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Key figures

TELL US THEIR MEMORIES OF BURY PARK

I used to go shopping in Bury Park with my mum every week, down to the Westside Centre. That’s not there anymore,
its where the big Sainsbury is now. I remember, having to help my mum but also outside of the Westside centre, there
was a little wall a small wall, like a little maze, we used to run around it and along it and make sure we didn’t fall off. Also
Bury Park wasn’t as busy in terms of traffic. I know now its very busy and congested now. But back then it was much
more open, when I was a child back in 1970s and 80s.

I think over time, the community in Bury Park has changed.
Particularly when I was a teenager, I had friends who lived on
Maple Road, Connaught Road. My friend Karen was Irish, my
friend Marian was Caribbean. I had other friend who were from
different Asian back ground; weather they were Bangladeshi,
Pakistani or Kashmiri. So it’s a very mixed community. But
equally now, its still very diverse. We have new Eastern
European now moving in as well.
I think we have seen lots of changes over the years, because
well people often come to Luton for work or to find
somewhere that’s affordable to live. So each generation people
from different parts of the world, that’s why I thin Luton is such
a brilliant town to live in, because we have so many different
communities who have come here to make it their home.

My best memories of Bury Park, there are couple that stand
out. When I was in junior school, the first ever MacDonald
was in Bury Park. I was invited to a friend’s birthday party in
MacDonald; that was a thing back then.

I moved to Alexander Avenue near I was ever so excited and that was one of the small childhood
Denbigh High school, when I was very memories there. As a teenager, I remember going down to,
little, which is very close to Bury Park there was a shop where you could buy tickets to go to gigs and
concerts, coach trip or holidays. I can remember going there
and it is somewhere I visited very with my friends to buy tickets to go to our first gig in London.
often. That was really exciting, because you had to go there physically
to buy tickets rather than just book it on the internet or use
your phone. Of course down in the Westside Centre, there was

Eddies Fashion and Fair maiden, where I bought my first ever sort of going out outfits. Bury Park is a great place to go;
I mean I go there regularly. I do my shopping there, I go to the community centre. There’s always something going on, I
mean its busy and some people may say it needs to be tidy, but actually there’s always lots of people there and that’s
what I love about Bury Park. There’s lots going always, it really is the heart of our community there.

I think Bury Park is a hidden gem, because so many people don’t realise all the different shops there. You can buy
fantastic food, great little cafes, interesting things that you wonder around and can find for the house that you normally
wouldn’t find anywhere else in Luton. Again we got the great community centre, which is a hub for different sort of
activities and different communities feel comfortable going there to get together. I still love bury park because it is all
about the people.

Rachel Hopkins
MP for Luton South

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