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Not to be confused with Welwyn. Welwyn is a Village in Hertfordshire, England. Situated in the valley of the River Mimram, it was first settled in the Iron Age
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City (Hertfordshire)
Welwyn Garden City

Welwyn Garden City shown within Hertfordshire
Population 43,252[1]
OS grid reference TL245135
District Welwyn Hatfield
Shire county Hertfordshire
Region East
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town WELWYN GARDEN CITY
Postcode district AL7, AL8
Dialling code 01707 (OLD: 0707)
Police Hertfordshire
Fire Hertfordshire
Ambulance East of England
European Parliament East of England
UK Parliament Welwyn Hatfield
List of places: UK • England • Hertfordshire

Coordinates: 51°48′22″N 0°11′36″W / 51.8062, -0.1932

Welwyn Garden City is a town (not a city) in Hertfordshire, England. Hertfordshire (ˈhɑːtfədʃə(r, abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are one of the four levels of Subdivisions of England used for the purposes of Local government outside Greater London Hertfordshire (ˈhɑːtfədʃə(r, abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of The region, also known as the government office region, is currently the highest tier of local government sub-national entity of England, with only one The East of England is one of the nine official Regions of England. Constituent country is a phrase used often by official institutions in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity or grouping England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This list of sovereign states, alphabetically arranged gives an overview of States around the world with information on the extent of their Sovereignty. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system UK Postal codes are known as postcodes. UK postcodes are Alphanumeric. The AL postcode area, also known as the St Albans postcode area, is a group of ten postal districts in central Hertfordshire which are subdivisions of five Post towns The UK Telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, is the system used for assigning Telephone numbers in the United There are a number of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom. Hertfordshire Constabulary is the Home Office Police force responsible for policing the county of Hertfordshire in England. The fire service in the United Kingdom operates under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is the Statutory fire and rescue service for the County of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust is the authority responsible for providing NHS Ambulance services in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, East of England is a Constituency of the European Parliament. This is a list of the 646 constituencies currently represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as at the 2005 general election Welwyn Hatfield is a Constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. A Gazetteer of place names in the United Kingdom showing each place's County, Unitary authority or council area and its geographical coordinates List of places --> List of cities in the United Kingdom List of towns in England Lists of places This is a list of settlements in the ceremonial county of Hertfordshire, England. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands inhabitants although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan Hertfordshire (ˈhɑːtfədʃə(r, abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Welwyn Garden City is also referred to in Council parlance as WGC or, less correctly, as "Welwyn" (the village of Welwyn is actually located a few miles northwest of WGC). Welwyn is a Village in Hertfordshire, England. Situated in the valley of the River Mimram, it was first settled in the Iron Age The town (along with Welwyn village) is fairly affluent.

The principal historic significance of the town lies in its planning. It is an example of the physical, social and cultural ideals of the periods in which it was conceived (it has the unique distinction of being both a Garden City and a New Town). In planning terms its significance is global, attracting visitors from around the world.

Contents

History

Welwyn Garden City, as its name suggests, is a garden city, founded by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the 1920s following his previous experiment in Letchworth Garden City, and designed by Louis de Soissons. The garden city movement is an approach to Urban planning that was founded in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom Sir Ebenezer Howard ( 29 January 1850 – May 1 1928) was a prominent British Urban planner. The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada For the US businessman see William Pryor Letchworth. For the New York State Park see Letchworth State Park. Louis E J G De Savoi-Carignan, Viscount d’Ostel Baron Longroy 1890–1962 was the younger son of Charles 37th Count of Soissons. Following the establishment of Letchworth Garden City and prior to the commencement of Welwyn Garden City, Howard wrote:

A city will arise as superior in its beauty and magnificence to our first crude attempt as the finished canvas of a great artist to the rough and untaught attempts of a schoolboy.

Howard (nicknamed by close friend George Bernard Shaw as Ebenezer the Garden City Geyser, in recognition of his continual 'spouting forth' on the advantages of Garden City living) had called for the creation of new towns - of limited size, planned in advance and surrounded by a permanent belt of agricultural land - as a role model for lower-density urban development. George Bernard Shaw ( (26 July 1856 &ndash 2 November 1950 was an Irish Playwright. A new town, planned community or planned city is a City, Town, or Community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically Howard believed that such Garden Cities were the perfect blend of city and nature. The town has its own exclusive environmental protection legislation - The Scheme of Management for Welwyn Garden City.

The town centre is dominated by the central mall or 'scenic parkway', almost a mile long, named 'Parkway'. Prior to the erection of a police radio mast, the Parkway vista to the south viewed from the White Bridge had been described as one of the world's finest urban vistas. [2]

The main shopping centre is known as The Howard Centre, after Sir Ebenezer Howard. The Howard Centre is an shopping centre in Welwyn Garden City. [3] Welwyn Garden City railway station also forms part of the centre. Welwyn Garden City railway station serves the town of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire.

One of the lesser-known ideas of the city's architects was that all the town's citizens would shop in the same store. Thus the Welwyn department store was established as a central landmark on the 'Campus' (a centrally-located green semi-circular area in the town). Commercial pressures have since ensured much more competition and variety, and the Welwyn Store is now part of the John Lewis Partnership group of stores (the original Welwyn Store was on the site of the current Rosanne House office building). The John Lewis Partnership is a major United Kingdom retailer which operates John Lewis Department stores Waitrose Supermarkets and

Until a mistake in 2005, there were no street names with the word "street" in the town. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Ebenezer Howard is said to have planted an apple tree in the garden of every original house.

In 1948 The Times newspaper said: "Welwyn Garden City made The New Towns Act possible". Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Times is a daily national Newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. Cambridge professor of architecture Andrew Saint said: "Welwyn Garden City is one of modern Europe's greatest success stories in town-making". The problems of metropolitan and regional development and urban sprawl, and the need for harmony and ecology are prompting a current resurgance of interest in the 'Garden City ethos' and the kinds of neighbourhoods and communities Howard advocated. Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is the spreading of a city and its Suburbs over rural land at the fringe of an urban area [4] In November 2006, a Japanese building company, NSCP, visited the town, were given a guided tour by the WGC society, and were so impressed that they decided to name a new 144-house development near Tokyo "Welwyn Garden Village".

Arms of the former Welwyn Garden City Urban District Council
Arms of the former Welwyn Garden City Urban District Council

Local government

Welwyn Garden City has, since local government reorganisation, been part of the greater Welwyn Hatfield District. While Hatfield has retained its own town council (albeit limited in responsibilities), Welwyn Garden City has not, and its position within the District is anomalous since the village of Welwyn also has its own parish council. However, there are indications that a change could be on the way with the establishment of Welwyn Garden City Council, so returning individuality and Garden City civic identity to the town.

Industry

Welwyn Garden City is well-known as the town where breakfast cereals Shredded Wheat and Shreddies were made, at the former Nabisco factory (now part of Nestlé). Shredded Wheat is a Breakfast cereal made from whole Wheat. It comes in two sizes bite sized (3/4 in x 1 in and normal size which are sometimes Shreddies is a Breakfast cereal sold in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and New Zealand, produced by Post Cereals Nabisco (originally known as Na tional Bis cuit Co mpany is a brand of Cookies and Snacks including brands such as Chips Ahoy! Nestlé is a multinational packaged food company founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland The factory was due to close (with production moved to Staverton, Wiltshire) in 2008, as Nestlé says that the current site is too small. Staverton is a village and Civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. Etymology The county formerly 'Wiltonshire' or 'Wiltunscir' (9th century is named after the former county town of Wilton (itself named after the River Wylye The former supermarket chain Fine Fare (now part of Somerfield) had its head office in the town at one time, as did ICI's Plastics Division until the early 1990s. Fine Fare was the name of a chain of Supermarkets in the United Kingdom until the late 1980s Somerfield is a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom.

Tesco has a substantial head office site in the north of the town (the company's main headquarters are in Cheshunt), and a full-size supermarket mock-up used for staff training. Tesco plc is a British -based international grocery and general merchandising retail chain For the Australian village of the same name see Cheshunt Victoria Cheshunt (pronounced) is a town in the Broxbourne district of Recent local news indicates that Tesco are interested in buying the Shredded Wheat site to build a currently unknown development. They have however confirmed that no new super stores will be built on the site.

In 1929 Sir Henry Birkin built the first supercharged "Blower Bentley" at his engineering works in Broadwater Road, Welwyn Garden City. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Sir Henry Ralph Stanley "Tim" Birkin 3rd Baronet ( 26 July 1896 – 22 June 1933) was a British racing driver one of the The Bentley 4½ Litre is a British Sports car built by Bentley Motors. His famous record breaking red single seater Blower Bentley was also built and maintained at the works and took the Brooklands lap record to 137. There is also a type of Windscreen known as "Brooklands" or "Brookland screen" 96 mph in 1932 with Birkin at the wheel. The record stood for another two years before being beaten by John Cobb in his Napier Railton. John Cobb may refer to John Cobb (Australian politician John Cobb (cabinetmaker John Cobb (Manitoba politician Napier-Railton is an Aero-engined Race car built in 1933 designed by Reid Railton to a commission by John Cobb, and built by Thomson &

Welwyn Garden City retains a strong commercial base bringing much employment to the area with companies including: Argos Direct, Baxter, British Lead Mills, Carl Zeiss, Danish Bacon (DBC foodservice), Roche, IBM, PayPoint, Ratcliff Tail Lifts (now Ratcliff Palfinger), Schering-Plough, Threshers Group, Vega Group, Welwyn Tool Group (former Welwyn Tool Company), Xerox and many more. Argos is the largest general-goods Retailer in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland with over 700 stores Carl Zeiss ( September 11, 1816 &ndash December 3, 1888) was an Optician commonly known for the company he founded Carl Zeiss F Hoffmann–La Roche Ltd is a Swiss global health-care company which operates world-wide under two divisions Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. International Business Machines Corporation abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue", is a multinational Computer Technology PayPoint plc ( is a leading British business offering a system for paying bills in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Thresher Group is the largest independent Off-licence retail chain in the UK, with around 2000 shops operating under several retail brands Vega Group plc is part of the Finmeccanica Italian group It is specialised in professional services providing Consulting, Technology and managed solutions Xerox Corporation ( (name ˈziːrɒks is a global document management company which manufactures and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction

The police headquarters for Hertfordshire Constabulary is located on the southern side of the town. Hertfordshire Constabulary is the Home Office Police force responsible for policing the county of Hertfordshire in England. The Constabulary's new 45m-high radio mast in the centre of the Parkway vista, erected contrary to Government and English Heritage guidelines, has been heavily criticized by heritage groups. [5]

Notable people

Current and former residents of Welwyn Garden City (in alphabetical order)


Popular culture

The Boulting Brothers' crime classic Brighton Rock starring Richard Attenborough, was made at Associated British Picture Corporation's Welwyn Garden City Studios (demolished in 2007 by the new owners, Tesco). Lisa Snowdon (born January 23, 1972) is an English model, who most recently has turned her career to include being an Actress and A supermodel is a highly-paid élite fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in Haute couture and commercial modeling Una Stubbs (born 1 May 1937 in Hinckley, Leicestershire) is an English actress and former Dancer. Citizen Smith was a British television sitcom The show was written by John Sullivan, who went on later to write Only Fools and Horses. Jack the Ripper is an alias given to an unidentified Serial killer active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area and adjacent districts of London London's Burning was a Television drama programme produced by London Weekend Television and focused on the lives of Blue Watch Firefighters The Bill is a long-running British Television Police procedural, named after a slang term for the police. Smash (often typeset as S*M*A*S*H) are a Punk rock trio who enjoyed brief notoriety in the early 1990s in the UK. The Subways are an English Alternative rock band Their debut album Young For Eternity, was released on 4 July, 2005 Michael "Mick" Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire) is an English Musician best known as a Mark Thompson (born July 31 1957) is Director-General of the BBC, a post he has held since 2004 and a former chief executive of The Director-General is chief executive and (from 1944 Editor-in-chief of the BBC. John and Roy Boulting were English film-makers, who became known for their popular series of satirical comedies in the 1950s and 1960s Brighton Rock is a 1947 British film based on the novel of the same name by Graham Greene. Richard Samuel Attenborough Baron Attenborough Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC originally British International Pictures (BIP was a British film production distribution and exhibition company

Popular television series filmed in Welwyn Garden city include: The Tweenies and BBC TV series Superstars (1970s-1980s). The Tweenies is a Television programme aimed at young children broadcast on the BBC. Superstars is an all-around sports competition that pits elite athletes from different sports against one another in a This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989.

References to Welwyn Garden City occur in popular culture, typically in a humorous context on account of its long and peculiar sounding name, or as an example of a typical suburban commuter town. Examples include Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell, as well as a sketch in Alas Smith and Jones. Keep the Aspidistra Flying, first published 1936 is a grimly comic Novel by George Orwell. Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer Alas Smith and Jones was a British Comedy sketch television series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. It is also mentioned in the shows Porridge, as the place where the prison psychiatrist worked previously to Slade Prison, and Strange, where Canon Black refers to a seedy nightclub as making "Sodom and Gomorrah look like Welwyn Garden City". Porridge was a British situation comedy that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1973 to 1977 running for three series two Christmas specials as well as Strange is a British Television drama series produced by the independent production company Big Bear Productions for the BBC, which The town name appears also in the lyrics of a song Billy's Line by the english band Red Box. Red Box were a British pop group active from the early 1980s to the early 1990s founded by Simon Toulson-Clarke and Julian Close

Singer-songwriter Edwyn Collins released a tribute to the town as a B-side to his UK Top 40 single, The Magic Piper Of Love. Edwyn Collins (born Edwyn Stephen Collins, 23 August 1959, Edinburgh In a BBC 6 Music radio interview on

Twice Shy by Dick Francis refers to WGC (possibly) a house in/off "Parkway" as a residence of a criminal.

Fans of computer game Midtown Madness 2 have recreated the city, featuring its bus station and buses. Midtown Madness 2 is a free roam racing/arcade sequel to Midtown Madness, part of the Midtown Madness series, developed by Angel Studios [6]

References

  1. ^ Office for National Statistics, 2001 Census, Key statitistics for HCC settlements Usual resident populations
  2. ^ Welwyn Garden City Conservation Area Appraisal 2006.
  3. ^ Welwyn and Hatfield Times. " Welwyn Garden City". Retrieved on 2007-03-01. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant
  4. ^ Schuyler, David: "Garden City to Green City" (Schuyler is Shadek Professor of Humanities and Professor of American Studies)
  5. ^ Welwyn Garden City Society, Welwyn Garden Heritage Trust, English Heritage.
  6. ^ [1] AVW1

See also

External links

Welwyn Garden City FC are a football club based in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England. The garden city movement is an approach to Urban planning that was founded in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom El Palomar is a district of Greater Buenos Aires in Argentina at 20 km (12 The Howard Centre is an shopping centre in Welwyn Garden City. Welwyn RFC was originally born as Welwyn (East and formed in 1931 The Air Training Corps ( ATC) is a cadet organisation based in the United Kingdom.
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