This edition of the magazine opens with an important article by Clive Wilson about the continuing problems besetting the regeneration of Broadwater Road. By now the sites should have been fully redeveloped with many new homes, yielding economic benefits for the town. Instead, the increasingly dilapidated Shredded Wheat silos stand in a wasteland.  The article considers what the future could hold for this area. And as usual, our regular planning update covers other aspects of planning in the town.

Ruth updates us on the progress being made to refresh the content and refurbish the fabric of the poster booths in the town centre. A small team from our Society is working on this, and we are very keen to attract new volunteers to this effort. We’d love to hear from you if you can spare just a little time every month.

The magazine also carries an article by Alannah Hebbert about the Welwyn Garden City Photographic Club, illustrated by some stunning examples of its members’ work. Indeed, our front cover features Alannah’s beautiful photographic still life “Autumn Bounty”.

For its feature articles, the magazine takes food and drink as its theme. Our contributors have given us fascinating articles, accompanied by delightful and often little-known images. Angela Eserin considers the rich history of food processing in our town, while Geoffrey Hollis describes the Utopian thinkers, including Ebenezer Howard, who shaped the town’s approach to pubs and alcohol. Anneke had fun exploring the town’s trade directories, and found hints that the Welwyn Stores didn’t have food retail completely stitched up in the inter-war period – there was competition!

We thank all our contributors, who have given their time and expertise to make this such an interesting issue.

UP NEXT…

The next issue of the magazine will explore local nature and wildlife.

Members of the Society receive a full-colour magazine twice a year. This publication is packed with news and features relating to Welwyn Garden City, with a particular emphasis on topical planning issues. Every issue contains gorgeous photos of our town, many sent in by our members.

If you want to contribute a photo, an article, or simply a short piece we’d be delighted to hear from you.