harlow new town, Essex 1950s
How it began
Thank you to the family of Kim Pelley for permission to share this.
I don’t own any rights to this video
[Music] h for centuries little had changed in harow and the surrounding Countryside the small Market town was a tranquil spot Villages of Potter Street Ty Green netwell and Great Pond slumbered and slept hamlets of hair Street and Burnt Mill were peaceful Havens the scene was one of picturesque country churches quaint country cottages and Rolling Green Fields travel was mainly along leafi country lanes farming and Allied trade such as Milling were the main occupation in 1947 the government faced with the task of finding homes and jobs for war ravished London designated this area the site of a new town and spring the minister of town and country planning leis silkin set up the harow Development Corporation to build it they took offices in grova square to plan the building of harow Frederick Gibbard was appointed to draw up a master plan to house a population of 60,000 eventually to rise to 880,000 he came to harow to explain his plan to the inhabitance the plan received government approval and the corporation moved to turlings in har to begin building a special service of dedication was held on October the 3rd 1948 at St Mary’s old harow and on the land where building was to commence so with the preliminar is completed in December 1948 the actual building of chipping field began from 1949 progress was rapid and the building of the housing area of Mark Hall North and the temple Fields industrial estate was soon complete on March the 9th 1951 the new minister of local government and Town and Country planning Hugh Dalton opened the first road First Avenue and the block flat the lawn and on September the 21st of that year parliamentary secretary Mr Linden opened Temple Fields 1952 saw one opening ceremony after another on the 28th of January the First Medical Center was opened by Ernest mares April saw the opening of the first infant school at tenis Dell August the opening of the Regal Cinema December the opening of the first Junior school and by the end of the year the first shops at the store were opening for business the town received a royal Accolade on November the 17th 1952 with a visit from the Duke of Edinburgh who named Edinburgh way his tour included visits to the revex factory on the industrial estate a children’s playground at gands where he received gifts for the Royal children and the Stow shopping center where he lunched at Moot House coronation year saw the opening ceremony of the 2,000th house at Orchard Croft 1954 55 and 56 were years of phenomenal progress houses at Mark Hall South Potter Street and netsell were completed the 6000th house being opened by Duncan Sans Minister of Housing and local government in April 1955 Opening Ceremonies became commonplace two Mark the unique role of sculpture in the town the unveiling of the dolphin and boy at vicarage wood paddling pool by Sir Philip hendy director of the National Gallery on June the 4th 1954 and the unveiling by Sir Kenneth Clark on May the 19th 1956 of the sculpture which was to become synonymous with harow Henry Mo’s the family group These Years also saw the beginning of work on the heart of the town the town center the commemoration Stone was laid in May 1955 and Christmas that year was celebrated by the opening of the first shops on May the 19th 1956 Alderman Joyce opened the First harow Market housing at Tha green and the Second Industrial estate would under construction as 1956 Drew to a close it was to be another 24 years before the master plan was completed but the birth of the new town of harow had been accomplished [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] today we are in the middle of an urban Revolution an increasing number of people the world over live in towns in Britain we have a larger proportion of town dwellers than anywhere else in the world and over fifth of the whole population lives in London even 200 years ago London was accused of being bloated ugly and greedy for land since that time it has grown furiously and halfhazard the effects of the Industrial Revolution then the growth of the railways and above all during the last 50 years the coming of the private Motorcar have brought the outward sprawl of the Cities the evils of congestion of the city center a long tiring journey to work from the suburbs and modern transport or choked by a medieval Road pattern the town and Southward drift continues and within the next 20 years there may be three and a half million more people in London and the southeast every great city in the world is rapidly becoming a Vortex if civilization is not to grind to a halt we must plan intelligently for the future planning is an attempt by man to control his environment to make things happen by Design and not by chance town planning is part of this throughout history there have been a number of Brave and beautiful visions of towns and cities where men would lead the good life nearly all remained on paper but a fragment of One Vision became a reality this is the story of a town a town with many faces the blitz flattened vast areas of London whole districts people and factories were evacuated in the midst of Destruction people dreamt of proud new cities many plans remained on paper but among those approved by Parliament was a scheme to move families and industries from an overcrowded London into a ring of self-sufficient New Towns one of the towns thus created was harow in Essex [Music] the first strangers on the site of the town to be were the architects in SES the countryside had its own traditions fields and country lanes were scarred and pitted to lay down new drainage gas electricity and water houses and flats for hundreds of families shopping centers schools and factories Grew From the bare [Music] miraculously the feeling of the countryside was never lost the new town was molded into the landscape every hedge and tree or old building wor preserving was saved they blended into the design giving pleasure to the eye and breaking up the otherwise inevitable feeling of [Music] newness as soon as the houses were up people wanted to live in them they even moved into their new homes with the paint still wet and the roads unfinish they looked upon themselves as Pioneers in London they said we had shops and buses on the doorstep but here we had to hump across fields of mud and upheaval to get anywhere and as for buses you were lucky if there were half a dozen a day still the life appealed especially to young couples desperate to set up house on their own and make a fresh start nowadays they Delight in telling newcomers of the hardship of their early years [Music] there are plenty of jobs in good variety in clean modern Factories at first it was tough goinging although the town offered industry a fresh start with a chance to tailor factories to Modern processes with room to expand and homes for all industrialists were reluctant to come until they could see factories on the ground so the corporation had to build a few on spec then the openings attracted growth industries research organizations and later offices today harow is a Boom Town there is emphasis on efficiency and a high premium on skill there is virtually no unemployment few people look outside the town for work [Music] [Music] new offices in the Town Center are occupied by commercial firms and by the Development Corporation industry is mainly concentrated in two Estates separated from housing linked to the town by fast roads which can be widened when traffic increases people can get to and from work rapidly and cheaply without The Frayed nerves inevitable in the cities family town a town of young marriage with babies and small children because of the Boom in babies pram town was the label given by the Press some years ago there is still a baby boom and now that are grandparents too most of the people who work in the town rent their houses each with its own garden but to meet an increasing demand the corporation has also built houses for [Music] sale if you live in a flat there is always a convenient Green Space where children can be left in safety children’s playgrounds playing fields and open Countryside are close at [Music] hand helping mothers and babies over the anxious first years is just one of the jobs tackled by the local medical services when the town was built there was no established tradition of Medical Care in the area so an experiment was carried out with special medical centers under whose roof all the complimentary Health Services for each neighborhood were brought together doctors District nurses midwives Health visitors and dentists sharing their knowledge and experience obviously do more for Community Health than is possible working singly yet there is still freedom to choose one’s family doctor the experiment has been one of Harlow’s outstanding successes and is being studied throughout the world with so many babies in the town the weekly Clinic is not only a vital medical service it’s also a useful safety Val for the uncertain young mother who perhaps after years in a sociable job with freedom to get about suddenly finds herself alone with a screaming piece of humanity a clinic becomes a club where new friends can be made old towns have a tradition of variety and liveliness one of the greatest problems facing the planners was how to Foster this of course neighborliness is not created by planners but it is possible to create places where people will naturally come together home life in harow is centered in a number of separate neighborhoods each catering for their own local needs The Neighborhood Health Center Community Association Library Church Pub and shops are grouped together to provide a focus for community life unlike Village Life people are not made that they live in each other’s pockets in a converted laundr at the heart of one of the neighborhoods another experiment is going on [Music] go back to the beginning many times encourage budding musicians but harow is unique in Britain in acting as host to a professional string [Music] quartet old people too enjoy the peace and quiet of the neighborhood with the security that comes from having their children close by in the early pioneering days families were frequently split up as the young couple moved into the new town now it is common for three generations of one family to be found here at the heart of each neighborhood away from any main roads are the schools for younger [Music] children school here is a place of experiment and excitement 3 2 1 hello listeners this is little fom radio your station of the Stars opening up our program this week starts with the news read by n Taylor and Leslie Palmer after the news Chris Alit will tell us what really happened to Jon of AR Christine sever popular spelling quiz then we have the debate with Francis in the chair and the subject is Ghost and homework taking part will be John Bon chrisy Yates John H and Y try hello pal when I in my heart [Music] is the I see [Music] I I the older children need broader Horizons all the schools in the town are new large and well equipped new patterns of teaching and learning can emerge there are no Traditions education spells ADV Venture both for children and for teachers one result is that more children than is common elsewhere are staying on at school after the age of 15 in the sink to catch the drips all right safer that way easier anyway give me a piece of plasy lower it in slowly don’t drop it in lower it in very slowly that’s the girl that’s the way the [Music] what come around have a look around this side what do you think what about the balance of the color there’s too much green too much green too much green too much green where’s the blue a successful Town Center must be a powerful magnet bringing together all kinds of people work and [Music] activity for the ordinary citizen whether young or old the high at harow has an immediate attraction [Music] here is where young people especially hope to find jobs and perhaps a career [Music] those who like working with people may find their way into trade or may choose what appears to be a glamorous job training is essential in this as in other worthwhile jobs [Music] it is at the technical college that the full flood of young ambition surges day and evening courses of all kinds are full to capacity take this diameter down to the same the rer and then check with your I clet for paper and adjusted tail stock for recording all right okay doing all right give it up now I want you to Tye the word the as quickly as you can I shall give you 30 seconds when I say stop stop t immediately are you ready go the high is dominated by the tower block of the Town Hall from which the day-to-day Affairs of the town are run by the elected Town Council the observation platform at the top gives visitors and tomorrow citizens alike a chance to see and understand the way the town is designed the Planning and Building of the town is in the hands of the government sponsored Development Corporation that with that area I mean it’s a fair area to sit out on with a deck chairs and the like yes what is the aspect actually I mean people sitting get the the corporation’s design team pushes forward with plans for more offices they know that many firms hampered by shortage of staff and congested premises are now considering moving out of London you mean must always the case indust a he doesn’t always list want he wants to decentralize from the C he wants a fix to his Factory so all his money is tied up in a One prestige block he’s able to give you a definite brief at the very start he knows exactly what he’s after which is rather think a building only as brief brief is good then got a good how how far do you think we’ve got to improve the quality of of these new office boxs do you think [Music] that evening Falls and the Town Center together with the neighborhood centers take on a new lease of life but this featurist Mr Hunter you know like these central European planes flat featurist you know let’s start this start number three [Music] one minute please yes that’s much better act number one please a four schools change their character each night to become vigorous smoth senters [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] looking [Music] I love toer the way he keeps getting up noble gentleman and my most Worthy Patron it may seem strange that I your scotter of manano who has ever want to fix his bank in the face of the public F near the shelter of the ptico to the proc after 8 month’s absence from this illustrious city of Ben humbly retire myself to an obscure no of the piano I am in a humor at this time to make you a present of the small quantity my cover contains to the rich to the rich in courtesy for the poor forgot where for now Mark at other times ask you six crowns and six crowns and six crowns the times you have paid me never you six I shall not ask you six crowns nor five nor four nor three nor two nor one no half a Ducket no not even a is the price [Music] BR back [Music] there e [Music] a Sports Arena built to Professional Standards and a Sports Hall where all kinds of indoor activities and sporting entertainments can be enjoyed has been made possible by widespread voluntary contributions plus grants from local authorities and enlightened industrialists this Sports Center is a symbol of how a community can help itself the there is a saying that a man cannot call a place’s home until his children have been born and brought up in it this could apply equally to settling in New Towns the first generation Were Strangers who came together to work out a new pattern of life harow is still young and incomplete but the present plan is for an ultimate population of 80,000 much now depends on how the next Generation buildt on the foundations laid for them in the next 40 years homes must be found in Britain for 18 million more people many will live in New Towns and new cities for their sake it is vital that the lessons of harow should be studied its plans its progress and its problems for here perhaps we may see emerging the shape of the Britain yet to come l oh