Snap, Crackle and Stevenage: A Vision for a New Age. Walk
Snap, Crackle and Stevenage: A Vision for a New Age. Walk
Led by Nick Mallinger
Saturday, 28 May 2022
Meet time/place:12 pm/Stevenage Borough Council, Daneshill House, Danestrete, SG1 1HN
Finish time/place: 4pm/Stevenage Borough Council, Daneshill House, Danestrete, SG1 1HN
Nick Mallinger will lead an afternoon walk around the centre of Stevenage. The UK's first new town designated in 1946, it is a masterpiece of mid-century modernism, with one of the first pedestrian town centres in Europe.
The walk coincides with the publication of Stevenage: Pioneering New Town Centre by Emily Cole, with Elain Harwood and Edward James, published by Historic England, 2021, marking 75 years since the New Town was designated. Emily and Elain with Jo Ward, Curator of Stevenage Museum, and Councillor Simon Speller of Stevenage Borough Council will be on hand to talk about specific buildings.
Construction of the new town by the Stevenage Development Corporation started in 1949. The shopping precinct was built 1956-58 under Chief Architect, Leonard Vincent and designated a conservation area in 1988.
Key stops will include the town square with its iconic clock tower and Joy Ride, sculpture by Franta Belsky (1958), examples of pioneering curtain walling and experiments in concrete, cycleways, a William Mitchell sculpture (1973), and Stevenage Museum, in the concrete framed former St Andrew and St George, Seely & Paget (1960).
A complimentary sandwich lunch will be provided by the council before the event starts.
Nick Mallinger is Arts and Cultural Development Officer at Stevenage Borough Council,
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Above: Stevenage Town Centre with Franta Belsky sculpture. Photograph: Creative Commons.
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