Thursday 24 January 2008

Luton Hoo Walled Garden

In 1763, the Earl of Bute purchased the Luton Hoo estate in south Bedfordshire and commissioned the celebrated gardener, `Capability` Brown, to landscape the grounds. A five-acre octagonal walled garden was also established. This flourished under subsequent owners and, together with the large glasshouses, provided flowers, fruit and vegetables for the estate for almost two centuries. The garden became famous in its time and its reputation was such that any gardener who had worked on the Luton Hoo estate was sure to find employment.

Many ladies and gentlemen from the higher echelons of society were invited to the Hoo for weekend visits; they would often spend time admiring the grounds before taking tea in the beautiful tea house nearby. In 1903 Luton Hoo was sold to Sir Julius Wernher whose family still owns the estate, although the mansion has now been sold to Elite Hotels.

Sadly, after the Second World War, the gardens became overgrown and the sturdy glasshouses, which The Victorian Society considers to be `probably the last survival of this type of lavish glasshouse range` were in need of repair. It became obvious that there was much of historical and horticultural interest at the site that should not be lost; the gardens needed to be brought back to life, not as a society showcase but as a local amenity.

In 2000, research began into the history of the gardens and much archival material has already been found. Also a team of volunteers is doing practical work to reclaim the land. The garden opens its gates regularly to visitors and the team is working to encourage a wide involvement with community groups. It is hoped that this nationally important site will become `a vibrant tourist attraction and valuable local resource`.

More can be found out about this fascinating project on the website: www.lutonhoowalledgarden.org.uk
Or phone 01582 721443

Posted for Anne

Tuesday 22 January 2008

Limbury-cum-Biscot

The Story of Limbury-cum-Biscot
by Colin R. Cook
Published by Colin R. Cook in conjunction with the Book Castle, Dunstable 2007
£8.99

Limbury and Biscot were hamlets just outside Luton but both have now been urbanized and the former `rural paradise` has given way to housing and traffic. However, the river Lea can still be found, the Moat House, the oldest secular building in Luton, looks in many ways as it always did and the peaceful churchyard still gives Biscot a countryside feeling.

Even before the Norman Conquest, Limbury and Biscot would have been known to travellers along the Icknield Way and evidence of Roman occupation has been found. Saxons lived here and remained in control even though, in the ninth century AD, the boundary that separated them from the Vikings was in the immediate vicinity. The book gives details of the entry for Biscot (Bissopescote) in the Domesday book and then goes on to note the names of the manors and landowners who managed the area during the following eight hundred years.

Of particular interest is the Moat House which can be traced back to 1370-1400 AD. The original purpose of the building is disputed but the quality of the richly-moulded roof beams suggests that this was more than just a manor or farm house. There is speculation that a nunnery was set up in the area. Although there is no proof of this, it is said that `on dark foggy winters’ evenings you may still see black hooded figures hurrying along Nunnery Lane responding to the distant ring of a church bell`. Nowadays the Moat House is a very popular carvery and the old beams can still be seen.

There is an interesting chapter on rural industries: tanning, straw plaiting, hat making and osier gathering. The author has gathered information about schools in the hamlets and reproduced some entries from the log books. Biscot church, built in 1868, is described in some detail and, at the back of the book, is a note from the `Friends of Biscot Churchyard` who maintain comprehensive burial books from 1870 and have maps to help relatives to locate graves.

Sadly Colin Cook died just before Limbury-cum-Biscot was published but the book is a pleasing record of his love and dedication.


Reviewed by Anne Allsopp.

Sunday 13 January 2008

From Grand to Grove - entertaining south Bedfordshire

From Grand to Grove Entertaining South Bedfordshire
by Eddie Grabham
published by The Book Castle, Dunstable in 2007 at £16.99

Eddie Grabham’s book was published to coincide with the opening of the new Grove Theatre in Dunstable (which, incidentally, is doing very well - 01582 609351).

It has been claimed that Dunstable was `the cradle of English drama`. This was because Geoffrey de Gorham’s miracle play, based on the martyrdom of St Katherine of Alexandria and performed in Dunstable in the twelfth century, is thought to have been the first English production in the vernacular.

In December 1898 the much-loved Grand Theatre was opened by Lillie Langtry. It was near the Luton railway stations and, therefore, easily accessible to people from the surrounding area. It was demolished in 1957 and remained the only purpose-built theatre in the south of the county until the Grove Theatre was opened. However, live theatre could be enjoyed at other venues, for example at Dunstable’s Little Theatre and Queensway Hall, Leighton Buzzard’s Exchange Theatre and Library Theatre and Luton’s Alma and Library Theatre.

The author goes on to describe the age of film going. The first permanent cinema in Bedfordshire was opened in Luton in 1909 with the unimaginative name of the Anglo-American Electric Picture Palace. Some doubted whether the new `flicks` would be popular but they certainly were as the title of the next chapter in the book indicates: `South Bedfordshire goes Movie Crazy`. The book names local cinemas which became significant parts of people’s lives in Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard, Luton and Toddington in the first half of the twentieth century, a real trip down memory lane! Cinemas certainly played a considerable role in boosting morale during the Second World War. They also provided `a valuable channel for essential propaganda`.

The heyday of the cinema was challenged by television. One by one the lovely old cinemas, with their beautiful artistic interiors, closed and took on other lives, for example as ballrooms, bingo halls or nightclubs. Films were still shown but were more likely to be found at multiplexes.

Eddie Grabham’s book is full of delightful photographs. There are also mentions of famous personalities who came to perform on a Luton stage: Julie Andrews, Johnny Dankworth and Cleo Lane, Ken Dodd, Warren Mitchell and Sam Wanamaker to name a few. Recently, the actor Brian Blessed has shown a particular interest in the new Grove Theatre in Dunstable.

This book is full of memories but is also a social history of one aspect of Bedfordshire life in the twentieth century.


Reviewed by Anne Allsopp

Buy this book from The Castle Bookshop, Dunstable - see links to bookshops on the right.