street Chapel for engineering lessons, the Indoor Pool in Waller Street for swimming lessons, and a long hike up to Popes Meadow for football, cricket and other sporting activities.
