In the Autumn of 1977 Mervyn Miller gave a series of lectures at the old technical college - later demolished to make way for Morrisons.
At the last lecture those attending felt that it would be a good idea to form a society both to promote and ensure that the ethos and legacy of the founders continues and that the essential character of Letchworth Garden City is preserved not as a living museum but as a vibrant community.
On the 3rd May 1978 the Garden City Society was founded and the inaugural meeting was held at the Public Library on the 28th June 1978. This meeting was to promote the Society, recruit new members and appoint our first President, Sir Frederick Osborne. The founder member list closed that evening with 175 members.
In the autumn we took part in the Trade Fair held on the Recreation Ground opposite the Football Club which was promoted by LGCC. Our stand was designed and organised by Tom Downing and attracted much interest and as a result our membership grew to over 300. It is to be remembered that LGC was founded as an industrial town providing good accommodation for the workers.
As an aside, you will know that Letchworth was a town with no pubs - this was not Ebenezer Howard's idea but that of the factory owners who wanted a sober workforce.
Our next major project was the One Day Fun Day which first took place on Saturday 14th July 1979 which we ran for several years before it outgrew our resources, particularly insurance and policing. It was then taken over by the LGCC.
Over the years we have had many fascinating speakers and visits to both Arts and Crafts and other historic houses. The last one was to the Red House, the home built for William Morris.
In 2008 we celebrated our 30th Anniversary with a special party in this room and fittingly Margaret Bidwell was the guest of honour who cut the cake.
Early in 2015 we were approached by BBC Norwich to take part in the Inside Out programme which was contrasting the housing and social differences between the first Garden City founded before the First World War, Harlow new town one of the first wave of new towns after the 2nd World War and Cambourne, one of the new generation of developer led settlements. Filming took about an hour and a half. Ros Allwood, one of our members and curator of the new North Herts Museum, led a group of the members along Rushby Mead explaining the housing built for the first workers highlighting the different architectural features on each block.
We hold four meetings a year in the Brunt Room on various topics – in 2016 we had the privilege of a talk by Ursula Howard, the great granddaughter of Ebenezer Howard and we learnt many fascinating snippets about his life including the fact that in the family he was always called Ben.
This was followed in September by a talk on St Francis College given by their Librarian and Archivist, Katharine Purchon.
On Monday 30th November, our President, Mervyn Miller gave his annual lecture to the Society "Lest we Forget", a survey of war memorials both on the mainland and Western Front. The cenotaph was of course designed by Edwin Lutyens and Mervyn is a world authority on him.
In 2015, in conjunction with the Local History Group, the Small Cottages Group and the Heritage Foundation we set up the Letchworth Heritage Group. It represents the collective heritage interests of community and voluntary groups in LGC and seeks to co-ordinate heritage related activities across interested groups and all interested parties.
We have a campaigning side where we monitor some applications for planning permission and /or consents from LGCHF and where necessary make observations and objections.
We are opposing the proposal for 1,000 new homes to be built north of the Grange as it will destroy the Green/Agricultural Belt at one of its narrowest points. There are plans to develop the land to the land to the east of the Stotfold Road where the old Pig Testing Station was for housing and to build a new school on adjoining land - how soon would we be joined to Fairfield.
We circulated a leaflet in the Comet in November 2015 setting out our objections to this development. We are in favour of creating a new Garden City in the area and my favourite option is Odsey based on Ashwell Station because of its excellent communication links both by road and rail.
We will continue to campaign on issues that affect the Garden City. Please look at our website - lgcs.org.uk where you will find our detailed objections to the ill-conceived development north of the Grange as well as our future meetings and I do hope to see some of you at them in the future.
At the last lecture those attending felt that it would be a good idea to form a society both to promote and ensure that the ethos and legacy of the founders continues and that the essential character of Letchworth Garden City is preserved not as a living museum but as a vibrant community.
On the 3rd May 1978 the Garden City Society was founded and the inaugural meeting was held at the Public Library on the 28th June 1978. This meeting was to promote the Society, recruit new members and appoint our first President, Sir Frederick Osborne. The founder member list closed that evening with 175 members.
In the autumn we took part in the Trade Fair held on the Recreation Ground opposite the Football Club which was promoted by LGCC. Our stand was designed and organised by Tom Downing and attracted much interest and as a result our membership grew to over 300. It is to be remembered that LGC was founded as an industrial town providing good accommodation for the workers.
As an aside, you will know that Letchworth was a town with no pubs - this was not Ebenezer Howard's idea but that of the factory owners who wanted a sober workforce.
Our next major project was the One Day Fun Day which first took place on Saturday 14th July 1979 which we ran for several years before it outgrew our resources, particularly insurance and policing. It was then taken over by the LGCC.
Over the years we have had many fascinating speakers and visits to both Arts and Crafts and other historic houses. The last one was to the Red House, the home built for William Morris.
In 2008 we celebrated our 30th Anniversary with a special party in this room and fittingly Margaret Bidwell was the guest of honour who cut the cake.
Early in 2015 we were approached by BBC Norwich to take part in the Inside Out programme which was contrasting the housing and social differences between the first Garden City founded before the First World War, Harlow new town one of the first wave of new towns after the 2nd World War and Cambourne, one of the new generation of developer led settlements. Filming took about an hour and a half. Ros Allwood, one of our members and curator of the new North Herts Museum, led a group of the members along Rushby Mead explaining the housing built for the first workers highlighting the different architectural features on each block.
We hold four meetings a year in the Brunt Room on various topics – in 2016 we had the privilege of a talk by Ursula Howard, the great granddaughter of Ebenezer Howard and we learnt many fascinating snippets about his life including the fact that in the family he was always called Ben.
This was followed in September by a talk on St Francis College given by their Librarian and Archivist, Katharine Purchon.
On Monday 30th November, our President, Mervyn Miller gave his annual lecture to the Society "Lest we Forget", a survey of war memorials both on the mainland and Western Front. The cenotaph was of course designed by Edwin Lutyens and Mervyn is a world authority on him.
In 2015, in conjunction with the Local History Group, the Small Cottages Group and the Heritage Foundation we set up the Letchworth Heritage Group. It represents the collective heritage interests of community and voluntary groups in LGC and seeks to co-ordinate heritage related activities across interested groups and all interested parties.
We have a campaigning side where we monitor some applications for planning permission and /or consents from LGCHF and where necessary make observations and objections.
We are opposing the proposal for 1,000 new homes to be built north of the Grange as it will destroy the Green/Agricultural Belt at one of its narrowest points. There are plans to develop the land to the land to the east of the Stotfold Road where the old Pig Testing Station was for housing and to build a new school on adjoining land - how soon would we be joined to Fairfield.
We circulated a leaflet in the Comet in November 2015 setting out our objections to this development. We are in favour of creating a new Garden City in the area and my favourite option is Odsey based on Ashwell Station because of its excellent communication links both by road and rail.
We will continue to campaign on issues that affect the Garden City. Please look at our website - lgcs.org.uk where you will find our detailed objections to the ill-conceived development north of the Grange as well as our future meetings and I do hope to see some of you at them in the future.