Miss Lenton discusses the New and Old Town rift [Text only]

One thing used to make me very cross in those early days was the way people used to talk about ‘The Old Town’ and ‘The New Town’ as though they were two entirely separate things because the whole of Stevenage of course within that designated area including Old Stevenage the Whole was designated as the New Town Stevenage.

And of course originally we had these six neighbourhoods each with a number, 1 was Old Stevenage, number 2 was Bedwell, number 3 was Broadwater, number 4 was Shephall, 5 Chells and 6 Pin Green. Well I think it was a tactical error to call neighbourhood number 1 Old Stevenage because this really added to the habit people had of regarding them as two separate places.  I think it would have been a good idea if the had called it something like St Nicholas, which was of course used later, or Stevenage North or something like that

But there certainly was a rift in the early days.  But this didn’t last terribly long because, after a while you would find youngsters from the older part of the town such as they were and the new part of the town going to the same schools, working in the same places, growing up together, getting married to each other and there you are, there’s the community integrated.