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50 High Town Road Luton

50 and 52 High Town Road June 2011
50 and 52 High Town Road June 2011

50 High Town Road stands on the north corner with Duke Street. During the 20th century the shop was at first a boot and shoe maker's, then a greengrocer's. At the time of writing [2011] the shop is a hairdresser's.

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 50 High Town Road found it owned, like 52 High Town Road next door, by Walter George Heley, who was a boot and shoe maker. The shop, on the corner of Duke Street, had a return frontage of 15 feet.

Cellars were used “for lumber”. The ground floor comprised a private reception room and a shop measuring 16 feet 6 inches by 14 feet 6 inches. A further reception room and a bedroom lay on the first floor along with a bathroom “fitted on landing”. The attic contained two bedrooms. The living accommodation suggests that Heley and his family lived on the premises. A washhouse lay outside.

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.

  • 1894: George Heley, boot and shoemaker;
  • 1898: George Heley, boot and shoemaker;
  • 1903: Walter George Heley, boot and shoemaker;
  • 1906: Walter George Heley, boot and shoemaker;
  • 1910: Walter George Heley, boot and shoemaker;
  • 1914: Walter George Heley, boot and shoemaker;
  • 1920: Walter George Heley, boot and shoemaker;
  • 1924: Walter George Heley, boot and shoemaker;
  • 1928: Walter George Heley, boot and shoemaker;
  • 1931: Walter George Heley, boot and shoemaker;
  • 1936: Walter George Heley, boot and shoemaker;
  • 1939: S. B. J. Manton;
  • 1940: Stanley Manton, fruiterer and greengrocer;
  • 1950: S. Manton;
  • 1960: S. Manton, fruiterer;
  • 1965: S. Manton, fruiterer and greengrocer;
  • 1968: S. Manton, fruiterer;
  • 1972: Bird’s fruiterers; William Bird;
  • 1974: The Fruit Shop; John M. Longley;
  • 1975: The Fruit Shop; John M. Longley;
  • 2011: Route Sixty 6, hairdresers.