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Not to be confused with Welwyn.
Coordinates:Welwyn Garden City is a town (not a city) in Hertfordshire, England. Welwyn Garden City is also referred to in Council parlance as WGC or, somewhat incorrectly, "Welwyn". This can cause confusion as the village of Welwyn actually lies a few kilometres to the northwest of WGC. 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 period in which it was conceived. In planning terms its significance is global, attracting visitors from around the world.
The visual amenity within the town centre is dominated by the central mall or scenic parkway, almost a mile long, and named Parkway.
Prior to the erecting of a police radio mast, which appears against the skyline and between the avenue of Lombardy poplars within the scenic parkway, (see Industry, Hertfordshire Constabulary), the Parkway vista to the south viewed from the White Bridge had been described as one of the finest urban vistas in the world. Welwyn Garden City Conservation Area Appraisal 2006.
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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. Howard 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. Howard believed that such Garden Cities were the perfect blend of city and nature.
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.
One of the lesser known ideas of the city\'s architects was that all citizens of the town would shop in the same shop. Thus the Welwyn Store was established as a central landmark on the \'Campus\' (a centrally-located green semi-circular area in the town). Commercial pressures have ensured much more competition and variety since, and the Welwyn Department Store is now part of the John Lewis Partnership group of stores. Although the original Welwyn Store was on the opposite side of Parkway where Rosanne House office building now stands.
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".
Welwyn Garden City is well known by avid readers of the side of breakfast cereal boxes in Britain as the town where Shredded Wheat and Shreddies are made, at the former Nabisco factory (now part of Nestlé). The factory is due to close within the next few years, as Nestlé says that the current site is too small, and that production should be moved to Wiltshire.
One company that seems to be committed to Welwyn Garden City is Tesco, which has a substantial head office site in the north of the town (The company\'s main headquarters are in Cheshunt). Tesco has a full size supermarket mock-up which is used for staff training. The former supermarket chain Fine Fare (now part of Somerfield) had its head office in the town at one time.
Welwyn Garden City has a strong commercial base bringing much employment to the area with companies such as Xerox, Roche, Vega Group, Schering-Plough, Carl Zeiss, Danish Bacon (DBC foodservice), IBM, PayPoint, Threshers Group, Baxter, Argos Direct, British Lead Mills, Welwyn Tool Group (former Welwyn Tool Company) and many more.
Ratcliff Tail Lifts (Now Ratcliff Palfinger) have been making vehicle/passenger lifts on Bessemer Road for over fourty years (Previously Burtonwood Engineering and USI). John Ratcliff and his Sister Jean still have a business interest in the town (Ratcliff Group). John Ratcliff CBE is past Chief Barker and International President of the Variety Club.
ICI Plastics Division was headquartered in Welwyn Garden City until the early 1990s.
The NHS accident and emergency hospital, the QE2, is now getting on in terms of age and image. A new hospital was proposed and almost approved in nearby Hatfield, at a cost of more than £300 million but the local trust could not afford it financially. The new hospital was to have had a state of the art cancer department and equipment.
The police headquarters for Hertfordshire Constabulary is located on the southern side of the town. The Constabulary\'s new 45 metre radio mast centre of the Parkway vista, erected contrary to Government and English Heritage guidlines, has been heavily criticized by heritage groups. Welwyn Garden City Society, Welwyn Garden Heritage Trust, English Heritage.
Past Industry: Norton Abrasives (Site now B&Q) Avdel & SmithKlein & French (Later SmithKlein Beecham) - Mundells
ICI - Bessemer Road & Tewin Road
Bournehall Press, Welwyn Bakery (site now Eastbridge Esso Garage), British Telecom (now Land Rover Dealer) - Bridge Road East.
Fine Fare Head Office.
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
Famous former and current Welwyn Garden City residents include ;
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. 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". 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". \'Twice Shy\' by Dick Francis refers to WGC (possibly) a house in/off "Parkway" as a residence of a criminal. Also, the rock band the Subways come from Welwyn Garden City.
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