Work

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

Andrea Cataldo about how potted plants revolutionised life in Spencers Nurseries
Changes in the nursery business
Andrea Cataldo about practicalities of nursery work
Seeding and pricking out plants in the spring.
Arriving in Hemel Hempstead
Phyliss Coomber remembers her move from Wembley and working at Rolls Razor.
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"
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.
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?"
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]
'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]
'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]
'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]
'Having worked in Fullwell Garage, London Transport, we got information that they were offering houses...'
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.
Donald Hodson - setting up a business in the new town
living and working in the new town
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
Eileen Bull reflects on the reactions of local residents to the new arrivals.
Gerald Model - setting up a new business in Hatfield New Town
Setting up a business in the new town in the late 1950s
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
“We all got on famously but it was a very, very informal, there was no division between general manager and chairmen”
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.
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?!’”
Ken Wright - the day I may have met Barbara Cartland!
Working on the cleanup operation after the 1957 storm damage
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.
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
“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”