Welwyn Garden City is a town in the county of Hertfordshire. It has a population of over 43,000 people. Welwyn Garden City was one of the first New Towns to be assigned in 1948. It is the second garden city in England and resides around 20 miles away from Kings Cross in London.
Welwyn Garden City was founded by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the 1920s. Howard's aim was to create planned towns which incorporated equal benefits of both city and countryside. The town has tree-lined boulevards and a neo-Georgian town centre. It has wide grass verges and large open spaces and parkland.
Welwyn Garden Centre is the home of the Howard Centre, a shopping mall within the town. The town has a strong retail centre which is key for employment within the town and is home to shops including the department store John Lewis. Tesco has a head office on an industrial park within the town which includes a full sized mock-up supermarket for training staff.
Welwyn Garden City was once well known as the home of the breakfast cereal Shredded Wheat, formerly made by Nabisco. Welwyn Garden City has a strong commercial centre and is home to a number of businesses which provide employment opportunities within the town. . Tesco has a head office at Shire Park; it includes a full-size supermarket mock-up for staff training. Other companies within Welwyn Garden City include: Emis Professional Publishing, Xerox, The Danish Bacon Company, IBM and PayPoint, amongst many others. The town's convenient location from the centre of London also makes it a viable commuter town for those wishing to work in the capital.
The Gosling Sports Centre within the town has a dry ski slope, a golf driving range, indoor and outdoor tennis facilities, a gym and an athletics track along with much more. There are also three golf courses within the town. Welwyn Garden City is also home to some Roman Baths which are preserved in a steel vault underneath the A1 (M).