Luton
Luton maps (2 available)
Map of Bedfordshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Luton books (7 available)
- 40 photos on Luton appear in 2 Frith books - View photos of Luton
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Luton and Bedfordshire
Luton memories
Read and share memories of Luton and Bedfordshire inspired by Frith photos
Grandad's shop
My Grandad Thomas Poole owned a wallpaper & paint shop in Wellington Street, my Mum who is now 82 can remember the day the war was announced, my Grandad threw open the windows and turned up the radio so everyone in the street could hear it. Does anybody remember the shop or have any photos of it?
Contributed by Dianne Dallison
Bedfordshire memories
Grandad's shop
My Grandad Thomas Poole owned a wallpaper & paint shop in Wellington Street, my Mum who is now 82 can remember the day the war was announced, my Grandad threw open the windows and turned up the radio so everyone in the street could hear it. Does anybody remember the shop or have any photos of it?
A memory of Luton contributed by Dianne Dallison
Bygone days
I used to live in Stopsley with my family. We lived in Swiftsgreen Road. I have just been back but it has not changed a great deal, the village is larger and we did not have time to have a walk round but it was nice to see where we had lived. I was named Johnstone in those days and we left in 1962 but we have good memories of our time there. My brothers and sisters were called Pauline, Alan, I am Brenda, Eileen, Brian & Ian (unfortunately Ian is now deceased). My parents were Archie and Ivy, dad worked at Napiers which is no longer in existence.
A memory of Stopsley contributed by brenda white
Watching Parkside grow
When my brother and I were old enough to go to Linmear Middle School,(Kings Houghton now), we would walk via a huge field next to Sundon Road, this was sold and Parkside estate began to grow. One of my old school friends called Shirley moves from Tithe Farm to the new town houses on Parkside, we were all so jealous because her house had 3 floors.
Whist attending Linmear the Upper School was built, which had a small swimming pool in it. This was opened to the public during the breaks and at week-ends so we didn't have to walk all the way to Dunstable, which was a nice change.
Both my brother and I didn't go ...read more here
A memory of Houghton Regis contributed by Sally Loveday
Extracts From Luton & Bedfordshire books
Viewed from the Corn Exchange on Market Hill, Luton’s main street on a summer’s day just before the turn of the 19th century gives little indication of the importance of this thoroughfare. The ornate stone monument in the foreground - known locally as The Pepperpot - is the Ames Memorial, dedicated to magistrate and landowner, Lt Col Lionel Ames. Note the ‘stop me and buy one’ ice-cream cart placed in its shadow. The building at the far end of George Street is the first Town Hall, opened in 1847.
An extract from from"Bedfordshire Photographic Memories".
Hat manufacturers and accessory wholesalers occupy most of the buildings shown in this reverse view to 39699 (page 22). The crates all contain hats, possibly being delivered to the relatively new railway depot for trans-shipment. The Corn Exchange, sitting on Market Hill in the far distance, was opened in 1869 and also served as the Court Leet, public meeting place and concert hall - in addition to its prime function.
An extract from from"Bedfordshire Photographic Memories".
This open space at the junction of the roads leading to Hitchin, Wheathampstead and London was large enough to support the open-air market, which stretched the 100 yards through the middle of the picture from the Corn Exchange through to Park Street. The shops on the left were originally dwelling houses dating from 1760. Note the wide pavements - an indication of the ‘quality’ of the area.
An extract from from"Bedfordshire Photographic Memories".
Many of the business on Wellington Street were trading until well into the second half of the 20th century. Certainly the pharmacy on the right existed in the 1950s, and the early form of department store sporting external gas lighting on the left of the street was a source of haberdashery and household linens during the same period. Wellington Street was also the site of Luton’s first cinema, located in one of the buildings on the crest of the hill; it opened in the early 1900s.
An extract from from"Bedfordshire Photographic Memories".
William brought with him 5,000 knights,
the new aristocracy. When he died the
country was still 90% Saxon; the Normans’
policy, like the Romans’, was ‘divide and
rule’, with the majority of England’s two
million people subject to the Norman fist.
His successor, Henry II, gave the manor of
Luton to his illegitimate son Robert, Earl of
Gloucester, and a new church was built south
of the present St Mary’s. Henry also gave land
to the monks to build a hospital and chapel
on Farley Hill. Another hospital, the House
of God of the Virgin Mary, was founded by
Thomas Beckett on a hill between the old
Vauxhall car factory and Luton Airport.
An extract from from"Luton - A History & Celebration".