Mothers of Modernity: Women's Experiences of New Towns in North West England, 1961 - 1989

'Full of ideas [and] geared to the life and challenge of our times' was how a 1965 Anglia Television
feature described Britain's first new town, designated in 1946. Originally intended as publicly
funded solutions to urban overcrowding, the twenty two new
towns illuminate the changing social,
political, and cultural preoccupations of modern Britain. Recent research by Sam Wetherell (2020)
and Guy Ortolano (2019) explores the planning and management of new towns to assess the
national shift from social demo
cracy to neoliberalism. However, they neglect gendered approaches
and privilege towns in South England, obscuring lived experience and regional variations. This PhD
aims to address this scholarly gap through an oral history of women's construction of space
, self,
and memory in Skelmersdale, Runcorn, Warrington, and Central Lancashire New Town, 1961
-
1989.
A spatial interpretation of gendered subjectivities is essential, since women were crucial to the
design, function, and meaning of these towns as mothers,
consumers, workers, and citizens. A
regional perspective complicates the story of the national and global new towns movement by
deconstructing the social and cultural aspects of modernity, social democracy, and marketisation.
Today, Britain's towns face a
housing crisis, the 'death of the high
-
street', and increasing
privatisation. The proposed research historicises these contemporary issues, so the findings will
appeal to both public, official, and academic audiences. It is essential to undertake this rese
arch
now, since many new towns are undergoing 'regeneration' projects tackling poor town centres and
housing provision, and the opportunity to explore residents' historical subjectivities may be lost.
Research Questions

What meanings did women attach to
their built environment?

How did women construct selfhoods in relation or opposition to their towns?

Were the towns sites of control or opportunity?

How did class, race, marital status, life cycle, and motherhood alter experiences, and how
did this vary
over time?