James Beeton interviewed about living in Hemel Hempstead

Interview for the ICO project New Towns, Our Town: Stories on Screen

Interviewed for the ICO New Towns project, James Beeton explains that he was born in Hemel Hempstead and his family lived in the Seaton Road / Crabtree Lane area. He says initially there was strong feeling amongst existing residents against the incoming Londoners. The local council tenants of Dacorum Borough Council had outside toilets and no hot water, so they would need to boil a copper to have a hot bath. Existing council residents were not eligible for the new housing being provided by the Development Corporation, which had hot water, back boilers and bathrooms. After a while the advantages of the New Town for all residents became evident, including more jobs, the general increase in wages, the new town centre and variety of factories and shops. He mentions that previously employment had been limited to the papermills and fireworks factory which were not so well paid. James says the whole community became better off as Hemel Hempstead became a thriving town, with its shops attracting people from Watford where Hemel residents might have gone shopping previously. The interviewer asks, with reference to the different areas of Hemel shown in one of the archive films, whether James and his family went to the town centre or local shops. He says they lived close to the town centre and Adeyfield shops with a much better selection of shops than previously, and free car parking for those with cars. When James was six years old (in 1952), the Queen visited to open Queen’s Square, and the New Town was nearing completion when he was fifteen / sixteen years old. He mentions the entertainments including the latest pop music acts, bowling alleys, wrestling on Saturdays filmed for television and a variety of shows on offer at The Pavilion all year round. The interviewer asks what the community was like and whether were there lots of young people around? James says that local people tended not to mix but stay in their own areas and make friends locally. Over the summer holidays they would go further afield, along the canal or trainspotting by the railway, and mix a bit more with other young people. On a Saturday morning the local cinema offered ‘Chums Club’ film shows which would be full of children from all parts of town new and old.