h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Prime commuter-belt territory, Hertfordshire is home to towns as diverse as Stevenage, Watford and St Albans. Anybody out there who'd like to tell us more about this county?

Paully

I live in Hemel Hempstead, one of the many 'new towns' that were built to move people out of London so that they could commute to the city but not live there. As the town is new it doesn't have much history to speak of apart from that it was previously a market town and that it gained its charter from Henry the 8th. The only thing it's famous for is the 'magic roundabout' (which anyone who's ever driven in Hemel will surely know and hate!) and there's the Kodak building which isn't even owned by Kodak anymore!

St Albans on the other hand has a much better history. It used to be a roman town, Verulaneum (named for the river Ver which runs through it) and it has loads of ruins and museums and things and generally a more rustic and traditional feel overall.

Another main town is Hatfield which is home to the university of Hertfordshire and also Hatfield which is a nice stately home type thing.

The geography of Hertfordshire isn't all that exciting, although there are the Chiltern Hills which are chalk. They're not very high, they're more the soft undulating kind of hills. Apart from that is just the clay vale really (the Thames basin).

That's all I can think of for now!

Hemel Hempstead is an ancient town with a fascinating history. As well as the two Roman Villas so far discovered, it is documented in the Doomesday book. There are many old and interesting buildings, from the building in Piccott's End with some of the oldest wall paintings in the country to Lockers, which at one time belonged to Anne Boleyn's brother. Henry VIII is reputed to have courted her in the gardens, now part of Gadebridge Park and overlooked by the St. Mary's, a mediaeval church with, apparently, the tallest combined tower and spire of any parish church in England.

Until fairly recently Hemel Hempstead was known as The Granary of London, as it was the main centre for the grain trade: the Old Town Hall was where the corn trading took place and is a beautiful building.

The Old Town High Street during that time had (as far as I can remember) somewhere in the region of 28 pubs and inns to cater for all the traders. Some lovely timbered buildings still exist from that time.

Boxmoor Common is interesting: when common lands all over the country were being enclosed by the local landowners the peasants got together and raised the money to buy the land, which has been held as a public trust ever since. The older houses in Hemel and Boxmoor still hold grazing rights though most owners sell them to the Boxmoor Trust, the charity which looks after the land.

Some excellent facts there! Anybody care to chip in with some more bits and bobs about Hertfordshire? What is there to do and see there?

P

There's also Ashridge: a National Trust owned forest which used to be one of the great royal forests, full of deer, also a house once owned by Elizabeth I, who was apparently living there when she became Queen. Now sadly a management college.

Aldbury, an unspoilt village of lovely old houses grouped around a village green complete with a duckpond and the village stocks.

The Grand Union Canal runs through Herts.

I don't know the other side at all. I'm not even sure where any of the boundaries are.

Other things to now about Hertfordshire:

Stevenage: It may be a flea pit but it was the first new town built after the war. The oldtown is a lovely little area and there is the infamous story of Henry trigg who was so afraid of graverobbers he had his coffin on public view in the rafters in the building:

http://www.stevenage.gov.uk/about/tic/oldtown.htm

Knebworth: Small village that has some big history. The Bluwer-Lytton ancestral home at Knebworth (visitors including Dickens, Royalty etc and a Bulwer-Lytton was one of the first Viceroys of India), the largest rock concerts in Europe (where the last ever Queen Concert was)

Roman Baths Welwyn: The famous baths under the A1: http://www.hertsmuseums.org.uk/welwyn-roman-baths/

Welwyn North: community built around a train station that was created because Queen Victoria did not want to travel over a viaduct

The Ayots: A group of villages that house such treasures as GB Shaws house, Barbara Cartlands Old Estate etc

Hatfield: Another new town - the ancient hopuse is most famous for the fact that it was where Queen Elizabeth I discovered she was queen.

Something interesting in Hertforshire....err....

Rickmansworth: Former home of William Penn, Quaker and key figure in the colonial era of the USA. Naming the state of Pennsylvania after his father.

It's also mentioned in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, as the location of a cafe, where Fenchurch gets her idea for making the world a happy place. I've also heard that the cafe was also the place where Douglas Adams wrote parts of HHGG, but i don't know if that is true or not.

Leavesden: The former Rolls-Royce aeroplane engine factory, is now a film studio. Where James Bond, Star Wars and Harry Potter have been filmed.

I'm delighted to announce that we already have two County entries in Peer Review, waiting to receive any bouquets or brickbats that people might lob in their general direction! If you're currently either working on or contributing to a County entry of your own right now, you might like to have a quick look to see how some other researchers have tackled this challenge. They are: County Fermanagh (A6092606) and Norfolk (A6108473).

Hope you enjoy reading them!

Paully

There is lots of info here, anyone willing to put it into an entry? We'd love to get this project finished, so we're offering T-shirts to anyone who can get the last gaps filled in.