Stevenage 75th anniversary magazine | biz4Biz - Magazine - Page 14
History
KEY MOMENT: THE TOWN CENTRE IS
OPENED BY THE QUEEN
By 1959 the first flush of enthusiasm
from the pioneers was waning, their
campaigns had largely succeeded, and
a proper town was emerging out of the
mesh of new neighbourhoods and earlier
villages and hamlets. The Queen formally
opened the new pedestrian-only town
centre, another Stevenage ‘First’. The
Development Corporation decided to
encourage parents of residents to move up
to Stevenage from London. The coming of
grandparents truly marked Stevenage as
a proper community and civic centre all
its own.
Ross Court, sheltered housing for
elderly people in Mobbsbury Way,
being built in 1962
INTO THE SIXTIES AND SEVENTIES
the Locarno Ballroom at night
In the 1960s and 1970s the town centre
became the true beating heart of
Stevenage. Shopping and leisure facilities
were truly state-of-the-art, and amongst
the best in Hertfordshire and nationally.
Stevenage’s youth facilities reflected the
affluent youth culture of the ‘Swinging
Sixties’ and early 1970s.
top Four playing the Locarno
Dancing at the Locarno in 1962
The early pioneers turned their
attention to campaigning for better
facilities for children and young people,
including adventure play. Parents
supported their children into a full
variety of sports and arts, dominated
perhaps inevitably by football. In time
Stevenage as a nursery of sporting and
artistic talent would produce many topclass sportspeople and artists.
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Bandley Hill Adventure
Play 1967-70