Luton, The Technical School c.1950

Photo ref: L117024X

More about this scene

A technical education was going to be valuable in 20th-century Luton. Alexander Wilson's Vauxhall Iron Works had outgrown its Vauxhall site in London, and in 1905 by chance moved to another area associated with the legendary Falkes de Breauté. The company adopted de Breauté's heraldic griffin as their symbol. Since de Breauté's day, Luton was a very different place. Luton had experienced modernization in local government, with the Board of Health taking over key responsibilities involving water supply, care of the poor and the establishment of a regular fire brigade - Luton got its first fire station in 1901. The power station was built on the original vicarage site at the turn of the century. The famous physicist J J Thomson opened the facility, joking that he did not know what electricity was - at the time there was still something to be learned about its exact nature. The council saw the potential of cheap energy to help attract new industry. Electricity would revolutionise car making. Alexander Wilson had founded his business in 1857, building small and medium marine steam engines. It was a modest business, operating in the close confines of crowded London. The business was renamed the Vauxhall Ironworks Company Limited in 1897, when a single-cylinder 5hp engine was used to power a river launch called the 'Jabberwock'. Others had already attached similar motors to road vehicles, and so Vauxhall joined in the experiment; they produced their first car in 1903, powered by the same type of single-cylinder 5hp engine. First impressions were good. The motoring press described it as 'neat, efficient and a cheap vehicle which should find many friends.' In 1903, Dr Tiffen informed 'Autocar' Magazine: 'It may interest you to know that the wear and tear of driving my 5hp 1903 Vauxhall at an average speed of 15 mph is almost a negligible quantity. Running costs work out at one third of the upkeep of my horse, and I never experienced a moment's worry on the road.' This unusual four-seater was tiller-steered, with driver and passenger seated behind two front passengers on raised seats. A sporty-looking 6hp two-seater followed in 1904.