62-461: High Town may refer to: High Town, Luton , Bedfordshire, England High Town, Hereford , Herefordshire, England Part of Bridgnorth , Shropshire, England High Town, South Hampton , New Hampshire, U.S. See also [ edit ] Hightown (disambiguation) [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with
124-539: A 'Jug Bar' in the centre. It is now an Irish pub, with Gaelic games shown on its TV screens. The Well is a double-fronted nineteenth century pub that for most of its life was called The Blockers Arms, and for a few years before its current incarnation was a bar and nightclub called Déjà Vu. The Freeholder was a nineteenth century pub on York Street (at its junction with High Town Road), which became an Indian restaurant after owner Whitbread sold its pubs in 2001. The business reverted to its original name upon reopening as
186-550: A 1 in 119 gradient from the south over 3 miles (4.8 km) takes the line to 340 feet (104 m) above sea level. This route opened for coal traffic on 15 April 1857, goods on 4 May, and passengers on 8 May. The section between Leicester and Bedford is still part of the Midland Main Line. While this took some of the pressure off the route through Rugby, the GNR insisted that passengers for London alight at Hitchin, buying tickets in
248-473: A Community Interest Company. It existed from 2014 to 2017. Luton at Large was a 'what's on' guide for the town published by JNB Publishing (now trading as Treacle Factory). Tropical FM TV, which describes itself as an interactive internet-based radio station, used to operate from a building on Midland Road. The Luton Today website covers news and sport within High Town ward. From 1998 to 2018, High Town
310-598: A High Town Fun Day in 2010 and 2011, where it revived a tug-of-war contest. The Luton-based 33 Arts organisation ran a High Town Festival in July 2013. A coalition of local organisations and faith groups came together to organise the July 2014 High Town Festival and it has been an annual fixture since then on the first Saturday of July. The annual Luton Beer and Cider Festival was held at two venues in High Town: The Drill Hall on Old Bedford Road until its closure, then
372-761: A bar in late 2012. but ceased trading in spring 2015. In 2019, the pub was converted into bed and breakfast accommodation called the Eagle Hotel, with a café where the bar used to be. Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line ( MML ), sometimes also spelt Midland Mainline , is a major railway line from London to Sheffield in Yorkshire via the East Midlands . It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester , Derby / Nottingham and Chesterfield . Express passenger services on
434-459: A dye works off York Street. St Matthew's School on Havelock Road had separate infants and boys and girls departments. The Methodist Chapel on High Town Road had an attached school for girls and infants. Next door was a cottage hospital. A water works had been built off Crescent Road. Detached residences with gardens sloping down to the River Lea had been built on Villa Road and New Bedford Road. One of
496-744: A high proportion of young adult residents, compared to the average across Luton. About a third of Luton's population was involved in producing hats in the industry's heyday in the 1870s, but by 1999 this had declined to about 1,000, around 0.5% of the population at that time. However, there are still hat makers and associated trades in High Town. Artists living in the area include Abi Spendlove, Asiya Clarke and Zena Jay Ellis. In 2010, two 'pop-up' (temporary) community art spaces were created in empty shops on High Town Road by Luton Borough Council, Luton Culture and community interest company Meanwhile, Space, involving High Town-based artists Abi Spendlove, Fiona Martin and Zena Jay Ellis, amongst others. One of
558-526: A mix of small industrial units and housing. The Midland Railway arrived in 1868 and a second station was opened immediately north of the Bute Street station. The line's construction necessitated some re-routing of roads and demolition of property in High Town. Direct pedestrian access to Luton town centre from High Town Road was now via a lattice–sided footbridge. First edition Ordnance Survey maps surveyed in 1878 show two iron foundries off Cobden Street and
620-488: A private dental surgery, U Smile Dental Practice on Old Bedford Road. Bells Close Recreation Ground has a modern playground and 'trim trail', and is popular with footballers and dog walkers. People's Park is designated a County Wildlife Site , because of the occurrence of a rare plant species called the Great Pignut (Latin: Bunium persicum ), which gives this piece of land limited protection from development. Pope's Meadow
682-522: A quieter, older world of small shops and terraced houses, a mixed area that provided work, shelter and leisure to people engaged in the hat trade that flourished in Luton until the late thirties ". From 2008 to 2011, Luton Council spent money to renovate public spaces in the ward after many years of neglect. In 2011 Luton Council finished its largest programme for the area, which involved the refurbishment of shop fronts and re-paving of roads. Shop refurbishment
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#1732849139471744-477: A reputation for real ale and good conversation. It first appears in a register of alehouse licences in 1824. The Gardeners Call has a beer garden to the rear. It originated from a beerhouse first licensed in 1869 and has been a public house since 1956. The Painters Arms , (rebuilt 1913), has a part glazed brick exterior in various shades of green, some of which is laid in horizontal rusticated bands. The interior has several interesting surviving features, including
806-501: A shortage of labour and finance, and only £900,000 (equivalent to £108,448,661 in 2023) was available for the construction, approximately £15,000 for each mile (equivalent to £1,807,478 in 2023. To reduce construction costs, the railway followed natural contours, resulting in many curves and gradients. Seven bridges and one tunnel were required, with 60 ft (18 m) cuttings at Desborough and Sharnbrook. There are also major summits at Kibworth, Desbrough and at Sharnbrook where
868-583: A thermo-electric works on a site between York Street and Cobden Street and a cardboard box works off Clarendon Road. The High Town area is roughly bounded by Richmond Hill and the northern edge of People's Park/Pope's Meadow to the north, the Midland Main Line railway to the south, the A6, New Bedford Road to the west, and Hitchin Road to the east. The land rises south to north from a low of 112 metres (367 ft) where
930-461: A twice hourly commuter service from London St Pancras to Corby , which is branded as EMR Connect, using Class 360 Desiro electric trains. Thameslink provides frequent, 24-hour commuter services south of Bedford as part of its Thameslink route to London Bridge , Gatwick Airport , Brighton , and Sutton , using 8-car and 12-car electric Class 700 trains. CrossCountry runs an hourly service between Derby and Sheffield on its route between
992-598: A weekly basis, a short distance away, at Hope Church on Villa Road. The Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain has a branch on Cromwell Hill. The Friends of High Town residents' association meets monthly at the High Town Methodist Church. The Lea Valley Masonic Lodge is based at The Pavilion on Bowling Green Lane. There is one GP practice in High Town, the Wenlock Surgery on Wenlock Street, and
1054-609: Is about Irish emigrants in The Painters Arms and The Freeholder pubs on High Town Road during the late 1980s. 1st Luton Sea Scouts, Luton's only sea scout group, has its headquarters on Bowling Green Lane. The group's first meeting took place in 1909, in the bedroom of a house in Clarendon Road in High Town. Alban Neve Deaf Association, which hosted Luton Deaf Club, was based at a purpose-built building on Old Bedford Road from 1962 until 2017. Luton Deaf Club now meets on
1116-427: Is absolutely abhorrent and wrong. Anyone that commits any act of anti-Semitism, that makes anti-Semitic remarks, is auto excluded from the party and an inquiry follows immediately". Gurbuz apologised and resigned from Labour the next day. Three years later, she wrote an article for The Independent , in which she explained that she grew up with people who normalised bigoted remarks, and that education and interaction were
1178-471: Is an area of warehouses and factories, set to be redeveloped. Planning documents have named the area High Town East Village. Gillam Court, a development of low rise apartment buildings, was completed in 2017. The ring road and railway line physically separate High Town from Luton town centre, but there is pedestrian access through the railway station to Bute Street and the Luton Mall shopping complex. There
1240-602: Is an inner area of Luton immediately north of Luton railway station , and a ward of the Borough of Luton, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire , England. The area and ward are officially spelled as two separate words. This is also the most common spelling of the name, but some organisations and businesses use 'Hightown', e.g. Hightown Baptist Church and Hightown Community, Sports & Arts Centre. Around 1841, landowner Frederick Burr began to sell off fields in High Town for development. Burr Street and Duke Street were two of
1302-457: Is an open, sloping area of grassland popular with sledgers in snowy weather. It normally hosts Luton Borough Council's annual fireworks display in November. Wardown Park could be considered Luton's main park, due its size and central location. People's Park (incorporating Bells Close Recreation Ground and Pope's Meadow) and Wardown Park each hold a Green Flag Award , recognising them as amongst
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#17328491394711364-402: Is effectively a 'green chain' of parks and open spaces across the top of High Town. Bells Close Recreation Ground adjoins the hilly, wooded area of People's Park, from where access can be gained to Pope's Meadow. Immediately west of Pope's Meadow across Old Bedford Road is Wardown Park . High Town ward electoral district returns two councillors to Luton Borough Council. In addition to High Town,
1426-531: Is expected to cost £1.3 billion. In November 2021 the Government announced its Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands which made a number of proposals for the Midland Main Line. These included a commitment to complete the stalled electrification work, an upgrade to digital signalling, and a connection to High Speed 2 . The latter would see a junction built south of East Midlands Parkway station rather than
1488-703: Is first recorded in print in 1848 in Bradshaw's railway almanack of that year. In 1849 it begins to be mentioned regularly in newspapers such as the Derby Mercury . In 1867, the Birmingham Journal uses the term to describe the new railway running into St Pancras railway station . In 1868, the term was used to describe the Midland Railway main route from North to South through Sheffield and also on routes to Manchester, Leeds and Carlisle. Under British Rail
1550-546: Is to be expanded. Ilkeston between Nottingham and Langley Mill was opened on 2 April 2017. Two new stations are planned: Some new stations have been proposed: Unlike the West Coast and East Coast Main Lines, the Midland Main Line has not been electrified along its full length. The line was electrified as far as Bedford in the early 1980s, but services relied on diesel traction beyond that. In 2011 work commenced to extend
1612-685: The Beeching era , the lines to Buxton and via Millers Dale during most years presented an alternate (and competing) main line from London to Manchester, carrying named expresses such as The Palatine and the " Blue Pullman " diesel powered Manchester – London service (the Midland Pullman ). Express trains to Leeds and Scotland such as the Thames–Clyde Express mainly used the Midland's corollary Erewash Valley line , returned to it, and then used
1674-687: The Buxton line who sought to monopolise on the West Coast Main Line . In 1870, the Midland Railway opened a new route from Chesterfield to Rotherham which went through Sheffield via the Bradway Tunnel . The mid-1870s, saw the Midland line extended northwards through the Yorkshire Dales and Eden Valley on what is now called the Settle–Carlisle Railway . Before the line closures of
1736-537: The Settle–Carlisle line . Expresses to Edinburgh Waverley , such as The Waverley travelled through Corby and Nottingham. Most Leicester-Nottingham local passenger trains were taken over by diesel units from 14 April 1958, taking about 51 minutes between the two cities. When the Great Central Main Line closed in 1966, the Midland Main Line became the only direct main-line rail link between London and
1798-656: The West Midlands Trains ' Crewe – London Euston services, to cater for the growing commuter market. North Northamptonshire is a major growth area, with over 7,400 new homes planned to be built in Wellingborough and 5,500 new homes planned for Kettering. Highlights include: The Thameslink Programme has lengthened the platforms at most stations south of Bedford to 12-car capability. St Pancras, Cricklewood, Hendon, and Luton Airport Parkway were already long enough, but bridges at Kentish Town mean it cannot expand beyond
1860-554: The East Midlands and parts of South Yorkshire . The Beeching cuts and electrification of the West Coast Main Line brought an end to the marginally longer London–Manchester service via Sheffield . In 1977, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Nationalised Industries recommended considering electrification of more of Britain's rail network , and by 1979 BR presented a range of options that included electrifying
1922-523: The German embassy in early 2011. Shop 33 on High Town Road, which existed from 2013 to 2015, sold works by local artists and craftspeople. It was run by Luton Community Arts Trust. The Flamingo Arts group took over the premises in 2015 and ran it as an arts workshop until 2017. High Town used to host an annual festival that included a tug-of-war competition held between teams representing different pubs. The Friends of High Town residents' association ran
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1984-472: The Hightown Community, Sports and Arts Centre until 2018 (the beer festival's 36th year) and it has not had a permanent home since. High Town Matters was an occasional newspaper, published by anti-racism organisation Hope Not Hate , and delivered free of charge to homes and meeting places in High Town. Living Luton TV was an internet television channel for the town, based on Midland Road and run as
2046-558: The London extension cost £9 million (equivalent to £1023 million in 2023). As traffic built up, the Midland Railway opened a new deviation just north of Market Harborough railway station on 26 June 1885 to remove the flat crossing of the Rugby and Stamford Railway . Plans by the Midland Railway to build a direct line from Derby to Manchester were thwarted in 1863 by the builders of
2108-811: The Luton Haiku, a daily online ode to the town. Poet and musician John Hegley , who was brought up in Luton, used to spend time in the Scandinavia Café on High Town Road. He immortalised the eatery in a poem that is displayed on the home page of its website. He returned to 'the Scandi' for the High Town Arts and Crafts Fair in December 2012, where he performed and signed copies of his latest poetry collection. Seán Ó Roideacháin's poem 'High Town Road' ('Baile Ard Luton' in Irish)
2170-497: The Luton area. The current Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner is Festus Akinbusoye . The 2011 Census recorded a population of 9,046 people living in the High Town ward, an increase of 27.8% on the 2001 Census figure. This was the second highest population increase recorded in an electoral ward in Luton between 2001 and 2011, the largest increase being in South ward. High Town has
2232-717: The Midland Main Line are rising faster than the national average, with continued increases predicted. In 2006, the Strategic Rail Authority produced a Route Utilisation Strategy for the Midland Main Line to propose ways of meeting this demand; Network Rail started a new study in February 2008 and this was published in February 2010. After electrification, the North Northamptonshire towns (Wellingborough, Kettering, and Corby) are planned to have an additional 'Outer Suburban service' into London St Pancras, similar to
2294-651: The Midland Main Line from London to Yorkshire by 2000. By 1983, the line had been electrified from Moorgate to Bedford, but proposals to continue electrification to Nottingham and Sheffield were not implemented. The introduction of the High Speed Train ( HST ) in May 1983, following the Leicester area resignalling, brought about an increase of the ruling line speed on the fast lines from 90 miles per hour (145 km/h) to 110 miles per hour (177 km/h). Between 2001 and 2003,
2356-574: The Midland Railway relied upon a junction at Rugby with the London and Birmingham Railway line for access to the capital at London Euston . By the 1850s, the junction at Rugby had become severely congested. The Midland Railway employed Thomas Brassey to construct a new route from Leicester to Hitchin via Kettering , Wellingborough , and Bedford giving access to London via the Great Northern Railway from Hitchin. The Crimean War resulted in
2418-554: The Old Bedford Road meets Hucklesby Way to a high of 160 metres (520 ft) at the northern edge of People's Park. Hart Hill, which overlooks High Town from the east reaches 168 metres (551 ft). The underlying geology is a mix of two chalk formations called Holywell Nodular and New Pit. High Town Road from Midland Road up to Havelock Road and York Street is designated a conservation area. A study published in 2005 described High Town, in comparison to Luton town centre, as "
2480-482: The Plaza. The building was used as a warehouse prior to demolition in 1979. By 1922, High Town's development was largely complete. Frederic Street, Reginald Street and Clarendon Road had been laid out towards Pope's Meadow. High Town Road had housing up to its junction with Hitchin Road and nearby Ridgway Road followed on from North Street. The Norton College building had been converted to a hat works. Other industry included
2542-607: The South West and North East, and twice-hourly services between Nottingham and Derby, continuing to Birmingham and Cardiff. Northern runs an hourly service from Leeds to Nottingham via Barnsley and Alfreton. TransPennine Express also operates in the Sheffield area. The cities, towns and villages served by the MML are listed below. Stations in bold have a high usage. This table includes the historical extensions to Manchester (where it linked to
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2604-692: The West Coast Main Line) and Carlisle (via Leeds where it meets with the 'modern' East Coast Main Line). Network Rail groups all lines in the East Midlands and the route north as far as Chesterfield and south to London as route 19. The actual line extends beyond this into routes 10 and 11. Major civil engineering structures on the Midland Main Line include the following. Line-side train monitoring equipment includes hot axle box detectors (HABD) and wheel impact load detectors (WILD) ‘Wheelchex’, these are located as follows. For marketing and franchising, this
2666-475: The aims of the High Town Art for All project was to bring the shops back into use as retail spaces, which was successful. The scheme was awarded Best Community Project in Luton's Best 2010 Awards. There were a further two exhibitions in these former shops. One was by British artist Nigel Grimmer at the end of 2010. The other, by German artists Annette and Erasmus Schröter, was opened by the cultural attaché to
2728-484: The best green spaces in the UK. There are council-owned allotments just off Stockingstone Road, called Stockingstone Leisure Gardens. Plotholders at Stockingstone manage the day-to-day operation of the site in collaboration with Luton Borough Council. High Town Road remains a place to experience traditional pubs . The Bricklayers Arms is a haven for Luton Town fans when their team is playing at home, but otherwise revels in
2790-426: The building was demolished in 1970. Two tramlines ran from the centre of Luton through High Town from 1908 to 1932, mostly on single track lines with passing places. One line went along New Bedford Road to Wardown Park and the other along Midland Road and High Town Road to Round Green. A cinema called The Picturedrome and High Town Electric Theatre, opened on High Town Road in 1912. It closed in 1937 but reopened as
2852-555: The current 8-car platform length. West Hampstead Thameslink has a new footbridge and a new station building. In September 2014 the current Thameslink Great Northern franchise was awarded and trains on this route are currently operated by Thameslink . In 2018 the Thameslink network expanded when some Southern services merged into it. In 2013/14 Nottingham station was refurbished and the platforms restructured. As part of Wellingborough's Stanton Cross development, Wellingborough station
2914-454: The earliest side streets leading off High Town Road. Added impetus for development came with the railway. The Hertford, Luton and Dunstable Railway arrived from Dunstable at Luton′s first railway station in Bute Street in 1858. Two years later saw the line's completion to Hatfield . Soon after, Wenlock Street, Havelock Road, Dudley Street and North Street were laid out. The latter two had
2976-453: The electrification, including to both Corby and Nottingham. Increasing costs initially saw this terminated at Kettering in 2017, but in 2021 work began on extending electrification to Market Harborough with plans to extend further to Sheffield. In May 2022, a briefing to contractors was released ahead of an invitation to tender for Midland Mainline Electrification project work to extend electrification to Nottingham and Sheffield. This scheme
3038-506: The keys to tackling racism. The ward forms part of the parliamentary constituency of Luton South and the MP is Rachel Hopkins (Labour), who was elected in December 2019. Hopkins remained a High Town councillor for another 17 months, until a by-election could be held to find a replacement for her in that role. Labour's Olly Martins lived in High Town when he became the first elected Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire, which includes
3100-693: The line are operated by East Midlands Railway (EMR). The line is electrified between St Pancras and Corby, and the section south of Bedford forms a branch of the northern half of the Thameslink network , with a semi-fast service to Brighton and other suburban services. A northern part of the route, between Derby and Chesterfield, also forms part of the Cross Country Route operated by CrossCountry . Tracks from Nottingham to Leeds via Barnsley and Sheffield are shared with Northern . East Midlands Railway also operates regional and local services using parts of
3162-663: The line between Derby and Sheffield was upgraded from 100 miles per hour (161 km/h) to 110 miles per hour (177 km/h) as part of Operation Princess, the Network Rail funded CrossCountry route upgrade. In January 2009, a new station, East Midlands Parkway , was opened between Loughborough and Trent Junction, to act as a park-and-ride station for suburban travellers from East Midlands cities and to serve nearby East Midlands Airport . Since then, 125 miles per hour (201 km/h) running has been introduced on extended stretches. Improved signalling, increased number of tracks, and
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#17328491394713224-575: The line. The Midland Main Line is undergoing a major upgrade of new digital signalling and full line electrification from London to Sheffield. High Speed 2 was planned to branch onto the Midland Main Line at East Midlands Parkway railway station . The Midland Main Line was built in stages between the 1830s and the 1870s. The earliest section was opened by the Midland Counties Railway between Nottingham and Derby on 4 June 1839. On 5 May 1840
3286-477: The plots was for a St John′s College. High Town Road had been developed up to and beyond Jubilee Street by 1900. A school and dye works for straw plait had been built on Old Bedford Road. Across Hitchin Road there was scattered development on Crescent Rise, Hart Hill Drive and Hart Hill Lane. The Wesleyan Central Mission was built in 1903 near the Midland Road Railway Station. It closed in 1966 and
3348-464: The previous plan of an East Midlands Hub further north on the Toton sidings. This will allow HS2 services to connect to both Derby and Nottingham city centres directly using the MML for access, which was a criticism of the previous HS2 eastern leg proposal. The term Midland Main Line has been used from the late 1840s to describe any route of the Midland Railway on which express trains were operated. It
3410-567: The revival of proposals to extend electrification from Bedford to Sheffield are underway. Much of this £70 million upgrade, including some line-speed increases, came online on 9 December 2013 (see below). Network Rail published a Route Utilisation Strategy for freight in 2007; over the coming years a cross-country freight route will be developed enhancing the Birmingham to Peterborough Line , increasing capacity through Leicester, and remodelling Syston and Wigston junctions. Traffic levels on
3472-467: The same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=High_Town&oldid=1004314952 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages High Town, Luton High Town
3534-509: The section of the route from Trent Junction to Leicester was opened. The line at Derby was joined on 1 July 1840 by the North Midland Railway to Leeds Hunslet Lane via Chesterfield , Rotherham Masborough , Swinton , and Normanton . On 10 May 1844 the North Midland Railway , the Midland Counties Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway merged to form the Midland Railway . Without its own route to London,
3596-547: The short time available, to catch a GNR train to finish their journey. James Allport arranged a seven-year deal with the GN to run into Kings Cross for a guaranteed £20,000 a year (equivalent to £2,410,000 in 2023). Through services to London were introduced in February 1858. This line met with similar capacity problems at Hitchin as the former route via Rugby, so a new line was constructed from Bedford via Luton to St Pancras which opened on 1 October 1868. The construction of
3658-504: The term was used to define the route between St Pancras and Sheffield, but since then, Network Rail has restricted it in its description of Route 19 to the lines between St. Pancras and Chesterfield. The principal operator is East Midlands Railway , which operates four InterCity trains every hour from London St Pancras with two trains per hour to both Nottingham and Sheffield . EMR use Class 222 Meridian trains in various carriage formations for its InterCity services. EMR also operate
3720-630: The ward boundary extends north to include Wardown Park and Wardown Crescent and east of Hitchin Road to include Crescent Road and Pomfret Avenue. Cllr Andy Malcolm (Labour) has been a High Town councillor since May 2011 and Cllr Umme Ali (Labour) was elected in May 2021. Aysegul Gurbuz, a Labour councillor elected in High Town in May 2015, was suspended by the party in April 2016 after anti-Semitic comments were found on her Twitter account. The case came to national attention, with then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn telling BBC One's Andrew Marr Show : "Anti-Semitism
3782-527: Was in a style "befitting the Victorian heritage of much of High Town". Further along High Town Road beyond the conservation area and on the side streets and adjacent roads are terraces of Victorian houses , many traditionally built in Luton Grey brick. The Paths Estate, an area of 1970s local authority built flats and houses lies west of High Town Road between Wenlock Road and Mussons Path. East of High Town Road
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#17328491394713844-657: Was the home of Greenbank Music Village, a converted Wesleyan Chapel building which offered music tuition, rehearsal and recording studios, and a music shop. The owner of the business, Doog Moody, demolished the property and built four two-bedroom houses on the site. All of the music services that were found at the Cobden Street site are now on offer just outside High Town, from Moody's house in Round Green. The partly High Town-based instrumental punk band The Knockouts run music label High Town Records, produce cult fanzine Clod and
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