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Eaton Bray as it was
Three or four decades ago, before Eaton Bray was built up with housing estates, the area was famous for its miles of 'prune' orchards. They weren't the prunes we used to swallow with runny lumpy custard for school dinners, but a black kind of plum that produced the die for the Luton hat factories. There are few such orchards left today, the trees have declined into terminal old age and their prunes are no longer wanted, so most of the orchards around Eaton Bray, Edlesborough, Northall and Totternhoe have either been built on or absorbed into large arable fields.
But Eaton Bray was even better known for its huge nursery, founded by W.E.Wallace in 1886. The family were once the largest growers of carnations in the country, with 18 acres of glasshouses - as you can see from this arial photo taken some time in the 1950's. Our view was taken in the days before the Village Hall and nearby Knights Close were built. In the foreground you can see the large allotment area behind the row of cottages on Northall Road, now demolished to make way for Northall Close. In the background you can see the large collection of glasshouses of W.E.Wallace, now demolished to make way for the Wallace Drive / The Nurseries development.

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