Luton has been hailed a property hotspot thanks to its status a key commuter town for those who work in London. With comparatively low house prices and close proximity to the capital, this bustling town in the county of Bedfordshire has a lot to offer. But just how much do you know about Luton? This colourful, cultural event features a wide variety of music, performance artists, and dancers that come together in a large Brazilian-style procession.
They were not a group to be trifled with and they brought with them a time of stability that lasted until the Saxons appeared on the scene.
Artefacts left by the different invaders can be seen at the Stockwood Park museum. There is evidence of Saxon settlements in Luton. Alfred, king of the Saxons, was faced with opposition from the Vikings Danish who invaded from the east.
A pact was made in which England was divided c. The boundary went north from the River Thames until it met the River Lea. It then followed the River Lea to its source and from there it took a straight line north to Bedford. So Luton was cut in two. It seems likely that the border was a peaceful one but an interesting one nevertheless. Luton became a significant Saxon town, owned by the King, and a church was endowed. The church is still an important part of the town today. There were markets and fairs and details of a religious fraternity, The Guild of the Holy Trinity have been published.
Markets and fairs continued into the life of Victorian Luton which remained a thriving market town. A list of trades includes brewing and malting, important local industries. Thanks to the quality of local straw, the town had already begun to be an important hat-making centre. Still today, the Luton football team is known as the Hatters. However, local people were looking to the future: the Gas and Coke Company and the Water Company were established.
Local leaders were afraid that the hat industry was a narrow base for prosperity in the town so they advertised nationally to invite other industries into the town.
This was very successful. But probably the most significant was Vauxhall Motors that came in and played a huge part in the life of the town. Considering the importance of local industry, it is difficult to understand why Luton did not receive more bombing in the Second World War. Skefko made ball bearings which were vital in manufacturing. If you took the train from Luton to London , you would pass lines of Churchill tanks and Bedford trucks destined for the war effort.
You probably won't hear about it until Its haters look no further than the dual carriageway; the council estate. Few of them seek out the back-alley vinyl shop or the comic book store which hint at a renegade spirit. We delve deeper, and find local filmmaker and general creative mind Justin Doherty: one of the first to have sensed a potential goldmine here.
He's snapped up an airy former warehouse-cum-garage near the railway station and turned it into a cheerful jazz spot he calls The Bear Club. Don't be so shocked. Jazz in the British sense is seen as quite middle-class nowadays, but if you think about the social origins of the music in America, Luton is very appropriate.
As it happens, the Bear has appealed to all sorts. Tucked away inside you're as likely to find a jazz nut loyal to 33 Records based in Luton, it's one of the oldest independent jazz labels around as a young couple smooching on their first date. Luton is closer to London than some bits of London are to other bits of London: even if 'London' Luton Airport is a little optimistically-titled.
But nothing costs London prices, and Justin will not be the last entrepreneur to benefit from the lower financial risks of starting a project here. While his nightspot might seem to be something of voice in the wilderness at the moment, it's the authorities' hope that their latest regeneration work will see even more jazzy-types setting up shop.
Karen has been busy reviving Luton's 'hat district': refurbishing the multi-purpose Hat Factory venue, and providing new spaces for artists to ensure the town has a future cultural scene to complement its heritage offerings. Among those are a cute Victorian museum called Wardown House and, at Stockwood Discovery Centre , the largest collection of horse-drawn carriages in Europe.
Who knew? It's vibrant, it's energetic, it's challenging. It's kind of like a Millwall football chant. But what I've seen in the last few years is a real opening-up of those doors and people being invited in a lot more. Soon, we find ourselves grazing on barfi , a fudge-like Asian sweet, and hearing about life in one of Luton's most interesting wards.
Behind the counter in confectionery shop Ambala is Rafique. The Bury Park suburb is perhaps best known as the home of Kenilworth Road — the current stadium of Luton's historic football club — but it's also a heartland of the town's Asian population. Luton is a place where white British people are reported to be in a minority. From the perspective of a liberal, multicultural metropolis, the pros of this are pockets of rich diversity likened by some to London's very own Green Lanes.
But the town has also been a marching ground for the far-right, who claim to speak for those who feel alienated by immigration and social change. Whether you like it or not, this part of town is somewhere people are actually out and about, talking to one another.
There's a similar vibe to be found in Luton's messy yet endearing indoor market. For Rafique, Bury Park is not perfect. But it's got all the qualities of an area that many people have called home for generations. It's a very friendly area. It's no surprise there's a culinary mash-up or two to be had in Luton. Lunch is 'Indian tapas' at Papa J's , which calls itself the first restaurant of its kind, pre-dating Dishoom in London.
A cynic might say you can call anything tapas if you put it on a little plate, but we find the place pleasantly earnest. The one-day carnival each May is described as the largest of its kind in the country, and has been running since the s.
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