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Welwyn Builders Ltd was formed in 1921 as a subsidiary of Welwyn Garden City Ltd. In 'The Building of Satellite Towns' C.B.Purdom states that Welwyn Builders' work included "road-making, sewers and water main laying, and other civil engineering… It is safe to say that without this building organisation the work of (WGC Ltd) would not have proceeded as it did." He also notes that before WWII "staff fluctuated between 1,200 - 1,500 operatives, but by the end of the war the number had fallen to below 100. As there were then no houses that could be offered to those operatives who had left the town to persuade them to rejoin the concern for the purpose of recommencing development, the company was faced with difficulty in re-creating its organisation." By 1953-4 it was an associated company of Howardsgate Trust Ltd (the successor to Welwyn Garden City Ltd). Welwyn Builders would eventually become known as Headway Construction Ltd. The original company had been responsible for most of the large commercial and industrial buildings, the majority of the houses, and for all the original engineering work of the town. One advertisement states "Versatility is an attribute that can justly be claimed for Welwyn Builders Limited. The creation of a new town makes many special demands upon the resources of its resident building force, and it is this need which has produced in Welwyn Builders Limited the ability to execute every job none in the building world from the smallest repair to a mammoth factory, and to apply to each an equal degree of skill and care."

Welwyn Builders
Welwyn Builders - keep fit team. Undated photograph donated to the Welwyn Garden City Heritage Trust archive by Irene O as part of the Where Do You Think We Worked? project.
Welwyn Builders
Welwyn Builders - keep fit team. Undated photograph donated to the Welwyn Garden City Heritage Trust archive by Irene O as part of the Where Do You Think We Worked? project.
Welwyn Builders
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Welwyn Builders
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Welwyn Builders
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Welwyn Builders
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Welwyn Builders
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Welwyn Builders
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Welwyn Builders
Bridge Road - Welwyn Builders offices and yard where later Woodside House flats were built. Photographed in January 1967 by Ken Wright who donated this image to the Welwyn Garden City Heritage Trust archive as part of the Where Do You Think You Live? project.
Welwyn Builders
Welwyn Builders office on the site now occupied by Woodside House in Bridge Road. This image is from the WGC Library Local Studies Collection.
Welwyn Builders
Welwyn Builders staff - 3rd from left is John Edward MacDonald. Image donated to the Welwyn Garden City Heritage Trust archive by Mac (Johns son) as part of the Where Do You Think We Worked? project.
Welwyn Builders
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Welwyn Builders
Welwyn Builders wood yard on the site of what is now occupied by Woodside House in Bridge Road. This image is from the WGC Library Local Studies Collection.
Welwyn Builders
Welwyn Builders Ltd - drain cover. Evidence of the companys civil engineering work undertaken for the town, which included roads and sewers, in addition to housing, commercial and industrial buildings.
Welwyn Builders
WGC Official Handbook dated 1962. Page 122 Headway Construction advertisement announcing its name change from Welwyn Builders. Donated to the Welwyn Garden City Heritage Trust archive by Philip G as part of the Where Do You Think We Worked? project.
 
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