Yesteryear: The day nurseries that enabled Luton women to carry out war work

To enable Luton women with young children to carry out war work, day nurseries were opened in various parts of the town. This image, taken in 1942, shows toddlers playing in a sand pit at the Linden Road Day Nursery, which was open from 7am until 7pm, six days a week. The charge for a child spending the whole day at the centre and having at least two meals was 1s.

A Luton News story covering the opening of the centre dated April 1942 detailed the facilities the young children could enjoy: “Colour appreciation will play a big part, and coloured wooden disks, squares and wooden toys are on order. The children’s drinking mugs and hot water bottles are in bright purple, yellow, orange, green, blue and red. Each child will have its own washing facilities, flannel, towels, blankets and sheets. For rest periods there are low canvas beds and cots in varying sizes.”

The Linden Road nursery was the first of six were built in total: four modern brick structures and two ‘pre-fabs’. The two temporary structures in Linden Road and Manor Road each accommodated 65 little ones, the permanent centres – in Chaul End, Stopsley, Dallow and Limbury - held 75 children.

Although they were an essential war time feature, the nurseries were expensive to run. It cost £150 a year to maintain each child’s place. While the facilities didn’t endure in peace time, they did provide Luton Corporation with some excellent sites for future healthcare development after the war.