rod mclaughlin

There'll always be a Luton (14 dec 10)

Luton is where I first became aware of Shakespeare, Yeats and Donne. I'd dropped out of high school because I hated all the teachers and most of the students, but Luton Technical College (now the University of Bedfordshire) had decent teachers.

You know about Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatter's Tea Party? Why were hatters mad? Because hat production in Victorian England used mercury, exposure to which caused brain damage. Luton was the country's hat centre.

Luton has never got good reviews. It's the butt of a Monty Python joke, and now its known only for political extremists, both Muslim and white nationalist.

This article from the Daily Telegraph typifies the negativity:

"Its industries are in decline, its football team has dropped out of the league and now the Bedfordshire town that was home to the Stockholm suicide bomber is famous only for radical Islam and those who oppose it."

We need a campaign to defend the town. Old Lutonians should get together and emphasize what is good about the town. How many people are aware that Luton was the birthplace of the rock group Jethro Tull, for example?

• • •  Jethro Tull
    •  Vauxhall Motors
    •  Luton Town Football Club
    •  The English Defence League
    •  The Stockholm Suicide Bomber

Why all the negativity? Give Luton a break!

See this video of exciting downtown Luton:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-12372713

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