The Locations Participating
in Letchworth were:
-
The Spirella Building on Bridge Road,
-
The Settlement in Nevells Road
-
Howgills in South View
&
-
First Garden City Heritage Museum in Norton
Way South
Information and pictures of all these can be
found on this site.
Information about the scheme and other
areas is at http://www.civictrust.org.uk/
I went to the Spirella
as all the others are quite accessible at other times, it is now
as it has always been , a place of business. Normally only the reception
and coffee shop are open to the public. |
The official opening
of the building by Prince Charles got a lot of coverage by local media
but the TV and National Press were preoccupied by his first public appearance
the day before with Camilla Parker Bowles plus his late arrival in Letchworth
probably led to his earlier visits of the day getting more coverage.
As with many things in Letchworth his appearance
raised mixed emotions from the widely differing and strongly opinionated
parts of the population but generally the reception was very friendly.
He was impressed by the project, which fitted
in with his ideas for the use of buildings. You may be able to find more
on the Spirella web site, there were
pictures and the story of the opening on it the last time I looked. |
Going in, the rear of the Spirella building
now has a main entrance from it's car park. There are revolving doors leading
to the large reception area with its central desk housing computer monitors
which show up any open doors on a graphic display as well as monitoring
the other vital functions of the buildings systems.
One corner of this area is a coffee shop
which is open to the public daily
|
One wing of the ground floor houses
the
Click on the logo for more details
|
There were three or four tours
during an
increasingly hot day which took you firstly
to the roof of the North Wing.
The view of how green the area all around
looks was the main thing I noticed. Only the police station and telephone
exchange broke up the trees and they are directly opposite in Bridge Road.
You can see beyond Letchworth in all directions except South where the
trees completely block the view. |
Secondly we went to the ballroom
which is still being refurbished. The arched ceiling with its plaster decoration
is all in place, but all the radiator covers were off and a scaffold tower
stood under one of the skylights. The stage is being fitted out at the
North End. Apparently it is hoped that the area can be made available for
functions at some time in the future.
Finally we went down to the last un-let suite,
which is all wired up and ready to go.
Just move in plug in and go. |
