Facts and places of interest in Luton

Interesting Facts about Luton

• The May Bank Holiday Luton Carnival is the largest one day carnival held in Europe.

• In days gone by Luton was well known for its hat making and Luton Footbal Club is known as 'The Hatters'.

• Luton Town Football Club was the first professional football club in the south of England founded in 1885.

• Paul Young the singer was born in Luton and his first job was at Luton's Vauxhall Motors plant and it was this car firm that funded his first band.

• Monty Panesar the cricketer was born in Luton

• Luton is remembered fondly for the Campari advert which starred Lorraine Chase who was asked 'Were you truly wafted here from paradise?' and she replied 'Nah, Luton Airport!'

• The famous comedian Kenneth Williams of the Carry on films was evacuated to Luton during World War II and attended school there.

• Lutonians are known for dropping the "T" in many words, "Luton" being one of them. The origins of this are thought to go back to the industrial times when the town was the centre of the hat making industry. Hat workers engaged in the manufacture of straw boaters routinely put straw in their mouths and got into the habit of not pronouncing their T's so that they didn't spit out the piece of straw.

• Apparently the phrase "Mad as a Hatter" came from Luton. The hat workers were exposed to Mercury, making them a little crazy!

• Eric Morecambe of the Morecambe and Wise comedy duo was an avid supporter of Luton Football Club. He became the club's director and often used the club in comedy sketches. There is even a suite at the club named in his honor.

• One of the UK's most notorious prisoners was born in Luton in 1952

• The very first Domino's Pizza in the UK opened in Luton in 1985 and they are still going strong after 20 years!
  

Places of Interest in and around Luton

Wardown Park

Wardown Park is situated on the River Lea close to Luton town centre. The park has a museum within its grounds (see below) and a lake and formal gardens. Ducks and other waterfoul live on the lake which is the centrepiece of the park. The lake was created by widening the River Lea. There is also a children's play area.

Luton Museum and Art Gallery

Luton Museum and Art Gallery is situated within the beautifully landscaped Wardown Park close to Luton town centre. The museum is in a large Victorian house. The museum has many exhibits covering the people and their lives and the traditional crafts of the area over the past 150 years including hat making, the lace industry and the car industry. The museum also has exhibits on archaelogy and natural history from long ago. There is also a gallery dedicated to the local Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire regiment.

The ground floor of the museum is used as the exhibition gallery which holds temporary exhibitions throughout the year.

Stockwood Park

Stockwood Park is a large municipal park located close to Junction 10 of the M1. There are beautiful period formal gardens to explore and there is a craft museum in the park and also the Mossman Collection (see below). There is also an athletics track, an 18-hole golf course, several rugby pitches and areas of open space.

The Mossman Collection

The Mossman Collection is located in Stockwood Park and exhibits original vehicles from the 18th Century through to the 20th Century. It is the largest and most significant vehicle collection of its kind in the country.

Luton Carnival

Luton Carnival is held on the late May Bank Holiday and is the largest one-day carnival in Europe. The procession with floats, bands and dancers starts at Wardown Park and then heads down the New Bedford Road and goes around the Town Centre via St George's Square, then back up the Bedford Road to finish where it started. There are also stalls and music stages all around the town centre and in the park.

 Dunstable Downs

The Dunstable Downs are a chalk escarpment forming the north-eastern edge of the Chiltern Hills. The Dunstable Downs are 243m (797 ft) high and form the highest point of Bedfordshire. Due to the height of the hills Dunstable Downs had a station in the Shutter Telegraph chain which linked the Admiralty in London to the port of Great Yarmouth during 1808 - 1814.

Dunstable Downs are very popular for kite flying, hand gliding and paragliding due to the strong winds. London gliding Club also has a base at the foot of the hills where traditional gliding and air activities take off from.

Dunstable Downs are also home to a wide variety of wildlife including many rare wild flowers and butterfly species. The Dunstable Downs are managed by the National Trust.

Woodside Farm and Wildfowl Park

Woodside Farm and Wildfowl Park is located in a village called Slip End near Luton. It has many rare breeds of wildfowl set in seven acres of land. There are also many farm animals including pigs, llamas, cows, chickens, goats and rabits, to name but a few, along with monkeys and racoons. It is a great place for a day out with the family and there is an adventure play area and crazy golf area too.

Whipsnade Zoo

ZSL Whipsnade Zoo can be spotted from miles to the north from the B489 Aylesbury to Dunstable road and from the air because of its huge white chalk lion carved into the side of the Dunstable Downs. Whipsnade is one of Europe's largest wildlife conservation parks, covering 600 acres, and is home to over six thousand animals, many of which are endangered species in the wild. The majority of the animals are kept within sizeable enclosures; others roam freely around the park.

Due to the park's size visitors can spend the day walking around the park, use the Zoo's bus service or drive their own cars between the various animal enclosures or they can ride the narrow-gauge train.

Whipssnade is owned by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) which is a charity devoted to conservation of animals and their habitats.

Whipsnade Tree Cathedral

Whipsnade Tree Cathedral is a 9.5 acre (38,000 m²) garden in the actual village of Whipsnade. It is planted in the approximate form of a cathedral, with grass avenues for nave, chancel, transept, chapels and cloisters and so called walls of different species of trees.