Work

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

Mr B. Alford discusses getting a job as an architect for Stevenage
Mr Alford talks about how he managed to get a job as an architect in Stevenage, and how his previous experience with Grays in Essex helped him to get this.
Mr Nunn talks about first finding work when he first moved to Stevenage
Mr Nunn discusses the companies in early Stevenage and how he found a job suitable for his family
Mrs Lillian Cowdery discusses the routine of a district nurse in Stevenage
Lillian Cowdery discusses her role as a district nurse and the kinds of cases she would have on a day to day basis.
Paul Robertson discusses his first job which included balancing on gangways to empty out baskets of balloons.
Paul discusses his first job: "Any excuse to throw balloons out they used to do it. I think it was just their, something they had a niche of doing”
Paul Robertson discusses his work with Jack Jarvis, and the work he would do at the Mecca.
Paul recalls a time when a stage had to be built up for Roy Wood and Wizard, and the lengths that Jack Jarvis went to for these acts.
Paul Robertson discusses the day that Harold Wilson visited Stevenage.
Paul talks about the day that Harold Wilson visited Stevenage, and how he helped with the red carpet- and eventually clearing it away by himself!
Paul Robertson discusses the day that the Bay City Rollers came to Stevenage
Paul talks about the day that he worked a Bay City Rollers concert, and how they coped with the massive crowds that came to see the band.
Paul Robertson talks about how he became a DJ
"And then at the end of the night the manager said “do that tomorrow night”, “ok” and that’s how I started, being a DJ."
Paul Robertson talks about the power cuts of the 1970s and how these affected Stevenage
"It was pretty cold, standing up there on the stage playing records and it was all done by battery power and there’d be one or two light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, but everybody was dancing."
Paul Robertson talks about the youth culture and gang rivalries between Stevenage and its surrounding towns.
" I remember in the foyer of the Mecca there was a great big I mean literally must have been about a metre and a half high of leather belts, a whole stack of them just put there yeah, I don’t know if they ever got them back but yeah they had to take them off"
Peter and Barbara Metcalf about the Roman find, and finding Tudor Glass in Stevenage
A boy found a piece of genuine Tudor glass from the 1500s while Barbara Metcalf was teaching.
Sheila Waters-Hughes discusses her canteen job at ICL [Text only]
'At the age of 11 I went to the new modern Barclay School, which has only been built about two years...'
Sheila Waters-Hughes talks about catering at the ICL Christmas Party [Text only]
'Our firm had a social club which was run by the club's committee. Some of us canteen staff...'
What the people of Hemel Hempstead thought of the new arrivals
Una Taber talks about trying to fit in with the Hemel Hempstead locals
Why the family moved to the New Town
Valerie Weaving recalls the reason for her family's move
Working in Hemel Hempstead
Eileen Bull talks about her working career in Hemel Hempstead.
Working in Hemel Hempstead
Una Taber recalls her husband Leslie's work schedule and the jobs she had after caring for her children