In miniature

IT’S August 1953 and a group of children look on while a couple of their friends enjoy a ride on a miniature railway.

The picture, taken at the opening of the railway in Compton Avenue, Leagrave, was included in the recent Luton Photographs exhibition at Wardown Park Museum, but little more is known about it.

It would appear the attraction travelled around as a photo showing people on the train at a fete at Chalton that year was published in the Tuesday Pictorial, a former sister paper of the Luton News.

Do you recognise anyone in the picture and can you identify the cameraman in the foreground?

> More details have emerged about the blaze at Luton Town Bowling Club in 1952 after the dramatic picture, below, was featured on the Yesteryear page on June 1.

The clubhouse fire broke out during the early hours of October 18 and a full report and the photo was carried in that day’s edition of the Saturday Telegraph, another paper owned by Home Counties Newspapers, the then publishers of the Luton News.

It was reported that nearby residents in Old Bedford Road watched as flames leapt 60ft in the air. All that was saved was the cellar, bar, kitchen and ladies changing room.

A recently bought grand piano was reduced to charred remains as was most of the other furniture. The contents of the bar were saved by firemen and an iron safe was undamaged.

Four fire engines attended, but the cause of the blaze was unknown. The clubhouse had been built 20 years earlier and was a popular venue for indoor games and entertainment.