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Oral histories of Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City
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Mr B. Alford
Mr B. Alford
Mr Alford discusses choosing his home in Stevenage and his eventual move.
Mr Alford talks about choosing his first home in Stevenage and the quick turnaround between getting his new job and moving in to his new home.
https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Alford-choosing-a-house.mp3
Mr Alford discusses some of the early problems with the building of Stevenage
Mr Alford talks about the problem of the “Stevenage clay” which made laying foundations difficult- and caused early problems with housing contracts.
https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Alford-Stevenage-clay.mp3
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
Mr Alford discusses the pros and con of the high-rise flats in Stevenage
“I remember working on some myself, and again thinking of those brave new, beautiful buildings in the sky, lovely place to live.”
https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Alford-highrise-flats.mp3
Mr Alford discusses what he is most proud of in the development of Stevenage
“Everything in the town was a team effort; nothing was designed by an individual. It was a matter of feeding information from everybody”
https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Alford-successful-parts.mp3
Mr Alford talks about his opinion of the concept of New Towns.
“they provided a valuable opportunity to do things on a big scale and to re-house people and to a certain extent take people out of London and that was accomplished perhaps too much but it was accomplished at the time”
https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Alford-new-town-opinions.mp3
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.
https://www.talkingnewtowns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Alford-getting-a-job.mp3
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