I could have guessed that somebody would take offence from the use of the 'N' word. However, none was intended nor implied from my post (or it seems from anybody's post since). The term 'mill town' itself is taken from the wool and cotton towns which happen to be largely in Yorkshire and Lancashire. As their industry contracted they went through a period of economic depression. From my travels in recent years, many of them have been revived with new employment opportunities and the relics of the former industries are still there in new employment or residential use. Luton on the other hand had grown into a town specialising in hat manufacture and in 20th century, large scale motor vehicles. Now the hats are largely gone and the Vauxhall operations are much less than in their heyday, the town has hit hard times, but unlike many northern post-industrial towns, doesn't seem to have found a new role.