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16 unusual facts about Luton


Airspeed Oxford

A total of 8,586 Oxfords were built, with 4,411 by Airspeed at its Portsmouth factory, 550 at the Airspeed-run shadow factory at Christchurch, Dorset, 1,515 by de Havilland at Hatfield, 1,360 by Percival Aircraft at Luton and 750 by Standard Motors at Coventry.

Armstrong Whitworth F.K.3

Armstrong Whitworth were given a contract to build 150 aircraft with another 350 being built by Hewlett & Blondeau Limited at Luton.

BBC East

Local radio studios and television bureaux are also located in Chelmsford, Northampton, Ipswich, Luton and Milton Keynes.

Croydon Vocational Tower

These train operating companies provide services to the South Coast, Bedford, Manchester, Luton and Luton Airport, Gatwick Airport, and fast services to London Victoria and London Bridge.

Isuzu Fargo

Built in Luton, the Midi brought few changes to the Japanese Fargo and replaced the old Bedford CF van.

Isuzu Wizard

It was built starting in 1989 at the former Bedford Vehicles factory in Luton, England; it would become known as the IBC factory (Isuzu Bedford Company).

Kampfgeschwader 54

Between 29 July and 14 August 1942 it lost 6 bombers on missions against Bedford, Birmingham, Norwich, Southend, Hastings and Luton.

Kotli

Many Kotli city residents have ties to British nationals in the city of Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, Luton, Bedford, Watford and Birmingham.

Millennium Metaphors

Millennium Metaphors is the first album from Luton based hip hop group Phi Life Cypher.

Nestlé Tower

These train operating companies provide services to Brighton and the South Coast, Bedford, Luton, Luton Airport, Gatwick Airport and fast services to Victoria and London Bridge.

Pádraig Flynn

Also, unknown to Flynn, Gilmartin was actually watching The Late Late Show on Tara Television at his home in Luton.

Percival Vega Gull

With the publicity of the win, Percival set up a production line at larger premises at Luton.

Built by Percival Aircraft of Gravesend and Luton (after 1936 when Percival Aircraft became a Limited Company), the 'K-Series' Vega Gull was a development of their earlier 'D-Series' Gull.

Tony Monopoly

He was appearing at Caesar's Palace in Luton when he auditioned for Opportunity Knocks, a British television talent show, which he won on six consecutive occasions in the 1970s.

Vauxhall Cavalier

When the Cavalier was first introduced, the cars were built at Opel's plant in Belgium, but production quickly moved to Luton.

WRc

The organisation began in 1927 as the Water Pollution Research Laboratory (WPL), based in Luton, part of the Civil Service, with a remit of providing research and advice on sewage treatment.


1974–75 Luton Town F.C. season

Macdonald scored 31 during 1970–71 as Luton finished sixth in the Second Division, and was sold to Newcastle United at the end of the season to ease the club's financial worries.

1986–87 Luton Town F.C. season

Luton retained the kit worn by the club for the previous two seasons, manufactured by German apparel manufacturers Adidas and sponsored by Bedford.

2003–04 Luton Town F.C. season

January began with Luton beating Bradford City 2–1 in the FA Cup, ensuring the club reached the fourth round of the competition for the first time since the 1994–95 season.

On 13 February, preferred bidder Bill Tomlins stated that he hoped Luton would be out of administration within a week, assuming the handover of the club went smoothly.

The successful run of form coincided with welcome news for the club off the pitch, with confirmation from the Companies Court on 21 November that the administrators now had the power to sell the club to an appropriate bidder, safeguarding the future of Luton Town.

On 12 May Bill Tomlins, head of the consortium buying Luton Town, confirmed The Football League had formally approved the purchase of the club from administrative receivership.

2004–05 Luton Town F.C. season

On 12 May 2004, four days after the last game of the campaign, businessman Bill Tomlins completed his takeover of Luton, securing the immediate future of the club.

2011–12 Luton Town F.C. season

On 11 August, it was confirmed that Luton's first game of the season against AFC Telford United would be postponed due to stretched police resources in the wake of the 2011 England riots and a planned English Defence League march in Telford that same day.

Asher Hucklesby

Bond Street is now lost as a road in Luton, it would have run roughly where Primark now is.

Barton-Le-Clay Airfield

Luton Aircraft commenced construction of its two first aircraft under the management of W.L. Manuel, the Luton Buzzard and the Luton Minor.

Better Choice Parking

BCP also offered advance booking facilities for the on-airport car parks at Luton, East Midlands, Manchester, Cardiff and Southampton.

Brian Stein

Initially a winger, he soon moved into a central striking role where he formed successive prolific partnerships with Bob Hatton and then Steve White as Luton won the Second Division Championship in 1981/2.

Busiest airports in the United Kingdom by total passenger traffic

London Luton – Luton's usage has increased by around 900% between 1991 and 2006, however plans for another runway and new terminal were scrapped due to financial reasons.

C.H. Latimer-Needham

He left the RAF in 1935 and formed his second company, Luton Aircraft, at Barton-in-the-Clay, Bedfordshire, where he designed the Buzzard, Minor & Major.

Carlisle Lake District Airport

In October 2009 Andy Judge (former Leeds-Bradford, Bournemouth and Luton Airports Operations chief) took over as airport manager.

Charlie Watkins

Re-joining Luton in the early 1960s as part of the coaching staff, Watkins spent a short spell during the 1964–65 season as caretaker manager.

Conor Travers

Travers studied for his GCSEs at Cardinal Newman Catholic High School, Luton and he did his A-levels at Luton Sixth Form College.

Deena Payne

She used to tour with ex-Animals keyboard player Alan Price as a backing singer and she was a member of the novelty girl band Cats U.K., who scored a UK top 30 hit with "Luton Airport" in October 1979.

Dublin Airport

Dublin is also one of only seven airports in the world to serve all six London Airports: Stansted, Luton, Gatwick, Heathrow, London City and Southend.

Eastern Region Ministry Course

Students tend to come from the Eastern region of England, including the counties of Norfolk, Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Luton, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire (or parts thereof).

Enoch Showunmi

Regular midfielder and captain Kevin Nicholls received an injury that was to prevent him playing for three months, and Luton were able to use this injury to seek dispensation from the Football League to sign Showunmi.

First Midlands

The legal entity of First Northampton ceased to trade with the Luton Airport shuttle having passed to First Essex's O Licence some months previously.

Hinckley United F.C.

Striker Andre Gray impressed in both games against Luton, later leading to the Conference Premier side to signing him on loan with a view to a £30,000 permanent transfer.

Imran Nazir

In May 2011 Nazir made a surprise guest appearance at a charity cricket match at Luton Town Football Club between a football legends team and Luton Pakistanis CC.

Junior Simpson

He was born in Leagrave, a suburb of Luton, and was educated at Beechwood Primary School and Challney High School for Boys.

Keith Jebb

He attended St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and is the current Head Lecturer of Creative Writing at the University of Bedfordshire, Luton.

Luton Town MIGs

In 2001 it was reported that tensions were running high in Luton, a town with a 30,000 Muslim community accounting for 20% of the towns population.

Margaret Hogg

Peter was 19 years older than Margaret, and briefly achieved front-page news on 16 August 1974 when he landed at Luton Airport as the Captain of a Lockheed L-1011 Tristar of Court Line

Marston Green

Frankie Bunn who played for Luton, Hull City and Oldham and holds the record for the most goals scored in one game, in the Littlewoods/league Cup, in 1989 when against scarborough he scored 6 of 7.

Nathan Abbey

In the summer of 2000, Luton manager Ricky Hill signed Mark Ovendale and chose him to start the season in place of Abbey.

Rebecca Lowe

On 12 June 2013, Lowe married former Torquay, Bristol Rovers & Luton Town manager Paul Buckle in a private ceremony in Santorini, Greece.

Ronald Ridout

From 1939 to 1950 he worked as a teacher at schools in Bolton, Luton, Nuneaton, Portsmouth, Shrewsbury and Woking.

Samuel Howard Whitbread

He was Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire (until 1936) and represented the constituencies of Huntingdon and Luton (until 1895).

Samuel Whitbread

Samuel Howard Whitbread, his son, British Member of Parliament for Luton, 1892–1895, and Huntingdon, 1906–1910

Stacey Dooley

In the programme, Dooley was in Luton, where she talks to Islamists and the English Defence League.

Sundon

Because of changes to its boundary, the parish no longer includes Sundon Park (which is now an area of Luton) or the "Sundon Substation" of the National Grid for electricity (which lies west of the railway, near the village of Chalton).

Toddington, Bedfordshire

From Harlington station, you can travel north to Flitwick and Bedford, or south to Luton, Luton Airport Parkway, St Albans, St Pancras International, Gatwick Airport and Brighton.

Walter Percy Day

Walter Percy Day O.B.E.(1878, Luton −1965, Los Angeles) was a British painter best remembered for his work as a matte artist and special effects technician in the film industry.

William McKenzie, Baron McKenzie of Luton

William David McKenzie, Baron McKenzie of Luton (Bill McKenzie) (born 24 July 1946) is an English Labour politician and, up to the General Election of 2010, was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities and Local Government.