View over Luton Part 1

Image: © Roland Pilcher Taken: 1 Feb 1979

This picture was taken in February 1979 and shows the view over Luton Village from just above Beacon Road. The man crossing Beacon road has just descended the steps of Sugar Loaf Hill and is about to go down Church Hill. He is wrapped up against the cold which is also testified by the odd patch of snow. The coach yard on the other side of Beacon Road was used by Pilchers Coaches. Just above the furthest coaches can be seen some buses belonging to the Maidstone & District company. The long sheds beyond the buses are part of the Maidstone & District bus depot but they were originally built to house the trams of the Chatham & District Light Railway Company. To the right of the sheds is a building with two large gable ends. This was built as a power station and it housed the steam engines which provided electricity for the trams. The tram depot was built in the early nineteen hundreds, though the actual tram sheds looked surprisingly modern. In the background is the chalk grassland known as the Coney Banks.

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