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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>Work

Work

Where and what did people do for work in the New Towns?

  • Andrea Cataldo about how potted plants revolutionised life in Spencers Nurseries

    Andrea Cataldo about how potted plants revolutionised life in Spencers Nurseries

    Changes in the nursery business
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Cataldo-03-Changing-face-of-garden-centres.mp3
  • Andrea Cataldo about practicalities of nursery work

    Andrea Cataldo about practicalities of nursery work

    Seeding and pricking out plants in the spring.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Cataldo-05-Practicalities-of-nursery-work.mp3
  • 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 Metcalf about district nurses and weighing babies in Stevenage

    Barbara Metcalf about district nurses and weighing babies in Stevenage

    "...the girls were at the school next door so I’d go and spend an afternoon weighing babies and they’d come and pick me up from the clinic"
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Metcalf-Clinics-nurses-and-weighing-babies.mp3
  • Barbara Metcalf about volunteering in the Family Planning Clinic in Stevenage

    Barbara Metcalf about volunteering in the Family Planning Clinic in Stevenage

    Barbara Metcalf talks about how her and her neighbour were able to volunteer as they were able to look after each others children.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Metcalf-Family-planning-clinc.mp3
  • Baroness Denington of Stevenage discusses joining the Stevenage Development Corporation in the early days of Stevenage

    Baroness Denington of Stevenage discusses joining the Stevenage Development Corporation in the early days of Stevenage

    "He said “I want to invite you to become a member of the Stevenage Development Corporation” and like a little child I clapped my hands and said “how lovely!”. Can you imagine anything more challenging or more wonderful?"
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Dennington-joining-the-SDC.mp3
  • Bert Lowe discusses his job as a builder [Text only]

    Bert Lowe discusses his job as a builder [Text only]

    'That must have been in the winter of '51 I came down here it was snowing like a b****r...'
  • Bert Lowe talks about the new building systems [Text only]

    Bert Lowe talks about the new building systems [Text only]

    'Tersons were the first contractors here. Mowlem's came in much later, I worked for Mowlem for years...'
  • Connie Rees talks about lobbying the Development Corporation [Text only]

    Connie Rees talks about lobbying the Development Corporation [Text only]

    'The offices of the Borough, the Development Corporation used to be Aston House out in Aston...'
  • Denzil Olton about the pudding rice at Fullwell Garage [Text only]

    Denzil Olton about the pudding rice at Fullwell Garage [Text only]

    'I came here from Barbados in 1956 to work on the buses. Every bus garret had a canteen which was run by London Transport...'
  • Denzil Oulton talks about working as a bus conductor [Text only]

    Denzil Oulton talks about working as a bus conductor [Text only]

    'Having worked in Fullwell Garage, London Transport, we got information that they were offering houses...'
  • Donald Hodson - Roundtable

    Donald Hodson - Roundtable

    Like many other towns and cities Hatfield's Roundtable group was a meeting group of young business and professional men from the local community. Donald Hodson describes more about his experience as a Roundtable member in Hatfield.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Hodson_roundtable.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
  • Eddie Messant discusses Inter Works dances at canteens [Text only]

    Eddie Messant discusses Inter Works dances at canteens [Text only]

    'we had these dances we used to run our own competitions for particular dancing, used to pay the professionals to come down from London 15 guineas per night'
  • 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
  • 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
  • Images of Work

    Images of Work

    Here are a few images of working in the new town selected from the photo collections
  • John Balchin discusses his relationships with the other managing directors on the Stevenage board

    John Balchin discusses his relationships with the other managing directors on the Stevenage board

    “We all got on famously but it was a very, very informal, there was no division between general manager and chairmen”
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Balchin-relationships.mp3
  • John Balchin discusses working two jobs when he started out in Stevenage

    John Balchin discusses working two jobs when he started out in Stevenage

    John Balchin talks about his background in academia and working two jobs when he started out in Stevenage: both Senior Lecturer at Brunel and General Manager for Stevenage.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Balchin-getting-a-job.mp3
  • John Balchin talks about how he came to get his position as General Manager in Stevenage

    John Balchin talks about how he came to get his position as General Manager in Stevenage

    “And I thought he was talking to me about my frozen pension so I went in there and after we’d exchanged pleasantries he said, ‘would you like to be general manager of Stevenage Jack?’ and I said ‘what?!’”
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Balchin-connections.mp3
  • Ken Wright - the day I may have met Barbara Cartland!

    Ken Wright - the day I may have met Barbara Cartland!

    Working on the cleanup operation after the 1957 storm damage
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/MGM-01-Clips_D_Ken-Wright.mp3
  • Michael Cotter discusses his work with Bowes Lyon House, a youth centre in Stevenage

    Michael Cotter discusses his work with Bowes Lyon House, a youth centre in Stevenage

    Michael recalls his work with the Bowes Lyon House as an agreed Chairman. He remembers the great satisfaction that this role brought him, despite its challenging nature.
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Cotter-bowes-lyon-house.mp3
  • Michael Cotter discusses the builders' strike [Text only]

    Michael Cotter discusses the builders' strike [Text only]

    'There was an unwritten code that when you got notice of the property which you were going to occupy...'
  • Mr Alford discusses the comradeship amongst the architects of Stevenage

    Mr Alford discusses the comradeship amongst the architects of Stevenage

    “there was a terrific sort of comradeship many of us were ex-service men all wanting to contribute something new, and keen to get on and work hard at it in those days. And this I think gave a terrific drive to the work we were doing”
    https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Alford-architect-comradeship.mp3
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