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Sportspace - Hemel Hempstead
 
 
Thursday, 9th September 2010

 
PART 23

Aerial view of Marlowes in 1954
AS town itself changed changed with all the new developments, so did its politics. The Hemel Hempstead Borough Council had been a mixture of independent and Conservative councillors, with Labour struggling to make a break through.
Mind you, many of those who were councillors said they believed that party politics “had little part to play,” in local government and at least two resigned in the early new town days because they said politics was taking hold.
By 1954 the influx of Londoners, regarded mainly as Labour voters, was having a very significant part to play in the make up of the council chamber.
For the borough council elections of 1954 the parties were geared up to woo the 2,500 new voters in the eight council seats which were up for grabs.
The poll in May produced a big gain for Labour as they took five seats - three from the Conservatives and two from the Ratepayers association.
Among the winners was Mrs Gwen Marshall who became Labour’s first woman councillor in the town and was to become a long-serving councillor and figure in the new town.

The election left the two parties at nine seats each and Labour’s Gilbert Hitchcock had high hopes of being elected Hemel Hempstead’s first ever Labour’s Mayor. However, in those days the council also included six aldermen - three were Conservative and three independent and Councillor Hitchcock had to wait two years before being elected mayor as Councillor Arthur Mayo was elected to the post.
But the wind of change was blowing strongly and when the following year’s general election came Labour was out in force.
One of the party’s great national figures of the time, Nye Bevan came to speak at Adeyfield School in support of local candidate Norman MacKenzie. So many people attended - over 800 - that many had to stand outside and Mr Bevan’s speech was relayed to them over loudspeakers.
The election a few days later brought an 83 per cent turn-out and Hemel Hempstead’s long-serving Conservative MP, Lady Davidson - who had wide respect throughout the constituency was again the victor. She polled 25,648 votes, but Labour weren’t that far behind with 19,512 their biggest poll in Hemel Hempstead.

Back to 1954 and May which brought those Labour borough council wins, also saw the death of Mr Arthur Jarman who had been a long serving councillor and alderman right through to the start of the new town.
Just three months later and in recognition of all his work for the town, particularly in education, the council agreed to name the new playing fields to be established on Corporation Farm, Bennetts End, Jarman Fields (now Jarman Park.).
Education and the failure of school provision to meet the rapidly growing population of the new town was a continuing theme of the early years, but the situation was eased a little in Adeyfield in the spring of 1954 when 60 infants who were at Maylands School were transferred to Hut 57 on the hostel site in Longlands. This created the room at Maylands to admit 60 children who should have started school in january but were unable to because there was no room.
The hut was specially adapted with linoleum laid on the floor and stoves and electric lighting installed. Mrs Gwen Marshall and Mrs Turner were in charge of the children.
Mr Hart, general manager of the Hemel Hempstead Development Corporation made it clear he was not happy with the provision of schools for the new town.
Only four were under construction in the spring of 1954 - Hobbs Hill Wood (to be completed in September 54), Chambersbury (to be completed September 54), Chaulden (to be completed Easter 55) and another primary school for Adeyfield (to be completed January 56.)
The needs of children outside school was another on-going theme of the new town develop,ment (and beyond.)

In 1954 the Adeyfield Neighbourhood Council met with the new factory owners on Maylands Avenue to discuss the timing of shifts for women workers - there was the problem of two hours between schools finishing and factory shifts ending so mum could come home. Rev Stokes suggested the council should look at the idea of starting after school clubs.
Long-term planning, decided Adeyfield Neighbourhood Council was the only way deal with the problem of “juvenile delinquency and teddy boys”, so they decided to re-form their children’s activities committee.

It was the activities of young people which worried the deacons of Adeyfield Free Church and led them to close the Cross Roads Youth Club early the next year. The club, affiliated to the church was, said the Gazette, regarded by some as the most successful in the town with a thriving membership of 50.
The deacons however had a different view. “The club seems to be serving no useful purpose. It seems that one of the club’s main activities is fluffing about with girls and that sort of thing,” the Rev Frank Hewis was quoted as saying.
In the end it was decided the club would continue, but away from the church and meet at the Greenhills Club.
Gadebridge made its first appearance on the drawing board in 1954, but the first houses wouldn’t be started till 1956.
Work was under way on several more new factories in Maylands Avenue too including GFE Bartlett and Son and G.E. Jones, machine parts.
It was “the borough’s biggest ever employment boom,” said the Gazette. There were just 107 registered unemployed people, but only 21 of them had been unemployed for more than eight weeks.

The march of progress meant the end of Hemel Hempstead Borough Council’s ‘fleet’ of horses. The last three, Dandy, Nobby and Prince were retired and given to the Blue Cross who would find them homes with farmers. The horses had worked on the council’s sewage farm and Mr Brown who had looked after all the council’s horses since 1915 presented the mayor with a collection of horse brasses.

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