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The Odeon Cinema which is now
a Church used to be a bingo place
called Mecca, which is what a lot of
the younger generation had an issue
with the name due to it being some
significant with something then they
made some altercation.”

Bury Park was not what it is today, it was Italian, English, Irish and the main South Asian community were Indians. There
were a few Pakistanis, but later, I think more Pakistanis came than Bangladeshis and the other South Asian communities.
Bury Park was a diverse community, not so many of the Asian community. There was a lot of African, Caribbean came
over on the Windrush and then their children who followed suit. Most of us went to Beach Hill High School; it was the
most diverse school.

I remember even from my community, we had a shop on Bury Park Road and there were a few Asian shops that sell
meat. My wife and most of us went there to buy groceries, but it wasn’t really called Bury Park in those days.

Gradually, as more diverse community came into Bury Park, we find that the white community, the Italians, the Irish,
they gradually move out of the area and more Asian community came in. So that was really and then as it builds up and
become more expansive. So there has been lots of changes, right up to where the bridge is and just be under where
there used to be an Indian restaurant, I don’t know the name. There were loads of different changes and houses have
changed and where I used to party in those areas have also changed.

You need good and bad, like Yun and Yang. I’m going to give you 2 examples, in Bury Park before it was really Bury Park;
we had parties on Bury Park Rd. The African, Caribbean, we used to have parties because there was nowhere else for us
to go, so that is one of my best memories. Also the cinema, which is the Odeon, they used to have Kung Fu nights and
they used to have programs. That catered to young people in the schools, used to take young people to that cinema, so
those are my best memories of what you call Bury Park.

Bernie Abbey
I’ve moved to Luton. In 1970, I grew up with racism being called
all sorts of names, which I don’t really want to mention in the
film because it still brings back memories and it still hurts. So
I didn’t make any friends. I cried every night to sleep because
I missed my friends and good old days from where I used to live.

We used live in one room, there were no baths and we didn’t
have baths every day, so we used to work long day in the same
clothes we used to wear every day. Occasionally we would have
some sort of problem and it’s not by the people locally living
in Bury Park. It often comes from outside visitors. However,
together with Bury Park community, there is peace.

My memories of Bury Park are that it is very diverse. Now
there is more opportunity for Asian ladies, children and men
to have activities. Takeaways especially and eating places,
which didn’t really occur. So it is very diverse also as far as like
outfits go, Sarees, shilbar, kameezs, scarves, jewellery, which I
can’t remember having a jewellery shop in Luton, and now we
My memories of Bury Park have that. So there’s a big transformation of the culture and
are that it is very diverse. the diversity. Also now we do have a lot of Europeans living
here and the African community, together we are diverse and
we accept each other’s differences. But the same time we live
united in a friendly atmosphere.

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