6 High Town Road Luton

4 and 6 High Town Road, June 2011

6 High Town Road has housed a number of different businesses. At the time of writing [2011] it houses a taxi firm.

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 6 High Town Road [DV1/R59/43] found it owned by the trustees of William Farmer and occupied by Ernest Armstrong, a printer, who paid £29 per annum, which had been raised from £26 in December 1926.

The ground floor shop measured 12 feet by 11 feet and the cellar beneath was not used. A kitchen and a scullery completed the ground floor accommodation and on the first floor were two bedrooms. Clearly Armstrong and his family lived on the premises.

Outside lay a printing house. The ground floor had two rooms each measuring 8 feet 6 inches by 17 feet. The first floor room measured 8 feet 6 inches by 21 feet.

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 but it looks as if there was some renumbering of properties on the odd side of the road between 1890 and 1894.

• 1890: William Robinson, straw block maker;
• 1894: William Robinson junior, straw hat block manufacturer;
• 1898: William Robinson junior, straw hat block manufacturer;
• 1903: Charles Moore, printer;
• 1906: Charles Moore, printer;
• 1910: Charles Moore, printer;
• 1914: Armstrong Brothers, printers;
• 1920: Armstrong Brothers, printers;
• 1924: Ernest Armstrong, printer;
• 1928: Ernest Armstrong, printer;
• 1931: Ernest Armstrong, printer;
• 1936: Ernest Armstrong, printer;
• 1939: Albert Timms;
• 1940: Albert Timms, florist;
• 1950: Bert Timms;
• 1960: vacant;
• 1965: Three Star Radio Taxis;
• 1968: Three Star Radio Taxis;
• 1972: Lunar Module Limited;
• 1974: Lunar Module Limited;
• 1975: vacant;
• 2011: 555-555 taxi hire.