My Youth In Stopsley

A Memory of Luton.

I was brought to Luton, 219 Ashcroft Rd when I was four years old. the cottage we lived in was part of Farmer Holdstocks farm, it was origanally the Cowmans cottage. It was here that my Dad , Fred Chater and Mum Violet, raised their family, there was myself, Sandra and my sister Linda and brothers Ian and Robert. I attended Stopsely Infants and then Juniors and finally Stopsley high School for Girls, we were sperated from the boys in those days. My Dad worked for the brewery as a cellerman all of his working life for what started as Flowers brewery, then finished as Whitbreads. My Mum is very well known in the town. As Rambridge School was built Mum used to feed the builders in her little canteen, then she went on to be the Lollipop lady for 45 years outside of our house, she also used to help in the school reading with the children and teaching them sewing etc. Mum was awarded the MBE from the Queen in 1996 in recognition of her services to the Highways of Luton. The family house still stands and it is reputed to be over 200 years old. When we first moved there we were surrounded by fields, where we used to go gleaning . The field next to us was always the venue for the annual firework display, The local sweetshop always donated some fireworks and my Dad and a few others were in control of those and the fire. I will always remember the baked potatoes cooked in the embers, and the hot chocolate Mum used to dispense to all and sundry. I also remember the first buses going into Stopsley via Ashcroft Rd, what a treat, we could on a really wet and cold day go to school on the bus, otherwsie it was a long trek along the ciderpath into Stopsley. Now all the fields have become houses, right back to Wigmore lane, to where Bluebell woods were, we would spend many happy hours collecting bluebells and primroses for Mum. I started my working life in the Co-op in Manchester St as a clerk in the payrol office. I eventually married and brought up my children in Leagrave before eventually moving to Milton Keynes where I still live. Luton has changed such alot during my lifetime, I am now 68. Most of the big work places have gone, Vauxhall, Electrolux, Kents, Skf roller bearings to name but a few. The town centre has radically changed with the coming of the Arndale Centre. I still remember George Street with all the main shops, many happy hours spent in the music shop, listening to the latest records in those little booths, the advent of the coffe shops, very trendy, and the opening of the Alma Ballroom. Dancing was also on a Saturday evening during the winter months, in the Swimming baths in Waller St, the baths being covered over for the purpose, and called the Winter Assembly Halls. Well these are some of my memories, maybe I have triggered off a few of your own.