Letchworth
THE WORLD’S FIRST
Garden City
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Front page: International Garden Cities Exhibition
Welcome to Letchworth Since its creation in 1903 Letchworth Garden City has been admired as the birthplace of an idea that began a revolution in the way we live. It was based upon a simple, but at the time, radical idea: to combine the very best of town and country living.
poured their energy and creativity into shaping the environment and community which continue to inspire and influence towns and cities around the world. The Best of Town and Country
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Living History
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Visitors walking around the town can’t help but be struck by the way the leafy avenues of attractive homes with their large gardens, almost merge with the town’s many green open spaces.
Room to Breathe
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History All Around
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Town Map
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Art and Ideas
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Country Bound
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Alongside the beauty of the parks and surrounding open countryside are the vibrant attractions of town living.
Family Focus
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A Vibrant Town
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Fit and Active
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This bold new Garden City concept was a magnet for visionaries and idealists from around the world, who came to Letchworth and
Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation
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How to Get Here
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Tourist Information Centre
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For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com 3
THE BEST OF
town & country Letchworth is a town where history and heritage can be found on every corner, each telling a small but crucial part of the fascinating Garden City story that inspired the world
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Howard Park and Gardens
It may look like a town that has evolved over hundreds of years but until the start of the last century most of it was farmland. It was the vision of one man, social reformer Ebenezer Howard, that transformed Letchworth into the vibrant and attractive town you see today. Sickened by the urban squalor of Victorian England, Howard made it his life’s work to create a town where everyone could enjoy fresh air and green spaces alongside the amenities of modern living. In his 1898 book, To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform (republished as Garden Cities of Tomorrow), he claimed marrying the best of town and country would
create nothing less than “a new hope, a new life, a new civilisation”. With the help of like-minded philanthropists and idealists, Howard founded Letchworth Garden City in 1903 to turn his drawing board ideas into bricks and mortar. The town he built and the Garden City Movement it inspired, confounded critics and showed how a well-planned town could enhance well-being. Having proved his model worked, Howard’s ideas were soon inspiring developments across the UK and around the world. Ebenezer Howard
Leys Avenue
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
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Pioneering architects Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin created a master plan in which the town was clearly laid out with distinct areas for housing, shops, civic buildings, parkland and industry. Surrounding the town was to be a ring of agricultural land to grow food, which inspired the idea of the Green Belt. The plan included magnificent public parks and private gardens, also large enough to grow your own fruit and vegetables.
from land held in Letchworth have been reinvested into the town ever since. The modern incarnation of this body is the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, which continues to invest locally into healthcare, charities, education, and social and sporting amenities. The Foundation also has a heritage role, maintaining the wonderful
Many homes’ designs were influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, celebrating traditional craftsmanship and the natural beauty of materials aligned with folk styles of decoration. Howard also ensured the Garden City estate would forever be held in common for the good of all with the creation of First Garden City Limited, ensuring that the profits
Eastholm
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Norton Common
open feel of the town and protecting its picturesque homes while at the same time making sure the town evolves to meet the changing needs of its residents. Carefully protected over many years, to nurture and develop those founding ambitions, the town has evolved into a living model for Garden City principles.
Broadway
The Arcade
Broadway Cinema
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
Standalone Farm
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LIVING
history The story of the world’s first Garden City and the movement is celebrated at the heart of town
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Letchworth has inspired more than 40 other Garden Cities and New Towns around the world with at least one on every continent, from Brazil to the US, South Africa to Australia. Today the influence of Garden Cities is greater than ever, and they are once again at the heart of the debate on creating new places where people are happy to live. This incredible global influence is celebrated in the International Garden Cities Exhibition, which explores the history of the town, the birth and growth of the Garden City Movement, and the rich legacy Letchworth has given to the world.
and Letchworth, the world’s first Garden City. The collection store is also an academic study centre, open by appointment to the local community and researchers from around the world, catering for the growing interest in the Garden City. Tours of the Collection are held on the first Saturday of every month, from 11am to 12.30pm. Numbers are restricted so advance booking is essential.
The International Garden Cities Exhibition 296 Norton Way South, SG6 1SU Phone: 01462 476070 www.garden-cities-exhibition.com
The Garden City Collection Study Centre Wilbury Hills Road, SG6 4LB Phone: 01462 476075 www.gardencitycollection.com
The exhibition is sited in the former drawing offices of Barry Parker, one of Letchworth’s principal architects, which was gifted to the town by his family. It also celebrates the campaigning work of Horace Plinston, who saved the town from rapacious speculators in the middle of the last century. It is open Friday and Saturday (10am-5pm), or by appointment during the week. The Curator also runs free guided historial walking tours each month, around some of the highlights of the first Garden City’s history.
International Garden Cities Exhibition
International Garden Cities Exhibition
Across town in the Garden City Collection, visitors can see displays of our art collection and beautiful Arts and Crafts furniture, master plans, and the many objects that tell the story of Letchworth’s heritage and social history. Monthly tours are held offering an overview of the 80,000 items in the collection, which includes architectural plans, photographs, furniture and art works related to the Garden City Movement
Garden City Collection
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
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ROOM
to breathe Few towns and cities in the world can boast such a scale and variety of green open spaces so close to the centre and homes
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Howard Park and Gardens
Broadway Gardens
Elegant public gardens, beautifully landscaped parks and leafy avenues, all key to the Garden City vision of bringing the country into the heart of the town, can be found within easy walking distance of the cultural and civic centre. Norton Common, now a nature reserve, has Green Flag status and offers 63 glorious acres of unspoilt grass and woodland as well as leisure facilities such as tennis courts, a bowling green, lido and children’s play area.
Norton Common
The woods are a haven for birds such as tawny owls, woodpeckers, bullfinches and song thrushes. You may even spot a Muntjac deer or one of the town’s black squirrels, first spotted in the UK on this very common.
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
It’s a short walk from there to Howard Park and Gardens, a timeless park featuring beautiful landscaped lawns, flower beds and water features. Perfect for youngsters, there’s also a heritage trail, children’s play area, paddling pool, refreshments and a stage setting with banked seating for events. Built on a grand European scale, Broadway is a broad tree-lined boulevard, sweeping into the heart of the town where it becomes Broadway Gardens - a listed civic garden and Letchworth’s cultural hub. This is often the setting for town events including open air screenings, sports events and fairs.
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There are also new community gardens designed with the Royal Horticultural Society, and built with local volunteers, right in the heart of the town. The showpiece gardens illustrate exemplar techniques and are the fruit of an exciting partnership to inspire a wider love of gardening. They feature edible hedges, a human sundial and model lowcost gardening for allotments, a biodiversity garden with a focus on encouraging wildlife and a sustainable garden emphasising organic gardening. A further showcase garden is based at Standalone Farm, having been
RHS In Bloom garden at Standalone Farm
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on display at the RHS Hampton Court Palace show. This garden celebrates 50 years of the UK’s biggest community gardening campaign, RHS Britain in Bloom and was designed by multi-RHS Gold medal winner Jon Wheatley. It charts the history of Britain in Bloom and community gardening, from the bedding plants popular in the 1960s to sustainable modern gardens. Elsewhere, greens inspired by English medieval villages can be found in places such as Westholm, once again seamlessly merging homes with the green open spaces for which Letchworth is famous.
Also worth a look… The Greenway – a wonderful walk encircling the town where it meets the country (see page 24)
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
RHS Wynd Community Garden
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HISTORY
all around While it’s the beautiful landmark buildings of the Garden City that initially catch the eye, scratch beneath the surface and discover Letchworth’s rich history from ancient churches to the UK’s first roundabout
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The Cloisters
Howgills Friends’ Meeting House
Letchworth was originally one of three local villages, along with Willian and Norton, mentioned in the Domesday Book. All Saints Church in Willian is a Grade II* Listed building with intricate gargoyles on the tower that has been serving its community for more than 900 years. The nearby St Mary the Virgin Church dates back to the 12th century while St Nicholas Church, Norton, features a Norman arch and bells which have rung for centuries. New churches were added to these as the Garden City grew. Built as the meeting house for the Society of Friends (Quakers), Howgills Friends’ Meeting House has at its heart a grand wooden-panelled meeting room with an integral musicians’ gallery. It opened in 1907, and today Howgills is still a place of worship and home to a range of local organisations and activities. Barry Parker designed the Letchworth Free Church in the centre of the town. Built in 1923, it has a more classical style than his earlier Arts and Crafts designs, and was the first church built in the new Garden City. Exhibition Cottages
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
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Founding architects Parker and Unwin were passionate exponents of the Arts and Crafts movement, which celebrated traditional craftsmanship. Their legacy can be seen in the many different types of buildings around the town from imposing bespoke homes to lovingly crafted cottages. Getting up close really pays dividends as the creativity and care put into the design of small details of features like windows and doors is revealed.
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The Spirella Building
Shortly after the birth of the Garden City, Letchworth was home to two exhibitions of experimental housing in 1905 and 1907. Early pioneers of the Ideal Home shows, the exhibitions drew architects from across the country tasked with creating cottages of imaginative designs that cost no more than ÂŁ150. Today 181, almost all of the Exhibition Cottages can still be seen.
Nearby is The Settlement, created as a temperance pub with no beer. Designed by Parker and Unwin and opened in 1907 as The Skittles Inn, the idea was fairly short-lived. In 1925 it became an adult education centre, a role it continues to this day, offering courses in everything from fine art to upholstery, French to local history. It is also home to a small theatre company.
The town’s first public building was the Mrs Elizabeth Howard Memorial Hall. It was paid for by public subscription in memory of Ebenezer Howard’s first wife, who died in 1904, shortly after the First Garden City was inaugurated. One of the town’s more unusual buildings is The Cloisters, designed in 1907 by Harrison Cowlishaw to fulfill a dream of philanthropist Annie Lawrence. She wanted to create an open-air school for the study of Psychology, it soon became base for a small community dedicated to the philosophy of Theosophy. Today it is maintained as a Masonic centre and open to the public on
selected days. It has been designated as one of the great historic buildings of the county.
beauty, which is a testament to the enlightened employers the town attracted.
A more unusual landmark is Sollershott Circus, which is not a building but the UK’s first ever roundabout. Positioned halfway along the impressive Broadway, it was built in 1909 and was the first ‘gyratory traffic flow system’ when cars were in their infancy.
Nothing was too good for the company’s ‘Healthy Happy Workers’ with a ballroom, now lovingly restored, provided for employees to dance and socialise, as well as a gym and baths. Today this Grade II* Listed building is home to offices, hosts weddings and the magnificent ballroom is available for private hire.
Perhaps the jewel in Letchworth’s architectural crown is the imposing Spirella Building, created between 1912 and 1920 for the eponymous corset company. Architect Cecil Hignett was commissioned to design a state-of-the art factory of great
It is a shining example of the combination of ambition and altruism that continues to be Letchworth’s hallmark.
The Settlement
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
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Norton Common
Outdoor Swimming Pool
The Spirella Building
Some of the Exhibition cottages
The Settlement
Letchworth Garden City Railway Station
The Arcade
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Howard Park and Gardens
The Wynd
13 Mrs Elizabeth Howard Memorial Hall
12 Broadway Cinema
11 Garden Square Shopping Centre
10 Leys Square
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18 International Garden Cities Exhibition
17 Broadway Gardens
16 Library
15 Old Town Hall
14 Goldsmith Centre, North Hertfordshire College
letchworth garden city
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Car Park Toilets all with disabled facilities
Willian Arboretum Wymondley Wood
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Standalone Farm
Norton Pond
Radwell Meadows
The Garden City Greenway rings the town
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C
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21 The Cloisters Local and Tourist Information Centre
20 Sollershott Circus
Inset
19 Howgills Friends’ Meeting House
ARTS
& ideas As well as providing a wonderful environment. Letchworth has always considered a rich cultural life crucial for wellbeing
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Broadway Cinema
From its earliest days, the utopian principles of Letchworth Garden City attracted and inspired artists from across all the creative disciplines. Sir John Betjeman immortalised the town in verse not once but twice in ‘Huxley Hall’ and ‘Group Life: Letchworth’ where he observed “the carefree children sported in the summer haze. And released their inhibitions in a hundred different ways”. The town was also once home to Laurence Olivier, who made one of his earliest stage appearances at St Christopher’s School, as Lennox in Macbeth.
Every June the two-week Letchworth Festival includes a great variety of music, dance and fun events for all ages as well as a film festival.
Company and the Exhibition on Screen, as well as live events with comedians, authors and theatre groups.
The developing Cultural Quarter around Broadway Gardens includes a school of creative enterprise and the beautiful Art Deco Broadway Cinema.
The success of live screenings and events has inspired plans to adapt the main screen to become a theatre space for large touring theatre companies, music and comedy as well as films. It’s scheduled to open in 2016.
First opened in 1936, the four-screen cinema evokes the Golden Age of Hollywood and offers much more than the traditional blockbuster repertoire. It shows mainstream and art house cinema and live streams of performances from the Royal Opera House, National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare
The four-screen cinema found the tables turned when it featured with other Garden City landmarks in the Simon Pegg-Nick Frost film, The World’s End.
Artist Spencer Gore lived in Wilbury Way and painted many landscapes here, while writer John Buchan, author of ‘The Thirty Nine Steps’, was another resident. His novel ‘Mr Standfast’ is partly set in a town modelled on Letchworth Garden City. In recent years the Heritage Foundation has adopted an ambitious artistic and cultural programme to better reflect the Garden City’s founding principles.
Today the Garden City cultural programme encompasses visits by international opera singers, musicians, dancers, actors, authors and artists. Maxim Rysanov and Alexander Sitkovetsky in concert at Spirella Ballroom
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
Photo by Pavel Kazhevnikov
A cultural strategy has been created to bring the arts into residents’ day-to-day lives, covering everything from classical music to comedy, immersive experiences to the visual arts, ensuring that all ages and interests are catered for.
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Innovative theatre
Nearby, Letchworth Arts Centre offers exciting exhibitions, live shows, comedy, and arts related courses for children and adults. Its eclectic range includes dance, drama, music, comedy, visual arts and the spoken word. It also puts on larger productions at other venues around town including Standalone Farm and the Spirella Ballroom. The town also hosts studios for emerging artists run by Digswell Arts Trust. The artists, who are based in the old Fenners building in the Wynd, hold regular exhibitions of their work, which ranges from sculpture to painting, book-making and design.
Digswell Arts Trust exhibition
They also run workshops open to all ages and abilities, an amazing opportunity to learn skills from talented experts. These workshops also offer a chance to try many different arts and crafts such as printmaking, glass etching, jewellery design and painting. A taste of Italy
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Broadway Cinema Art house cinema, blockbuster films, and live screenings from the Royal Opera House, National Theatre, Royal Academy of Arts and more. Plus live lectures, and a kids club. A new theatre is also planned here. Open 7 days a week. Eastcheap, SG6 3DD www.broadway-cinema.com
Letchworth Arts Centre Offers a diverse and exciting programme including exhibitions, live music, theatre and dance. 2, The Arcade, SG6 3EW www.letchwortharts.org
David’s Bookshop Something of a focal point of community life since 1963, the independent bookshop hosts regular talks by authors as well as live music. Eastcheap, SG6 3DE www.davidsbookshops.co.uk
Digswell Arts Trust Town centre studios for emerging artists who hold regular exhibitions and workshops open to all ages and abilities. Run by the Digswell Arts Trust. 7 Openshaw Way, SG6 3EN www.digswellartstrust.com
Exhibition at The Cloisters
Dining out There is an interesting range of food on offer in the heart of Letchworth Garden City, from Thai to traditional English, Tapas and Italian. The Cultural Quarter around Broadway Gardens is also home
to wonderful restaurants, cafes and bars for those who want to enjoy a full evening out. There are a lovely range of country pubs that ring the town, offering food from award-winning fine dining to relaxed family fare.
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
With new restaurants opening regularly we’ve decided not to try to list them all but do ask at the Tourist Information Centre for information, or just follow your nose.
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COUNTRY
bound
Within minutes of the town centre the 13-mile Greenway allows visitors to explore the glorious countryside that surrounds the world’s first Garden City
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The Greenway
Perfect for a leisurely country stroll or cycle ride, the Garden City Greenway trail leads through woodland and ponds, farmland and orchards. The Greenway completely encircles the town, so you can discover the country without ever straying far from the town. It offers various options of where to begin and end your journey, with free car parks at strategic points. The Greenway was a one million pound project funded by the Heritage Foundation, to act as a permanent commemoration of Letchworth Garden City’s first centenary in 2003. The full length of the Garden City Greenway can now be used by all, including disabled users, following the surfacing of the last section of the route.
It offers great stopping points along the way, including the Greenway Café at Standalone Farm, the much-loved farm attraction which makes for an ideal day out for all the family. The café offers a range of delicious food and drink throughout the day, from light lunches to coffee and cake, and you don’t have to be visiting the farm to use it. To the north of the town the beautiful Radwell Meadows is the perfect place to begin your exploration of The Greenway with its award-winning children’s play area, picnic tables and free parking. Nearby Norton Pond is a magnet for wildlife including: a wide variety of bird species; newts; dragonflies; three-spined sticklebacks; common frogs and toads; pond skaters and crustaceans.
Walking clockwise round The Greenway you’ll come to the historic village of Willian, one of the original three villages which became Letchworth Garden City. Willian still retains its village feel with its award-winning country pub, The Fox, overlooking the duck pond. The nearby Willian Arboretum is home to more than 30 varieties of trees and next to the majestic Manor Wood, where you can picnic in beautiful surroundings and pick apples during the harvest season. At the southernmost tip of The Greenway is Wymondley Wood, a fascinating educational woodland area. It features existing and newly planted forests, plus a special nature conservation and field study area.
For a detailed Greenway information leaflet with map, please contact the Tourist Information Centre or visit www.greenway.org.uk where you can download the Garden City Greenway iPhone app. It is also available free from the iTunes store.
Willian Pond
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
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FAMILY
friendly As you’d expect in a town with such a strong sense of community, Letchworth Garden City is the perfect place for families, with activities and attractions for all ages
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Standalone Farm
For kids (and grown-ups) who are animal lovers, Standalone Farm has everything from alpacas to spring lambs, shire horses, playful goats, rabbits, a bull, geese, piglets and even a pair of friendly donkeys. There are activities every day including the chance to bottle feed lambs in spring, groom ponies, help feed the pigs, watch milking demonstrations and then practise on a model cow, as well as tractor trailer rides. The idyllic farm walk takes you past paddocks, grazing fields and ducks paddling happily in Pix Brook, offering the chance to observe the farmer and his team driving tractors, tending animals and other aspects of life on a traditional working farm. Greenway Café offers simple family lunches as well as drinks and snacks throughout the day. Plus there are picnic and play areas, ride-on toys and a delightful model railway.
Howard Park and Gardens is perfect for youngsters, with a heritage trail, children’s play area, paddling pool with play fountains, refreshments and a stage setting with banked seating for events. There are flat paths around the park, and disabled parking and toilets. Not far from the town centre on the edge of Norton Common is the historic heated lido, Letchworth Outdoor Pool. Set in lawned gardens with plenty of space for sunbathing, picnics and play, the lido features an Olympic sized (50metre) pool alongside a toddlers’ pool, as well as a café for refreshments. As at the farm, parking here is free. Also worth a look is the Kids’ Club at Broadway Cinema on weekend mornings, with tickets starting at £1, and our great range of sports clubs and facilities (See page 30).
Standalone Farm Open March to October. Wilbury Road, SG6 4JN www.standalonefarm.com
Letchworth Outdoor Pool Built in 1935 this 50-metre pool also offers a sunbathing area, toddler pool, refreshments and snacks, inflatables, floats and free car parking. Open May to September Icknield Way, SG6 4UF www.stevenage-leisure.co.uk
Dot to Dot Gallery Run by arts and enterprise charity Rhapsode, the gallery has resident artists, offers workshops and events, children’s storytelling sessions and an in-house craft café. 6-8 The Wynd, SG6 3EN www.rhapsode.org.uk
LETCHWORTH ARTS CENTRE Offers a great range of after school and holiday activities from children’s theatre to art and drama classes, and a wonderful in-house cafe.
Standalone Farm
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
2, The Arcade, SG6 3EW www.letchwortharts.org
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A VIBRANT
town
The people of Letchworth need little excuse to come together as a community, whether it’s the town’s spring and summer festivals, exhibitions, arts events or family fun and visitors are always welcome
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The Wynd
Every summer the Letchworth Festival offers a fantastic programme of music, dance, sport, guided walks, film, theatre and family fun culminating in the hugely popular Proms in the Park. The two-week community festival encompasses an open art show, film festival, sporting challenges, plus tours of the town’s iconic buildings and parks, and much more besides. The festival also includes a concert by the Letchworth Sinfonia and showcases the talents of the town’s gifted community groups. Quality of life and socialising were celebrated from the town’s inception and today it is home to hundreds of different clubs and societies. The Letchworth Arts and Leisure Group is the umbrella for many, and offers everything from Argentine Tango dancing to social cycling and wine appreciation.
In May, Letchworth Food and Garden Festival is a chance to sample the best food from the region and around the world, watch top chefs give culinary masterclasses and shop for exquisite treats to take home. Visitors can also learn about seasonal produce and how to grow their own sensational feasts from scratch. In the autumn, the Fire and Fright festival brings wonderful art events inspired by Halloween and Bonfire Night, with free family arts workshops running alongside it. Letchworth’s original independent spirit still thrives and can be found in the town centre, with its many specialist shops selling everything from rare books and fine art to artisan pastries and collectable curios. Built in 1922, The Arcade is a great place to hunt out arts and exhibitions, and browse for
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
something special. Under its glass roof you can find our Arts Centre, contemporary silver jewellers, a glassware store, a knitting and sewing shop and much more. Nearby, The Wynd offers even more individual and idiosyncratic galleries and shops. Leys Avenue offers high street stores, fine art galleries and gift shops, florists and food shops and hosts the monthly Farmers’ Markets. Garden Square Shopping Centre, which leads off Leys Square, has all the High Street favourites, from clothes shops to chemists, as well as a monthly Craft Fair. Meanwhile Eastcheap and Arena Parade are great for all the essentials of life with boutiques, cafes, stationers and an independent music and bookshop. The Tourist Information Centre keeps a rolling calendar of events on our website at www.letchworthgc.com/whats_on
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FIT AND
active Inspired by the founding principles of keeping residents active, Letchworth offers an array of sporting and leisure facilities from golf courses and tennis clubs to bowling greens and a healthy living centre
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Letchworth Golf Club
For the more experienced golfer Letchworth Golf Club is one of the county’s finest 18-hole courses, set in wonderful parkland. Nearby Letchworth Par 3 Family Golf Centre is a relaxed and informal golf club that caters to beginners and families.
A challenging, undulating circuit which draws hundreds of runners, the race starts and finishes at Standalone Farm. There’s always a great atmosphere and wonderful community support to see you through.
Set around an idyllic wooded courtyard, Letchworth Centre for Healthy Living offers yoga and pilates, Tai Chi and dance, alongside children’s classes, complementary therapies and workshops. It is also home to a great café offering homemade vegetarian cooking from seasonal and locally sourced foods.
The town boasts a 50-metre heated outdoor pool, on the edge of the green haven Norton Common. There is a separate toddlers pool, inflatables and floats, plus a large grassed sunbathing area and raised poolside terrace as well as a refreshment kiosk. It is open seven days a week in the summer months.
Another great draw, for fun runners and serious athletes alike, is the annual autumn North Herts Road Runners’ Standalone 10K, which offers a chance to run rings around Letchworth Garden City.
Nearby North Herts Leisure Centre has an indoor pool with wave machine and slide, as well a gymnasium and sports hall used for everything from racquet sports to roller skating.
Letchworth Golf Club Letchworth Lane, SG6 3NQ www.letchworthgolfclub.com
Letchworth Par 3 Family Golf Centre Willian Way, SG6 2HJ www.letchworthpar3.co.uk
Letchworth Centre for Healthy Living Hitchin Road, SG6 3NA www.letchworthcentre.com
North Herts Leisure Centre Has an indoor pool with wave machine and slide, fitness suites and courts for hire for everything from badminton to roller skating, basketball and trampolining. Baldock Road, SG6 2ER www.stevenage-leisure.co.uk
Teamworks Karting Indoor go-kart racing on a huge 550m indoor circuit, offering races for one to 100 drivers. Pixmore Avenue, SG6 1JS www.teamworkskarting.com/ letchworth
Letchworth Sports and Tennis Club Indoor and outdoor tennis courts, with squash, badminton, gym and croquet facilities. Plus café and licensed bar. Muddy Lane, SG6 3TB www.letchworth-tennis.co.uk Standalone 10k
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
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LETCHWORTH GARDEN CITY HERITAGE FOUNDATION Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation is a self-funding charitable organisation dedicated to maintaining and enhancing the world’s first Garden City We help to make Letchworth a stimulating place to live and work with a thriving and engaged community, maintaining the unique architectural and cultural character of the town to ensure it continues to inspire those seeking to create spaces that combine the best of town and country.
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We support, fund and promote activities for the people of Letchworth Garden City, with everything driven by our charitable commitments to Environment and Heritage; Recreation and Leisure; Education and Learning; Health and Wellbeing; Charities and Charitable Activities.
Under these headings we run and fund: a historic art deco Cinema, Broadway Cinema; a community hub; a treatment centre; a 13 mile Garden City Greenway path around the town; the International Garden Cities Exhibition, Garden City Collection, community gardens, an arts centre; a minibus service;
a Shopmobility service; a community farm; the Local and Tourist Information Centre and a world class cultural programme. Grants are also given to local individuals, sports clubs, community groups and charities to fund a vast range of activities. We also operate a “Scheme of Management” to preserve the architectural appearance and character of the world’s first Garden City. All our activity is driven by the desire to further our contribution to the town and its people and promote the Garden City movement. We put Letchworth’s residents and organisations at the centre of all work, ensuring our commercial activity is used to make Letchworth a unique place to live and work. We seek to create an environment that encourages businesses to thrive and grow in the town, stimulating prosperity and creating jobs. As the world’s first Garden City we continue to be an international blueprint for a way of living that has inspired developments across the world. The International Garden Cities Exhibition is a unique attraction accessible to anyone interested in the Garden City movement.
Find out more about the work of the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation on our website www.letchworth.com/ heritage-foundation
RHS Wynd Community Garden
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
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How we work
Letchworth Garden City
We manage our assets to generate income which we then invest into the community and infrastructure of the Garden City.
Population: 33,249 Households: 13,990
When First Garden City Limited was created in 1903 to build Letchworth Garden City the company was gifted commercial land and property; the profits from which have been reinvested back into the town ever since. We now actively manage these and other assets to maximise revenue so we can then invest the funds into a wide range of charitable activities in the town. A Board of volunteer Trustees establishes strategy and considers and approves policy. Governors are drawn from the community, some are appointed because of the skills they have, and others are elected by the residents and organisations of Letchworth Garden City. They represent the views of the town, working with and engaging local people.
Age ranges (national average in brackets) 0-15 19.64% (18.91%) 16-24 9.88% (11.85%) 25-44 25.78% (27.53%) 45-64 25.87% (25.37%) 65-90+ 18.84% (16.33%) Education 5,213 school pupils 11 primary schools 3 secondary schools 2 independent schools 1 pupil referral unit 1 special needs academy
Employment & Commercial Whole town: Number of employees: 14,700 Employment land: 100.5 ha (248 acres) No of business premises: 777 Business Sectors: 21% Distribution, 22% Manufacturing and 57% Services Housing Average house price 2014: £260,000 Social housing 32% (18.5% in England as a whole)
Learning Barn at Standalone Farm
Heritage Foundation Key Facts Letchworth Estate: 5,500 acres/2,225 ha Our Foundation portfolio: 185,567 sq ft of offices (23% of our portfolio), 181 industrial units (61%) and more than 100 shops (16%).
Ernest Gardiner Treatment Centre
Rural Estate: 1214 ha/3,000 acres Greenway: 21.8 km /13.6 miles Commercial Farm land: 906 ha /2241 acres Foundation average Income: Total annual income: £9,800,000 Charitable Activities spend: £4,800,000 a year on average 34
A Residential Street
the tourist information centre Your first port of call on arrival in the world’s first Garden City. The awardwinning Tourist Information Centre, owned and managed by the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, is located in the heart of the town centre at the entrance to The Arcade, just two minutes walk from the railway station. It is a Visit Britain Official partner and offers: • An extensive collection of information, leaflets and guides, including an historic map and walking guide, and cycle routes. • Tickets for some local events and festivals. • An accommodation guide
A small memento of your visit… A range of Letchworth Garden City souvenirs and literature is available for sale at the Tourist Information Centre.
• Regional and national travel and tourism information
You can also order online at www.letchworthgc.com or by telephone on
• A free Shopmobility scheme, aiding residents and visitors with mobility difficulties.
+44 (0)1462 487868
• Local event listings
Letchworth Garden City Tourist Information Centre, 33-35 Station Road, Letchworth Garden City, SG6 3BB. Tel: +44 (0)1462 487868 Email: tic@letchworth.com Open Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 4.30pm. Closed Sundays and Bank Holidays.
how to get here By Road Letchworth Garden City is in North Hertfordshire, 38 miles from the heart of London. Just 5 minutes from Junction 9 and 10 of the A1(M) and a short drive from Luton and Junction 10 of the M1.
Nottingham
M54 Birmingham
By Rail Fast services from London King’s Cross take 25 minutes to Letchworth Garden City Station; or 30 minutes from Cambridge. By Bus There are regular bus services to the Garden City’s rural and residential areas as well as local towns, such as Hitchin and Baldock, and airports.
M6
Upon Avon
M1
M40 Milton
Oxford
Keynes
Stevenage
Ipswich
A1(M)
M11
M40
Bristol
For more information visit www.letchworthgc.com
Cambridge
M1
LONDON M25
M4
By Air London Luton and Stansted are within easy driving distance, London Heathrow a little further.
Great Yarmouth
Peterborough
Letchworth Garden City
M5 Stratford
M5 Cardiff
Norwich
Leicester
M3
Southend-on-Sea
M25 Dover Folkstone
Bournemouth
Portsmouth
35
Published by Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation runs a range of visitor attractions as charitable services, from country walkways and farms, to a cinema, arts centre and exhibition. It stewards the Letchworth Garden City estate and invests profits in heritage, healthcare, charities, education and social amenities for all, helping ensure the town thrives as a living model for Garden City Principles. www.letchworthgc.com www.twitter.com/letchworth_tic
