Letchworth Garden City

Letchworth Garden City (more commonly Letchworth) is a town of 34,000 people (2021) in Hertfordshire. Letchworth was the first city built under the "Garden City" plan to combine the best elements of city and country living.

Understand
The first Garden City, Letchworth, began life in 1903. Built on 3,818 acres of land, this town was the brainchild of Ebenezer Howard who wrote the book titled To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform in 1898, which was reprinted in 1902 as Garden Cities of To-Morrow. Unimpressed with the cities and towns of the 19th century, his belief was that town and country should and could be married together to provide the very best for inhabitants. More than one hundred years on, Letchworth is a thriving town of 5,300 acres complete with tree-lined suburbs, green spaces and a town centre with ample parking, shopping and restaurants. The retail park on the Baldock fringe of Letchworth's industrial area, however, has sucked much of the life out of the town centre.

The town gained some notable interest, when it was used as the principle set as the fictionalised town "Newton Haven", in the Simon Pegg comic science fiction film The World's End. Many of the town's pubs and the cinema were used as the town's pubs in the film.

By train
From London, use the Great Northern Route service departing London Kings Cross Station. Letchworth or Cambridge are the final stops with the travel time varying between 35 – 50 minutes according to number of scheduled stops en route.

By car
The A1(M) Junction 9 is a Short Drive from the town centre. Alternatively, the A505 can be used if you're not using the motorway.

By bus
It can be traversed by car and is not too large to traverse by walking. However, there are bus services operated mostly by Arriva, that often go to Hitchin and Baldock.

By bike
Cycling is somewhat supported through the existence of half-maintained combined bike-and-pedestrian paths around the town centre and in some of the newer (circa 1950s) developments. In addition to this, many of the original garden city streets are safe for cycling due to their relatively slim width discouraging driving in totality. This is supplemented by the intersection of the (partially incomplete) National Cycle Route 12.

Eat

 * Simmons Hertfordshire-only Bakeries- quite loud, decent selection of breads, snacks and cakes.
 * Miss Green Fingers Vegan Cafe- gets quite busy on weekends.
 * Cherries and Tea Cafe Caribbean-styled cafe- busy a lot of the time.
 * The Grapevine Turkish Authentic Turkish restaurant- quiet ambience, good food.
 * Esquires Coffee Letchworth Trendy Coffee House and Cafe with ample inside and outside seating, reasonably priced.
 * Cultivo Lounge serves meals for all taste, large and a good jack of all trades. Good for families.
 * Fabios Gelato Small Gelato shop with another branch in Hitchin,
 * The Grapevine Turkish Authentic Turkish restaurant- quiet ambience, good food.
 * Esquires Coffee Letchworth Trendy Coffee House and Cafe with ample inside and outside seating, reasonably priced.
 * Cultivo Lounge serves meals for all taste, large and a good jack of all trades. Good for families.
 * Fabios Gelato Small Gelato shop with another branch in Hitchin,

Drink
Letchworth was "dry" until 1958, but now has a few pubs.
 * Hogs Head.
 * Hogs Head.

Go next

 * To the north east is one of England's most famous academic cities Cambridge. Approx 2 trains/hour.
 * To the south-west Hitchin.
 * Country Villages There are numerous attractive local villages. The entry for Stevenage has details of some of these.