Happy Birthday Letchworth Garden City!

On 9 October 1903, Letchworth Garden City's first sod of earth was turned in a ceremony which took place in a muddy field in North Hertfordshire.

Earlier today, Thursday 9 October, one hundred years on from the opening of the world's first Garden City, the Heritage Foundation and guests from North Hertfordshire District Council gathered to plant a commemorative Centenary Oak in Howard Park.

In welcoming the guests, Heritage Foundation Director General, Stuart Kenny, revisited the speech made by Earl Grey at the opening of the Estate in 1903, speaking of the advantages of living in a Garden City and the realisation of the dream of Ebenezer Howard, the town's founder.

Tony Rawlinson (pictured), the grandson of Ebenezer Howard, was then invited to unveil the commemorative plaque at the foot of the oak. This features the famous quote from Howard's visionary book "Tomorrow - A Peaceful Path to Real Reform", published in 1898; "Town and country must be married, and out of this joyous union will spring a new hope, a new life, a new civilisation."

Stuart Kenny was joined by Howard Marshall Vice Chairman of North Hertfordshire District Council, in placing the final layer of topsoil onto the tree's roots.

The Centenary Oak is the first of 100 new trees and will be followed by the planting of a further 99 trees on the Garden City Greenway, in ceremonies involving local schools