Letchworth Garden City Walk: Town Centre【4K】

Located in the county of Hertfordshire, and around 30 miles north of London, is the town of Letchworth Garden City. And yes, it is a town despite the name. It is often referred to as, simply, Letchworth.

The origin of Letchworth comes from a book. In 1898 Ebenezer Howard wrote 'To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform' (later republished as 'Garden Cities of To-morrow'). In it he advocated the construction of a new kind of town combining the advantages of cities and the countryside while eliminating their disadvantages. Industry would be kept separate from residential areas, and trees and open spaces would feature prominently.

These ideas were mocked in the press, though they struck a chord with many. A competition was held to find a town design which would translate Howard's ideas into reality and in 1903 the company "First Garden City Ltd" was formed. Six square miles of land were purchased for building near the village of Letchworth - a tiny parish of less than 100 people. The Garden City was, of course, named after Letchworth, which became part of the town.

In 1903 a railway station opened in Letchworth, despite the town being very much in the construction phase at this point. Visitors would stop by to either marvel at the social experiment or mock it. Letchworth's founding citizens would be caricatured as health freaks. This may be partly down to the town initially banning the selling of alcohol in public premises. This position wasn't reversed until 1958 after it was put to a referendum.

Industry in Letchworth Garden City included manufacture of fire engines, bin lorries and even corsets until they went out of fashion. The British Tabulating Machine Company was based in Letchworth from 1920, where they would go on to produce around 200 "bombes" - machines that were used in Bletchley Park to break the German Enigma ciphers during the Second World War.

Another of Letchworth Garden City's claims to fame (or infamy in this case depending how you see it) is being home to the UK's first roundabout, which was built in 1909.

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Filmed: 13th June 2021

Link to the walk on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/18gPXW4kfEawZYTCA

Filmed on a Sony FDR-AX700 with a Zhiyun Crane 2 and a Sony ECM-XYST1M Stereo Microphone.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Broadway
0:19 Broadway Gardens
1:54 Broadway
2:26 Letchworth Town Hall (built 1935)
2:32 Broadway
2:48 Gernon Road
3:10 Eastcheap
6:37 Leys Avenue
10:12 Norton Way South
13:17 Station Road
16:46 Leys Avenue
17:15 Station Place
17:57 Broadway