Garden City Collection

28/08/2026

For this week’s historical post, we’re sharing another inspirational woman from Letchworth: Mrs Maude Deuchar.

Maude Deuchar was born c1887, and came to Letchworth Garden City from Glasgow with her husband in 1917. They lived for many years at 122 Wilbury Road. Maude wrote novels, short stories and poetry, usually under pseudonyms, such as Herbert Tremaine. She famously wrote ‘The Feet of the Young Men’ published c.1920 and the play Handmaidens of Death. The former was highly regarded by a number of well-known authors, and apparently H G Wells called it the ‘best war novel’! She had around 10 books published overall.

26/08/2026

Today is National Dog Day, so we have scoured our collections to show you some our favourite historic good boys of Letchworth..

Where are your favourite dog walking locations around Letchworth?

Send us a picture of your pup in an iconic Letchworth location!

21/08/2026

This week’s historical photograph is a colour slide from Norton School's Archive.

The photo shows the entries into Norton Secondary School's annual Christmas cake-making competitions. This particular photograph is dated December 1962.

To see more photos from Letchworth’s history, visit: http://gardencitycollection.com/home

14/08/2026

This week’s historical photograph is of Dorothea Hunter and St Edmundsbury Weaving Works employees.

Dorothea Hunter first visited Letchworth, with her husband Edmund, to view the 1905 Cheap Cottages Exhibition. Impressed by the opportunities in the new Garden City, they decided to move their business, the St. Edmundsbury Weaving Works, here from Haslemere, Surrey. The new factory building was created on Ridge Road, and their family home on Sollershott West.

The Hunters were known as fair employers, providing staff with good working conditions and allowing them paid holiday. Dorothea was fond of poetry and mysticism and was responsible for some of the Garden City’s early pageants.

As an early settler in Letchworth Garden City, Dorothea was part of the Letchworth Book of Pioneers. To have your signature in this book meant that you had moved to or were born in Letchworth between its founding in 1903 and1908. They were known as pioneers, facing the muddy surroundings daily, and living with basic amenities as the town was established!

06/08/2026

How much do you know about the Arts and Crafts movement?

The values of the Arts and Crafts movement have in many ways helped to shape the way the Garden City was built and the way people lived.

Architects such as Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin were exploring new ways of designing houses in Letchworth. Key features of their designs were to allow as much sunlight as possible into homes and to explore open-plan living, as seen in Baillie Scott's designs. Other key ideas were to build using local materials and to focus on the owner's specific requirements.

This week’s historical photograph is a sepia tint photograph of Glaed Hame, Pasture Road, designed by Parker and Unwin and built in 1906. Many Arts and Crafts elements can be seen from this exterior photo, including a gable, mullion window, and Clissett-style chair.

To see more Arts and Crafts architecture, head to http://gardencitycollection.com/themes/arts-and-crafts-influences-in-letchworth-garden-city

01/08/2026

RECENT ARRIVALS: this image is part of a collection of 33 objects, mostly photographs, relating to Chater-Lea, a manufacturer known for producing bicycles, cars, and motorcycles. Chater-Lea opened a factory in Letchworth in 1928 - their former premises on the eastern end of Icknield Way can still be seen today.

This photograph has a several men on Chater-Lea motorcycles and sidecars, and appears to have been taken in Prague. Who the men are and what they were doing remains unknown…

31/07/2026

This week’s historical photo is a sepia tint photograph (circa 1923) of the garden at St. Brighids, Sollershott West, designed by Parker and Unwin and built in 1908.

The photo shows the view through an archway, towards the garden, which has a small sundial in the centre of a circular patio. There are further areas to the garden in the distance, including grassed areas and shrub plants.

If you have any special memories of this garden, please share them in the comments below!

30/07/2026

30/07/2026

Uncovering Letchworth was a 21-month project led by the Garden City Collection, Letchworth’s ACE-accredited museum service, to explore the collection in new, inclusive ways.

30/07/2026