This was to be a two centre trip. The first 7 days in Welwyn Garden City (WGS) and the rest of the time in Ashwell close to Letchworth.
’Welwyn Garden City was founded by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the 1920s following his previous experiment in Letchworth Garden City. Howard had called for the creation of planned towns that were to combine the benefits of the city and the countryside and to avoid the disadvantages of both.’ Although the centre was not that large, it had all the usual shops, I managed to zip around in no time at all Sue took a little longer. The gardens close by were were very well kept and a pleasure to amble around.
The Gardens
From 1969 – 72 we lived in Hemel Hempstead and as it wasn’t too far away we had to visit.
| Hemel Old Town | The newer part of The Marlowes shopping street |
This is where we used to live – in the upper maisonette.
We were staying at Commons Wood Caravan Club site, which is situated next to the main hospital in WGC. Many of the local buses came passed the hospital so we had plenty of choice of places to go. One day we went to St. Albans and had a good walk around.
St Albans Cathedral
The present church, begun in 1077 and the largest building in the land at the time, replaced an earlier Benedictine abbey founded by King Offa in ad 793. Within the abbey's boundary walls a small town existed with almost every daily necessity on site or brought in from the town or outlying farms owned by the monastery. Senior monks ran the various "departments": guest house, refectory, infirmary, etc. aided by numerous lay servants and craftspeople.
| West Façade | The Nave |
Adjoining ceilings – quite a contrast
| The 14th century Abbey Gateway | Fishpool Street – parts date back to 1290 |
Another day, another visit (in the rain) to Hertford.
How much liquorice did you buy?
This was originally the Verger's house, today Hertford's oldest surviving building is an antique shop. It dates back to 1470.
The Ashwell blog is coming soon.
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