New Town (1959)

Stevenage, Hertfordshire.
C/U of a sign which reads: "Buses Only - No Entry for Other Vehicles". Pan down to show the modern architecture of the town centre. Over shots of the the bus pulling into a stop the narrator explains how the new town's principle of not allowing cars into town leads to a refreshing lack of traffic congestion. Shot of the free car park - shoppers can leave their cars here and travel into the town centre by bus.
Various shots of the shopping centre of the new town. Narrator observes: "Wherever one turns the outlook is gay and eye-catching" - it all looks rather grey and concrete bound really. C/Us of a sculpture in the town centre - Franta Belsky's (sp?) "Joyride". Continental kiosks contain colourful posters, a grandma shows her two young grandchildren. They walk around the "kiosk" which is covered with posters advertising idyllic countryside holiday destinations. This seems slightly ironic in the centre of what is supposed to be the greatest environment in the modern world.
M/S of woman in a headscarf pushing a pram. Low angle of the street lighting. Various shots of shoppers walking through the town centre. C/Us of flowers in tubs and of details of architecture. Narrator talks of the spaciousness of the new town and compares it with the cramped back streets of many ordinary towns. The "rural look of Stevenage" has been retained (apparently) by leaving many of the original trees "apparently growing out of the concrete." Woman lifts her bike out of a bicycle rack - C/U of the rack - probably an innovative design at the time. C/U of the town fountain and various shots of the clock tower and houses. Narrator ends by saying "Here, then, is the design for living of the future. A town planned down to the last nail - planned to be lived in, by eighty thousand of the citizens of tomorrow."
Note: great for showing the big hopes held for the "new towns". The place may look soulless but I like it!
FILM ID:93.17
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[@vikingfortiesfaeroes]

The cone-shaped lights have recently been brought back to the Town Square - props to whomever had the good taste to remember the past like that!

[@colin_a]

I was born here in 1960. Such happy memories... I've no idea where it all went so wrong.. 😞

[@matthewkent5212]

It all went down hill when it became over populated and new areas were added to the town.

[@michaelrejoinbradford1282]

I loved living in Stevenage. Had some great memories there and few sad ones , but will always be in my heart ❤️

[@lesleyscott938]

Was so lovely back then ...

[@TheGinglymus]

I wish towns still looked like this.

[@jon9218]

I worked there in the 1970's in a record shop. Saturday Night Fever and Greece were the only records we every sold it was very common.

[@paulnicholls5257]

Shame the dream went oh so wrong! I got out over 30 years ago.

[@simonabbott7323]

The North Road is gone, but I looked on Google Maps for the bus station. In the video, there is a Lloyds bank looking out over the bus station. If you go on Streetview to Danestrete, you can look at the bus station. In July 2018 at least, there was still a branch of Lloyds next to the bus station and if you pan round, you can see the clock tower that features in this video at 0:41.

[@chrizcrewzing2327]

stevenage when i was a kid between 1980 and 1990 was far better place to shop. The town had high spirits for those people who lived here and regulery visited the town. lots of nice shops more choices i liked how everything was just basic and old fashioned whiched i loved most.

[@vikingfortiesfaeroes]

0:16 / 1:34 Really strange to see greenery in the background (where there's now shops and car parks) 0:25 Anyone have any idea where this is? Probably somewhere that's changed so much now that it's unrecognisable. 1:48 So it'd be very interesting to know why so many of them were uprooted?

[@BillyNoMates1974]

0:25 - that is North road (now gone). Only surviving part is at the back of West Gate The view is looking north towards the Old Town. This road used to loop to the left and connect to great North Road (old A1). The current placement would be under the Ibis hotel with Tesco's just behind it

[@vikingfortiesfaeroes]

@@BillyNoMates1974 Thank you for the explanation! The road that goes along the east side of the Gordon Craig/leisure centre and under the footbridge that leads to the station is still signposted 'North Road'/'Great North Road' (I can't remember which).

[@lynnpowless-soule7631]

For a shopping town no-one has a shopping bag in this town humm funny....

[@ChrisJones-ij3xp]

1:30

[@cynthiaprice5784]

There was one lady with a shopping bag,it probably was filmed very early in the morning or on a Sunday . Yes to the former comment , what did go wrong ? Not even the bus turnaround now but a "marvelous" new bus station- ehem, quite a bit away from the one or two remaining shops but near to the train station where the commuters who now live in the tower blocks situated in the town and who work in London. As the former architect to this design of town building Ebenezer Howard he would be appalled at the ruin it has been turned into as many people living here are now .

[@thecrimsonbubbles]

0:45 RIP Woolworths

[@sleepyheadsleeps]

does free car parking still exist ?

[@matthewkent5212]

The town centre is a good place for shopping but its a bit of dump place.

[@Trish-ql9kz]

Really? half the shops had closed down when I got out 4 years ago🤔