please empty your brain below

Fascinating read - rare that architect's ever get these things built.

I *think* the font is Microgramma ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microgramma_(typeface)
New Ash Green was part of my news beat back in the 1980s. Apart from the only-to-be-expected low-level vandalism caused by restless teenagers stuck in the middle of nowhere (with no mobile phones of course), there were two recurring problems. If a SPAN house caught fire, nothing of the structure would survive except possibly a couple of steel braces. With no attached garages, parking areas were provided, all neatly screened by hedging, thus giving the bored teenagers (and others) plenty of cover to perfect their car-thieving skills undisturbed (in the days before transponder car keys).
Fascinating read and place, noted for a future visit. Thank you for posting and welcome back .
Thanks for another interesting read. Lots of SPAN housing in Blackheath, too, in the Cator Estate. And also very pleasant to nose around.
Very interesting. Seemed like a good idea at the start of the project.
Thank you to the poster for info ref SPAN housing in Blackheath, shall check that out too next time we are in the area.
Well, it seems like a nice quiet place to live. The architecture is none too bad, considering it's 1960's.
Yes, it is Microgramma (or possibly Eurostyle). Much beloved of 70s scifi and 90s UK Garage compilations, and me when I used to make rave flyers 25 years ago.
Reminds me of Harlow.

Children don't play out very much any more, sadly. Perhaps due to a combination of parental fears of "stranger danger" and the allure of electronic devices.
(Harlow, the place, that is, not the font.)
Yes, not a single person in any of your photos. Plus the seemingly abandoned shopping area conjures up a post-apocalyptic scene (which is probably most unfair).

It would be good to read a comment or two from people who live at NAG.
Harlow?! Nearly choked on my breakfast there.
They may have shared a sort of 'New Town' design vision, but anyone that ever lived in Stevenage or Harlow would so love to move to N.A.G.
Oh, I usually quite like 60s architecture, Leuconoe. When it's not done on the cheap, of course. The last burst of open spaces and large windows before the 1970s turned everything into a bunker. Even the poorly-built and poorly-designed council towers had large rooms and plenty of light in the 1960s. Much preferable to anything from the 80s, for sure.

My own place is 1970s HA stock, and while the rooms are still a decent size, it could really use more natural light and a wall or two knocked through. (Solid concrete, they are. Not a simple task.)
Actually, it just reminds me of the small village 'council house insert' that was built in a neighbouring village to ours. The houses, in my view, looked ugly but they were functional it seems.
Fascinating indeed - one of those places that has been on my radar for ages, but that I've never quite made it out to see first hand. I tend to be pretty sceptical about "planned communities" in general, and while this is surely nicer than Harlow or Stevenage, let alone Thamesmead, I imagine the lack of any longer history can be troublesome:

Silver End in Essex is probably the rural "utopia" (slightly earlier, and commercial - built by a windows manufacturer as a showpiece for their products - rather than public) close-ish to London I find most interesting. Would love to read DG's take on that at some unspecified future toime....
"We fret these days over building on the Green Belt, but if done well, would it be so bad?" In a word...yes. Once it gone...it gone forever. Once a little bit is taken here and another little taken there, then it will keeping on being taken. Imagine how things would be now if the Green Belt was not created when it was. We wouldn't dare even suggest building housing in any of the parks in London. All of which are 'prime locations', with very good tranport links, in pleasant surroundings close to major retail centres etc, etc. It called the Green Belt for a reason and perhaps it now needs to be tightened-up against those who deem it space for rich-pickings?
I've lived for 25 years in one of the Span houses in Blackheath, in one of the smaller estates, with only 13 houses.

Span ensured that communities are active by giving each residents' association a real role -- ours owns the front gardens, for example, and has responsibility for the gutters, and organises exterior painting (so that we keep a consistent look).

It means that we know one another because we have to raise money to agree subscriptions and do things.

There are lots of Span developments around London and the south-east -- there was a RIBA exhibition about 10 years ago and the resulting book, by Barbara Simms, is still available.

Children? When we moved in, most of our neighbours' children had already grown up and moved away. Then we had children and they played with others who lived in the community. Now they's all grown up again, though the next generation is appearing. Goes in cycles.
@ Working Class Hero: Well said!
I'm fairly familiar with some of the SPAN house on the Cator Estate, so it's interesting to see the comment from Alan. I was also fascinated by a block of apartments there which had some connection with a bank (no doubt long ago merged with [or into] another), the elephant of its logo being reproduced in concrete at its entrance.
I seem to remember houses of a similar style in Orpington, in the grounds of the Canada / Ontario hospital site, but these were demolished (along with a large part of the hospital) for a fresh development which stands there now.
http://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/orpington.html
But back to NAG. It's a coincidence you picked Ayelands for one of the photos because I used to have friends that lived there. I used to visit from time to time and always used to get the impression of it being a nice place to live.
Looking at the census data for New Ash Green, there just aren't that many households with children.

There also seems to be a bulge in the age profile, with a lot of adults in the 55-64 range, but relatively few pensioners.
@Working Class Hero: Well said +1!

The Green Belt is vital to London and people really do value it.
Silver End looks like the development of the married quarters for the adjacent airbase. Now a quarry if G**gle Maps satellite view does not deceive.
Ignore my last. Still trying to get to the bottom of the airbase a couple of fields away.
It's RAF Rivenhall. Plenty on t'Internet for those wi' an interest.
@ Working Class Hero. Commuters make London ‘a supernova city’: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/faculty/social-sciences/news/london-supernova-city-1.476001
Green Belt is visible.
It may have changed now but I grew up round there and back then New Ash Green was a byword for awfulness
This place looks revolting. Why? 1) the uniformity of the housing, 2) the horrible use of cladding whether timber, tiles or slates and 3) flat roofs. What did Pete Seeger sing about: 'Little boxes' and sadly these are it. To me, it was and still is possible to build estates of houses with pitched roofs, no cladding and some variability of design. Your photo of the shops sums it all up, nothingness. Sorry.
Have just looked on Zoopla: 21 properties for sale in the area, typical price under £300k. I am afraid that sums up the place. I am not having a go at the residents, only the ghastly architecture.
NAG was meant to attract young families eager to escape their urban middle class prospects. Some of my relatives headed that way, and my visits there did arouse a sort of envy, even with a shortage of things I took for granted in London.
However, NAG slowly acquired a reputation for continuing the 'Swinging Sixties' which continued long after that era. That included the antics of a now-knighted person who found an innovative use for scaffolding (rest censored for fear of court cases but well vouched-for).
NAG had an intriguing atmosphere for this visitor, suggesting in later years it would be a good setting for a decent remake (or sequels) of 'the Prisoner' (cheaper than Portmerion?)
Yes, Harlow. Intended to be spacious and green. For example, https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/jul/07/olympic-torch-route-day-50-harlow

As it was in the 1950s, when there were hardly any cars. Unfortunately it was created before cars became ubiquitous, so cars were not generally kept away from pedestrians and cyclists. And the early high ideals were compromised in later decades by growth and further development.
Sheesh, I've just realised I've been reading a couple of comments here completely the wrong way.
At first glance, SbaS's remarks appear pithy, unkind and disdainful.
I think, however, that I found the hidden humour, which can be unlocked simply by reading them in the voice of Brian Sewell
As my grand father was Eric Lyons, I've always had a great interest in SPAN - it's great to see you writing about it. There was a great exhibition about Eric and SPAN at the RIBA a few years back, with a good associated book that's probably still available.










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