The Lawn...

Harlow has the distinction of being the home of the first modern-style residential Tower Block in England - The Lawn, in Mark Hall North was built in 1951 and is of such historical importance that it is now a Grade II listed building. It's design was clever in as much that every property had a south-facing sitting room in spite of there being 4 properties per floor. Sir Frederick Gibberd personally oversaw the pegging out for the foundations on the ground as the block had to be built with regard to the seven established oak trees which surround it.

The Lawn takes its name from the lawns of Mark Hall which used to be nearby. Indeed one of the Park Lodges still stands further along the road - look...

...I wonder how many people who walk or cycle past that regularly have no idea of the history of this unusual looking building!

How sad that a style of housing which originally started out so carefully planned and thoughtfully built has - thanks to the 1960's and 1970's trend towards high-rise block -  now become synonymous with all that is bad about the way people can be forced to live.

Have you ever lived in The Lawn? Or indeed in that Park Lodge? It would be lovely to hear some stories of the places direct from the people who have lived there.

Autumn Colour in the Town Park

Thanks to the attention paid to green spaces and room to breathe when the town was being built, this is possibly the very best time of year to live in Harlow...

It's an amazing place to walk at any time of year, but never better than when the leaves start to turn, when wherever you look is every shade imagineable from bright yellows and oranges, green, to the most startling bright reds.

If you've not been for a wander around there recently, why not pop along and take a look for yourself? It makes a great short cut when walking to the station from the Eastern side of the town too...

Past & present...

I've been loaned some old books about the history of the town. One of the most fascinating things has been to see how much things have changed - it's easy to presume that because Harlow is a New Town, it won't look that different, in fact nothing could be further from the truth!

The picture of Felmongers, above, was taken in 1955, before the area had even been fully completed (The old pictures I will be featuring over the next few posts are taken from Clare Baster's book "Harlow, a Photographic history of your town" and are all property of the Frith Collection).

The shot above was taken from as close as I could get to the exact same spot, and clearly shows how Frederick Gibberd's plan for a "green town" has come to fruition. The houses on the right are now barely visible through the tree canopy, and further planting on down the road has softened the lines of the houses on the left, too.