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38 High Town Road Luton

38 High Town Road June 2011
38 High Town Road June 2011

38 High Town Road stands on the corner of Burr Street. In 1885 it was a boot maker's shop. By 1903 Janes Brothers had a sewing machine repairing business on the premises, which was still in existence as late as the Second World War. the property was subsequently a model shop then an engineer's consulting office. At the time of writing [2011] it is a hairdresser's shop.

The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. The valuer visiting 38 High Town Road [DV1/R59/41] found it owned and occupied by Janes Brothers Limited, a firm of sewing machine repairers which also owned 40 and 42 High Town Road. They had previously leased the premises, for which they had paid £105 per annum on a fourteen year lease from 1919. The site was on the corner of Burr Street.

The premises had two basements measuring, respectively, 14 feet by 13 feet and 14 feet by 5 feet. The ground floor contained a shop divided into two areas measuring 8 feet by 15 feet and 8 feet by 6 feet, an office measuring 6 feet 9 inches by 13 feet and a work space measuring 14 feet by 27 feet.

The first floor comprised a motor room measuring 14 feet by 4 feet, a work space measuring 14 feet by 35 feet, a store measuring 14 feet 6 inches square and a back store measuring 12 feet 6 inches by 13 feet. Two stores pay on the second floor, measuring, respectively, 13 feet by 11 feet and 13 feet by 12 feet. The business used two motors each rated at two horsepower and forty five feet of 1½ inches shafting.

Directories for Bedfordshire were published every few years from 1839, for example, the beginning of the 20th century has directories for 1903, 1906, 1910 and 1914. Countywide directories ceased to be published during the Second World War, the last for Bedfordshire being in 1940. Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service has directories just for Luton for 1939, 1950, 1960, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1974 and 1975. The first street numbers in High Town Road begin to appear in directories in 1885.

  • 1885: John Turney, boot maker;
  • 1890: John Turney, boot maker;
  • 1894: John Turney, boot maker;
  • 1903: Janes Brothers, sewing machine and bicycle agents, makers and repairers, machinists and engineers;
  • 1906: Janes Brothers, sewing machine repairers and engineers;
  • 1910: Janes Brothers, sewing machine repairers;
  • 1914: Janes Brothers, sewing machine repairers;
  • 1920: Janes Brothers, sewing machine repairers;
  • 1924: Janes Brothers Limited, sewing machine repairers;
  • 1928: Janes Brothers Limited, sewing machine repairers;
  • 1931: Janes Brothers Limited, sewing machine repairers;
  • 1936: Janes Brothers Limited, sewing machine repairers;
  • 1939: Janes Brothers Limited;
  • 1950: Bowman Models Limited;
  • 1960: George P. Brown & Partners Limited, design and consulting engineers; V. S. Engineering Limited, precision and production engineering equipment;
  • 1965: vacant;
  • 1968: vacant;
  • 1972: not listed;
  • 1974: not listed;
  • 2011: Barber’s Corner, unisex hairdressers