The Little Books 4

 Well, here we are at the fourth in our series of small format photo books about St Albans, and our pondering over how much they represent the Eastern districts within the full range of pictures  in the books.  We didn't start too well with two of the earlier publications, and in the third at least we encountered a section devoted to Clarence Park if not to Fleetville or Camp.

This week's little volume, is different in that it contains a specialist collection from the St A|lbans Museums archive, where you might expect to come across many of the best composed photographic studies.  Around St Albans (ISBN0752422898) compiled by Anne Wheeler and Tony Stevens is from the series Images of England by Tempus Publishing.  Around St Albans is definitely in print, which according to the Waterstones website is priced at £12.99.  For comparison with the Abebooks website, which has been necessary for the previous little books in this blog series, there are currently 8 copies available, ranging from £3.39 to £24.18.

Around St Albans contains the largest number – 200 photos – of all the little books covered so far, and as with the previous volume, has divided the contents into fourteen small subject related sections.  The earlier two books, you will recall, were limited to mixed subject matter. In this week's little volume although Clarence Park is not included, the district of Fleetville is specific in this book but it does not include the other major eastern settlements of Camp or Marshalswick.  It is also contains a relatively small number of pictures (11), although the occasional photo appears within other subject sections. So there are occasional surprises through the book.

The first aerial is in Fleetville.  The long building lines centre right are the original printing works, 
with later additions for the hosiery mill behind. The taller block was post WW2, later taken
over by Marconi Instruments.  The surrounding houses and trades are greyed down.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

The second aerial is close by the one above.  The two roads are Sutton Road (foreground), and
Hedley Road (right).  This is the early incarnation of Nicholson's coat factory. The branch railway is on the left and the first informal recreation space meets the tree line and Sutton Road.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

A cottage at Colney Heath, occupied by the Bush family c1900.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

There is also a much improved representation of the villages and other rural spaces than in any of the earlier books: three each from Colney Heath and Wheathampstead, one from Smallford and 3 from London Colney.  However, agricultural scenes are still exclusively from farms near St Michaels. Under Industry there are several images of Ballito, one of Marconi Instruments and one of the Co-op Dairy.  Railways feature three images, all from the bridges along London Road.  One Camp shop shows Tucketts (later to become Dearman's).

The New Camp Stores run by the Tuckett family, who also traded from near Sandfield Road,
Fleetville.  The above shop was on the corner of Camp Road and College Road. Later it would
be taken over by John Dearman. The premises is no longer retail.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

The other Camp district photograph features the c1914 composed picture of soldiers, probably in training, outside Camp Elementary School.  The County Boys' School's (named Verulam School in the book although it would be another 20 years for that name to appear) new 1938 craft workshop classroom is featured, as is an outdoor shot of an early post-war athletic event.  We find an unusual triple picture of an Adult School group, although it is just before the Stanhope Road premises was opened and would have been at or near its Lattimore Road base.

In a lovely low-key touch a wedding is shown: an unnamed couple outside St Paul's Church, posing on the Hatfield Road footpath close to the current bus stop and showing the Co-operative grocery shop fascia in the background.

The third aerial in this set was taken in 1959 above Marshalswick, where the new estate was
under development.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

The final days of Sander's office buildings in Camp Road are more visible in one picture as the old railway bridge has been removed leaving a remarkably open streetscape. Finally, in the section titled The Rural City is an aerial shot from 1959 of the growing new Marshalswick estate.

Leaving the picking out of East End scenes for a moment, one feature of this little book which makes it stand out is the opportunity taken to select images from collections.  This is possible because of the rich and diverse St Albans Museums archive. Alf Gentle and Arthur Melbourne Cooper, both accomplished craftsmen in their own right, each have their own chapters, as does the former National Children's Home.  In particular Cooper's little collection is a rare survivor.

The study of two young girls shows them plaiting, an early process in the making of straw
hats.  They may have been at home, or at an industrial school.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

One of the stand-out photographs in the collection, which probably should have been in a Schools section but ends up as part of Industry, is the child study of two young children occupied casually in plaiting, a trade occupying the time of hundreds of grown ups and children in the late 19th and early 20th century.  And although the location is not specified it is just possible these two girls were residents of one of the eastern hamlets or isolated cottages.

While it is difficult to be specific about a few of the East End subjects or locations a more respectable 38 photographs appear in this overall collection of 200 images, with the quality of the subject work and reproduction also the best of the bunch so far.

Above photographs courtesy St Albans Museums.

Copies of this book available from St Albans Museum+Gallery at the Town Hall.

Old Year

Certain thoughts drift through our minds on the final day of the year – achievements realised or or not, as the case may be.  But in the case of the St Albans' Own East End blog it is the realisation that new posts have been trickling through the system now for ten years, at the rate of over 30 posts a year.  Which is over 300 items in total, and all about the East End of St Albans.  Unfortunately the very early posts are no longer available online, but the original function was to generate interest in a couple of books about the district which had yet to be completed.  Well, a decade on and work is progressing well on preparing for the second editions of those same books.

Let's talk about housing for a minute.  In 1919 the city council was discussing a chronic under-supply of basic homes fit to live in; the rural council engaged with local communities to provide new homes for agricultural workers; and, slow off the ground, projects under Homes for Heroes eventually materialised, but for far fewer tenants than the target.  Eventually, estates were provided at Townsend and Springfield.

In 1949 the city council was still grappling with the issue of lengthy housing waiting lists, with thousands juggling with allocated points to move themselves, hopefully, nearer a house.  Local authority houses and homes for reserved occupations such as police, teachers and nurses, were created from whatever resources were available.  Estates at Beaumonts, London Road and Slimmons Farm became available, augmenting the private developments from the thirties at Beaumonts, Spencer, Camp and Breakspear; and in the fifties at Marshalswick.

In 1979 further private developments had been launched at former farms and later in the grounds of former hospitals.  Today, if there was an all-embracing list, with or without points, how many potential home owners and tenants would show themselves to be in need of accommodation in this city; east, west, south or north?  Prices for even modest-sized homes are beyond many pockets and banks. Yet it is revealing that St Albans was one of the locations selected for a special edition of Monopoly!  As a young couple, still living in a modest parental home, commented recently: "finding a house (or flat, or even a barn) is not a game."  Which takes us back to 1919 – and in 1949 – because that is where many were forging out an existence, in barns, old caravans, huts and buildings awaiting demolition.  Articles in the Herts Advertiser reported, with unfortunate photographs, many eviction cases. And, if we include overcrowded and multi-occupied dwellings, many are probably still there in 2019; the hidden population of St Albans.

SAOEE's New Year Greetings is for you more than anyone, though you are the residents who are most unlikely to be reading this message.

Urban village

A village is generally accepted as being a mainly self-contained settlement, quite distinct from a nearby larger town or city.  Although there is a general acceptance that villages are larger than hamlets, that being the main distinction, there is an understanding that a hamlet would not have a church, whereas a village would.  So, it is not the population but the level of cultural and social infrastructure which distinguishes the two.  So we have large villages, such as Wheathampstead, and tiny Childwick Green.  We all know of settlements where continued growth has defied the accepted description and become what we would accept as a town, although for various social reasons the dwellers prefer to still think of themselves as villagers; Radlett and even Harpenden come to mind.

Fast-growing urban communities and conurbations have surrounded former distinct villages, so although the village retains. an original and historic physical community, it is, in effect, yet
another suburb of a city today.  In St Albans, St Michael's village, while not completely swallowed by the city, nevertheless cannot be said to be completely separated from the urban mix.  Historically, Camp Hill might have once been labelled a hamlet, at least until the late 19th century; St Stephen's became completely enveloped between the two wars, and I've not heard anyone label it a village.

There are other specific uses of the term, such as an Olympic Village, where competitors at the Games stay for the duration of the event; and even a changing village at the local swimming pool!

Kingshill Avenue

So, what do we make of the production company (Sidney Street), making an introductory reference to Marshalswick Village in one of its recent television programmes in a series titled Best House in Town?  Those of us who were watching would have picked up on that term for the neighbourhood straightaway.  We may have offered a throw-away comment about it being "estate agent terminology".  But perhaps we should not dismiss the label without further consideration.

In what way could we describe Marshalswick as a village?  Does the settlement  have a historical connection with the land on which it sits?  Well, yes and no.  Yes in the sense that the land for both old (pre WW2) and new (what began as the Nash estate)  Marshalswick was previously and entirely owned by the Marten/Martin families.

Can we trace any part of the built community over an extended period of time and therefore define its growth patterns?  Apart from sparse visible trace remains from Marshalswick House, the answer is no, and no archaeology either from any former hamlet near the house has been undertaken.  Certainly no extant buildings before the 1930s, other than the two lodges.

Marshals Drive

What about the status of service provision?  Covenants precluded the inclusion of shops or offices in Old Marshalswick, laid out from the 1930s – no schools either, just houses.  As for postwar Marshalswick, original plans included a cinema, a range of shops, flats, community centre, youth club, churches, schools, library and blocks of apartments.  The older development would therefore come to rely on the newer community for a range of useful services.  Marshalswick is also intersected by a ring road and is now completely enveloped by other developments. 

Finally, we might test the local vocabulary in social conversations to discover whether or not there is frequent reference to the term Marshalswick Village in everyday language, in newspaper, magazine or online advertising.  None, I'm afraid.  But lest we think this is a clever marketing campaign by local estate agents, just try Googling "Marshalswick Village".  This is the kind of lazy researching the programme production company apparently undertook.  They probably Googled Marshalswick and on a Wikipedia page they discovered a brief summary page for the neighbourhood, and under History you will find the following introductory statement:

"The village of Marshalswick boasts a history dating back to the thirteenth century, and retains a unique Hertfordshire village feel."

Does that sound like the place you know?