Ebenezer's Answer

Any empathetic, socially-aware person living in England back in 1900 could see that there was something going seriously wrong with our towns and cities. Now anyone could say that today of course, but that doesn't mean it's easy to put it right. And it wasn't any easier then, but one man grappled with the problem and came up with a possible answer - Letchworth Garden City (!), a whole new town, built from scratch, according to more enlightened principles.

That man was Ebenezer Howard. He was not a town planner and he was not an architect, in fact he was a failed farmer and newspaper reporter who found work as a shorthand typist. But in his spare time he mixed with socialists, reformers and intellectuals. And, also in his spare time, he wrote a book called "Garden Cities Of To-Morrow" in which he set forth his vision for a better way of urban living.

Within a few years his ideas gathered momentum and his prototype new town began to be built. Most of the key features still remain - provision of public spaces, low density housing, separation of traffic and pedestrians, ideal population of around 30,000, decent housing free of slums. It also seems to be supplied with more fountains than any other town* of comparable size! (*Although it likes to refer to itself as Letchworth Garden City it's not really a city at all).

Other ideas have faded over the years: initially the project was heavily funded by the Quakers who wanted the town to be alcohol-free. There was even a temperance pub, The Skittles Inn, though the idea never really caught on and many residents went to nearby villages for alcoholic refreshment. The Skittles is now an adult education centre. There are also a few pubs in town, but not as many as in other similar sized places.

The Spirella Company Of Great Britain, manufacturer of corsets, was one of the firms which was attracted to the new town. As you can see it doesn't look like a traditional factory from the outside, but more like a country house. Even so new methods like re-inforced concrete and steel frames were used in the construction (of the buildings, silly, not the corsets!)  And inside  it was even more revolutionary, offering baths, showers, a library, gymnastics classes, free eye-tests and even bicycle repairs for its workforce.

The most interesting feature of Letchworth today is its wide variety of architectural styles from the early part of the twentieth century. Although it hardly rates as a tourist attraction at the present time I can foresee a time when it will. I'm old enough to remember when we ignored or, worse, destroyed Victorian architecture, though now we cherish it - these things go in cycles. Above is the Art Deco cinema which still has many original features despite being largely refurbished inside.

And below is the Town Hall...

....built in 1935.
.

And that's a detail from roof of The Arcade, a pedestrianised indoor shopping area. The kind of thing you can find in any town today, though at the time a radical innovation.

But you won't find anything like this anywhere else in the world...

It's called The Cloisters and was built for the Quaker, Miss Annie Jane Lawrence, who founded a college for the study of psychology in the building - or rather around the building for Miss Lawrence was an advocate of outdoor living and insisted that her students had healthy bodies and healthy minds. Her motives for founding the school were that her students should go out into the world and effect the social change which she thought desirable. 

She also organised concerts and organ recitals on a grand scale to enrich the lives of her students and the people of the town.

The whole building was constructed according to the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement and cost her a fortune. The building was taken over by the army at the outbreak of WWII and Miss Lawrence's health was too frail to ever resurrect her dream again.

In a slightly less ambitious way the town still promotes the outdoor life through its parks like Norton Common and many of the main thoroughfares are still like walking through forest glades...

But one person's dream.....

...can be someone else's nightmare! There are plenty of leaves to clear up each Autumn!

There's a lot of very stylish houses built in the manner favoured in the early decades of the twentieth century. And at very stylish prices too; I didn't find out where the poorer folk live.

But this unassuming dwelling....

....was for a time the home of Ebenezer Howard himself. I'm sure a lot of modern planners and architects would benefit from living in the buildings that they create.

Now this you might be forgiven for thinking is an old cottage that existed before the town was built - but you'd be wrong. This is the drawing office which Barry Parker, one of the chief architects responsible for building houses in the town, had built for himself. To me it seems an absurd anachronism, but it shows the traditional ideas which underpinned the building of the town.

I always like to show you historic sites of cultural significance. So here, my friends, is the UK's oldest gyratory traffic flow system or roundabout, dating from 1909 (circa). 

And finally, for no real reason other than to demonstrate that the town is not without a sense of humour, is the wonderfully-named outlet for re-cycling of antique furniture, "Mackay's Junk & Disorderly"!

Take care.