The Tenpin Bowling Alley at Stopsley, Luton.

The Tenpin Bowling Alley at Stopsley, Luton.

This picture may jog some memories. Does any members rember he bowling alley?

It was taken by a Luton News photographer after fire destroyed the building in 1967.

Luton News Photo/Geoff Cox

Some of the first homes on Luton’s Farley Hill Estate in the early 1950s.

The road shown in the photo is Priestleys , one of the last streets to be built, on the estate, lived in one of the houses at top left hand side , the blocks of 4 houses had 3 x 3 bedroom houses and the 1 middle houses had 4 bedrooms , extra bedroom above alley between houses 2 and 3 , great estate in its day

TONY CORDWELL

Then and Recently.

Then and Recently. Two old buildings that still stand on the corners of Havelock Rd & North Street. In the past they served as a Cardboard box factory on one corner & and on the opposite corner A Children’s sick & convalescent home.

STEVE J ROBERTS.

Ritz

Ritz closed in 1971 when the ABC in George Street was tripled, and was converted into a night club under a variety of names . Sands, Tropicana Beach, Colosseum, The Zone. Following extensive refurbishment 2000/2001 it reopened as a major Chicago Rock Cafe and Liquid Nightclub.

Luton Clarence.

At the meeting on 11th April 1885 when the club was formed, the need for a youth policy was set out in a speech by J.C. Lomax. As the popularity of football grew, so did the number of local clubs who could feed Luton Town F.C. with players. One local club that provided many Luton Town players was Luton Clarence.

The attached photo is from 1905 and shows Luton Clarence at Luton Town’s Dunstable Road ground after winning the Beds Senior Cup for the first time. The had just beaten Luton Amateurs 2 1 in the replay. Clarence would win Beds Cup 8 times in total, the last being in 1921. They won titles in every league they played in.

There are at least 4 players who played for Luton Town in the photo. There might be another 3 or 4 but surnames only in the newspaper report frustratingly leaves some doubt.

You will see in the background some goods wagons on the railway line sidings. The cupola of the Dallow Road School can be seen in the background. The school was built on the site of the first LTFC ground, Dallow Lane, 1885-97.

FARLEY HILL.

In medieval times a hospital was built on land at the top of Farley Hill, less than a mile west from here. During the 1500s it became the property of the Rotherams, an important Luton family. By the 1840s most of the Farley Hill land had passed to the Crawleys. It is now a housing estate.

In 1156 Henry II gave French monks land at Farley to build a hospital and chapel. During medieval times, a ‘hospital’ was a place where travelers, especially pilgrims, could stay and rest on their journey. William Wenlock was Master of Farley Hospital from 1377-1392 and his tomb is in St. Mary’s Church.

The hospital stood in what is now Farley Farm Road and its lands covered the present Farley Hill estate and Wyperley* (*spelling of that time) (now Stockwood)

By 1522 George Rotheram had leased the site. In 1579 Queen Elizabeth I allowed the property to be split up and the hospital was demolished, Farley farmhouse was then built By the 1840s the farm and most of the Farley Hill land belonged to the Crawley family. The barn at Farley Farm was demolished in 1948.

The construction of the estate started that year.

It was carefully landscaped with wide roads and plenty of open spaces. Designed to house 8,000 to 10,000 people, local councilors claimed that the estate would be one of the best in the country.

TRAM LINES AROUND LUTON

1916..TRAM ACCIDENT AT junction-of-midland-rd
MANCHESTER ST
1907 TRACK LAYING
GEORGE ST 1932
taking-up-the-tramlines-in-george-street-1932
Tram in Upper George Street next to the Christ Church.
Trams – Workmen digging up the tracks.