Town Mayor

Cllr Jimmy Carroll

I would like to introduce myself as Councillor Jimmy Carroll and l am proud to represent Houghton Regis as Town Mayor for 23-24.

I have lived in Houghton Regis since 1962, living first in Tithe Farm and then Parkside, where I still
live. I have had many local interests over the years, and these have been Scout and Cub Scouts, the Houghton Regis Memorial, and the Houghton Regis Carnival.

The funds that I raise during my Mayoral Year will be kept local, and so far, I have donated money to Friends of Houghton Hall Park, which will go towards creating a children's area within the kitchen garden, where supervised children’s activities can take place. Other causes that I am planning to donate funds to are Houghton Regis Heritage Society, and Houghton Regis Children’s Centres, but other organisations will be revealed in due course.

As Town Mayor. I have also attended a variety of events within the town, which have included
Summer Activities at Bidwell West, a Fun Day and Linmere, events at Houghton Hall Park, and Town Council events. I have enjoyed taking part in the Carnival, and at the time of writing this, am looking forward to attending Houghton Rocks. It is a pleasure too, to meet with Mayors from other towns.

As you will be aware, the new builds throughout Houghton Regis are creating a large new town,
which will evolve over time, just as the former Parish of Houghton Regis did in the past. There are
new facilities such as the new allotments and the new park area, and there will be a children’s play area to come shortly. As you will read in this edition of the Town Crier, there will be new football pitches to accompany the Pavilion development at Tithe Farm. These will help to bring Houghton Regis together as one.

Many archaeological excavations have taken place, with some great finds, but recently up to 25
Mesolithic Pits were found on the Linmere Development! These pits are of national and international importance as they have been dated to between 6 to 8 thousand years old! Up to now, only two Mesolithic Pits have been found in the United Kingdom, one at Stonehouse and the other in the Fife area of Scotland. Houghton Regis has up to 25! The only other area to have a large number of these pits can be found in the South of France. The history books are having to be rewritten as the pits at Linmere have been dated by Oryx bones found in them, and the Oryx has been extinct for some 6 thousand years.

These archaeological finds have only come to light due to new developments and are helping to write a new history for Houghton Regis. We as a town need to promote and keep the Mesolithic Pits as a part of our heritage. Houghton Regis used to be a parish of many Hamlets, and I personally see the town as ‘a town of villages’. Each one has its own unique and different communities that are evolving, but I would like to promote ‘one Houghton Regis - the town of many villages’.