Garden Cities & New Towns

A May Queen pageant, Highland piping, and musical theatre. Letchworth's part in celebrating the 1951 Festival of Britain captured by the local Film Society.

Film obituary for Sir Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928) founder of England's Garden City Movement. Sir Howard was nicknamed 'Ebenezer Garden City Geyser' by pal George Bernard Shaw.

Civic dignitaries and Letchworth locals stand elbow to elbow at a ceremony to mark the Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II's Accession to the Throne.

A growing community, factory life, and nesting House Martins represent the Garden City ethos, the perfect marriage of city and nature, captured by amateur filmmaker John Chear.

Empire News Bulletin record the Conservative Minister Neville Chamberlain at Welwyn Station's official opening ceremony.

Welcome to Welwyn Garden City, home of the nation's breakfast

A moving picture-esque pamphlett. A virtual travel brochure. Showcasing England's first Garden City, with amateur filmmaker F.J. Douglas as your tour guide.

No bum cleavage here! From its foundations to near-completion, construction workers - wearing flat cap and with trowel - all pull together to build the iconic Welwyn Stores.

A great example of ‘despite war, life continues’, Welwyn Garden City residents continue with annual traditions, festive occasions and celebrations, during wartime.

One of the ten winning films of 1948 awarded a 'silver plaque' by 'Amateur Cine World' magazine - a significant achievement for the makers, the Film Society of Welwyn Garden City.

Amateur captured Hertfordshire town centres, public gardens, market days, river journeys by boat or barge, and Whipsnade Zoo with wild animals from each corner of the globe.

Meanderers on sunny days! Capturing scenery 'round and about' Herts and Beds during the summer of 1959; the first of two amateur films with pleasing hand-created title cards.

Time-lapse photography, the view from the passenger seat of a moving car travelling around Stevenage, giving a visual tour and mapping the layout of England's first New Town.

Maintaining, evolving and revolutionising the landscape on an industrial scale with one of Britain's biggest builders.

What does it mean to be British in 1962? This highly controversial American documentary investigates by visiting Stevenage and the Isle of Dogs.

Anglia Television's 'Focus On' series looks at the Hertfordshire town of Stevenage, designated the UK’s first ‘New Town’ in August 1946.

Visually hypnotic time-lapse footage of one of Stevenage's pedestrian walkways. An unintentionally experimental film sponsored by Stevenage Development Corporation.

In the 21st year following the first New Town designation to Stevenage, Anglia TV report on the quality of life of two of its residents, also 21, London-born Russell and David.

Follow the construction of Crawley's new arts centre, from building site to opening night, in this remarkable and colourful documentary film from 1989.

Crawley is about to receive a very special visitor in this film from 1950 and decks itself accordingly with flags and bunting for this special Royal occasion.

A fascinating narrative film about the development of Crawley, from early days to its post-war transformation into a New Town.

Splendid colour film of historic Hemel Hempstead ten years after its launch as one of Britain's burgeoning New Towns.

A fictional film promoting the new town of Hemel Hempstead and the way to a new life and new home for a London bricklayer and his family.

Produced by the Hemel Hempstead Development Corporation in the early 60s, this is an update on how Hemel Hempstead has grown as "one of the 8 new towns around London."

A sales-pitch portrait of the Hertfordshire town of Hemel Hempstead, still settling into its New Town status as "the modern town in the countryside".

It’s 1947, and Harlow village and surrounding hamlets are soon to become Harlow 'New Town'. The film documents those pockets of rural quiet prior to its development.

Listen to Harlow: the new town’s musical life from orchestras and choirs to jazz and pop.

In the early 60's a relocation was on the cards for the Post Office Central Training School. For most, a move from Staffordshire to Essex was quite a transfer - cue a film crew!

Tuning into the biggest consumer market for television advertising in Britain with Trident TV.

A visit to Peterlee, Co. Durham, plus news from Britain's coalfields.

Putting people at the forefront of planning.

A royal welcome for a royal visitor - the Duchess of Kent in Skelmersdale.

Town centre traffic is both a problem for the environment, and for pedestrians navigating the area. Essex County Planners showcase their dynamic solution to this nuisance.

Anglia TV footage of the pre-existing towns and pretty North Bucks hamlets newly incorporated into the New Town Development of Milton Keynes. For TV transmission on 28 June 1968.

Dog derby and drama, Beat dancing, and Boy Scouts. New Town Hatfield becomes a hive of activity for ‘Civic Week’, a week long celebration with events programmed for young and old.

A cinema? Football? A swimming pool? What does Redditch need as it stands on the brink of a life changing new town development?

"A new city - your city". Telford is a different kind of new town that's not just about brick and concrete.

Six Shropshire villages combine and the new town of Telford is born.

After it's emergence as a new city in 1968, Peterborough enticed people to move from London with the chance to improve their quality of life. But the city's plans had to be grand!

Washington locals get up close and personal with U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Queen in the year of the Silver Jubilee.