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Talking New Towns
Talking New Towns
Oral histories of Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City
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You are here: Home>Topics>Moving in

Moving in

For most people moving to the new towns getting their own house was a life changing experience.

  • Arriving in Hemel Hempstead

    Arriving in Hemel Hempstead

    Phyliss Coomber remembers her move from Wembley and working at Rolls Razor.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DACHT781_1-clip1.mp3
  • Barbara Latham - 1st Christmas in Hatfield

    Barbara Latham - 1st Christmas in Hatfield

    First Christmas in a new house in new town Hatfield in the late 1950s
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/MGM-05_Clips-A-Barbara-Latham.mp3
  • Barbara Metcalf about feeling isolated in Stevenage and the importance of friends

    Barbara Metcalf about feeling isolated in Stevenage and the importance of friends

    Barbara Metcalf discusses the differences between living in London and Stevenage, as well as how important friends are in a new town.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Metcalf-Feeling-isolated.mp3
  • Brian Foster discusses the differences in facilities between his London home and new flat

    Brian Foster discusses the differences in facilities between his London home and new flat

    Brian discusses how excited his mother was when she saw the washing facilities in her new flat: “she thought she’d died and gone to heaven”
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Forster-New-facilities.mp3
  • Brian Foster tells a story about his Aunt’s travel from London to Stevenage

    Brian Foster tells a story about his Aunt’s travel from London to Stevenage

    Brian discusses the travel from London to Stevenage, as well as his family that followed him there
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Forster-Travelling-to-Stevenage.mp3
  • Brian Foster tells his experience of moving out of London

    Brian Foster tells his experience of moving out of London

    Brian talks about his memories of moving out of London, and the reactions of his close family members
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Forster-Leaving-London.mp3
  • Colin Killick about getting a house in Stevenage

    Colin Killick about getting a house in Stevenage

    We had no choice they said “if you want a house you’ve got no. 76 or nothing so we took no. 76 which was 3 bedroom semi-detached.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Colin-Killick-quote-1.mp3
  • Colin Killick about people not being able to buy a house

    Colin Killick about people not being able to buy a house

    They went to Welwyn. They went to Luton. They went to Hitchin, Letchworth, Walkern, Watton at Stone. I know the, the only one I know who stayed in Stevenage was the director of Chauncey House
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Colin-Killick-quote-4.mp3
  • Coming to Hemel Hempstead

    Coming to Hemel Hempstead

    The story of Eileen Bull, who moved to Hemel Hempstead with her husband in 1954.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/E-Bull-Clip-1.mp3
  • Denzil Oulton discusses moving to Stevenage with his family [Text only]

    Denzil Oulton discusses moving to Stevenage with his family [Text only]

    'Bearing in mind that in London the accommodation was quite tight and restricted...'
  • Denzil Oulton discusses trying to get African Caribbean food [Text only]

    Denzil Oulton discusses trying to get African Caribbean food [Text only]

    'In Stevenage it was difficult at first, for some time it was difficult and then the supermarkets began to stock little things...'
  • Donald Hodson - Developing Shops at Hilltop

    Donald Hodson - Developing Shops at Hilltop

    The need for shops at Hilltop by new Hatfield residents, led the New Towns Commission to initially develop a row of temporary shops in new terraced Housing. Donald Hodson ran a chemists in this row, before moving to the permanent shopping precinct when built. He described more about this odd arrangement!
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Hodson_Hilltop-shops.mp3
  • Donald Hodson - Moving within Hatfield

    Donald Hodson - Moving within Hatfield

    Donald Hodson describes his growing family's house-moves within Hatfield.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Hodson_Moving-to-the-Ryde.mp3
  • Donald Hodson - setting up a business in the new town

    Donald Hodson - setting up a business in the new town

    living and working in the new town
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/MGM-03-Clips_A_Hodson1.mp3
  • Donne Buck discusses his experience as the first play worker in Stevenage [Text only]

    Donne Buck discusses his experience as the first play worker in Stevenage [Text only]

    'Well, living in London wasn't a whole lot of fun in 1967, I was working actually as a teacher...'
  • Earliest memories of the New Town

    Earliest memories of the New Town

    Valerie Weaving remembers her childhood home
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Val-Weaving-Clip-1.mp3
  • First impressions

    First impressions

    Eileen Bull's first impressions of Hemel Hempstead after she had moved there.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/E-Bull-Clip-2.mp3
  • First impressions and a lasting impression

    First impressions and a lasting impression

    Una Taber reflects on how she found her new surroundings when she moved in and what she thinks of Hemel Hempstead today
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/una-taber-clip-6.mp3
  • Fitting in with the locals

    Fitting in with the locals

    Eileen Bull reflects on the reactions of local residents to the new arrivals.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/E-Bull-Clip-15.mp3
  • Furnishing the new home

    Furnishing the new home

    Eileen Bull talks about setting up her new home.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/E-Bull-Clip-4.mp3
  • Gerald Model - setting up a new business in Hatfield New Town

    Gerald Model - setting up a new business in Hatfield New Town

    Setting up a business in the new town in the late 1950s
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/MGM-02_Clips_A_-GE-Model1.mp3
  • Giving advice to the New Towns Commission

    Giving advice to the New Towns Commission

    Nellie Black recalls when she was part of a women's group, who gave the Commission their views on New Town housing.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DACHT2009_1-clip6.mp3
  • Having to move away from Hemel Hempstead

    Having to move away from Hemel Hempstead

    Tony and Sonia Waterton recall the issues facing local first time buyers wanting homes in Hemel Hempstead, compared to how easy the process was for the 'New Towners'
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/T-and-S-Waterton-Clip-5.mp3
  • How Una came to Hemel Hempstead

    How Una came to Hemel Hempstead

    Una Taber and her husband Leslie moved into a house on Newfield Lane in July 1951, this is her story.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/una-taber-clip-1.mp3
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