by : John Barber Hertford blog

Hertford Lockdown Blues

Well I woke up this morning; things to do.
Need a haircut; barbers are shut.
Push ups in the gym; they won’t let me in.
No Americano; bad news on the radio.
Shed a tear; pubs with no beer.
Man! I’ve got the Hertford Lockdown Blues again.

I rarely comment on national politics here, but at my stage of life I have come to know certain things.

When winter comes it gets cold and there are outbreaks of flu. Even outside of winter these epidemics attack the old and the infirm. Many senior citizens and other vulnerable people die.

When I was at Primary school and someone had a runny nose with enough drips and drops from which to bake a snot and bogey pie we said they had the lurgy, and avoided them with the proverbial barge pole.

I spent my best years commuting into and around London. The trains, Underground and buses were full of people sneezing, blowing noses and exhaling a multitude of germs and foul smells.

Great Britain is an island. I am reliably informed that this is why we do not experience outbreaks of rabies because mad dogs cannot swim.

Who am I to influence Government policy but having lived through the above surely their advisers have as well.

The old should have been immediately isolated and protected from the world in a manner that infection could not spread amongst them. Not thrown back into care homes to become super-spreaders. By default their carers and those in the front line, ie all NHS staff, should have full personal protection.

From the outset masks should have mandatory on all public transport and other places where crowds gather. In essence the greatest defence against infection is space, and if in confined spaces use a mask

As an island the ports, airports, Channel Tunnel and all other points of entry should have been closed and overseas travel reduced to only necessary journeys. The world is not populated by solely British holidaymakers. As Blue Mink sung: ‘the world is just a great big melting pot’. All people from all nations mix in all the best places and bugs are brought back into the UK.

This is not a diatribe for or against the Government but some things are self evident to those of more mature years.

I can endure a month at home. I have my books to defend me (Paul Simon) and supermarkets still sell a decent claret and a round of a mature stilton. But can the shopkeepers, especially the independents in town, survive another lockdown. I hope so because despite what I may have written in all these posts (see right) I actually like Hertford.

by : John Barber Hertford blog

Regeneration – sort of!

Like daffodils shooting through the winter sludge yellow signs have appeared in Bircherley Green.

Notice that Service Road now closed

This is a bit of a blow. I now have to walk up Bull Plain, turn left and left again to get to the Bus Station. The service road was a welcome short cut although of late I have considered wearing a mask when walking along here owing to the carcasses of large water birds being picked clean by the usual nocturnal residents, and throwaway face masks hiding cheekily amid the polystyrene fast food cartons and remains of Chinese and other meals relieving the hunger of seagulls, pigeons and the occasional crow.

I suppose ‘until further notice’ means the service road will be closed until the development is complete. It means that unless someone digs a tunnel under the Lea, or builds a bascule bridge over it I shall have to continue to walk through town for a few years more.

Chase New Homes have announced that work will begin on 26 October. This is fine despite the fact that as at today (21 October) they have not yet received planning permission from East Herts Council.

Chase New Homes has said that they are being pro-active in trying to resolve outstanding matters, and will start come what may.

Alan Ward, Planning & Design Director of Chase New Homes, said: “The town has already waited far too long for this regeneration scheme to happen so we are going to get spades in the ground and give the town what it wants and needs.”

The ink on the legal agreement between East Herts Council and Chase has not dried. But work will go ahead despite there being no Affordable Housing or Section 106’s being part of the planning application. Such things that are normal in most developments are not considered to be viable if this development is to go ahead. Instead the situation like Fagin says ‘will be reviewed’ as work develops.

Then there is the small matter of other outstanding issues involved in the granting of planning permission: electric charging points in the car park, minimising the conflict between delivery and other vehicles and pedestrians and issues about landscaping, protective railings and mooring points.

No doubt these too will be resolved.

Chase New Homes own the property so I suppose if they want to knock the whole lot down then they can. Legally speaking they just cannot build anything else it its place. At the moment.

However it is a start, it is what people want after all.

Update 6 November. East Herts Planning have confirmed that permission has now been granted. In an email they state:

The application was dealt with on 6th November 2020 when it was decided to Grant Planning Permission subject to Conditions.

What people did not want was the closure of one of Hertford’s most favourite coffee and dining establishments.

Serendipity in Parliament Square – courtesy Hertford.net

As Chase begin spadework Serendipity will close on 24 October and move all its business on-line.

This was one of my favourite spots in Bircherley Green; sitting outside with a coffee and toasted sandwich watching the world go by, often in the company of local artist Lionel Hornsnell, who passed away in 2011.

I once discussed the advantages of retail symbiosis with a researcher from one of London’s Universities. I watched the trading patterns in town from a new perspective. A couple would take a table, one ordered coffee and whilst waiting for service the other would pop into Methvens the bookshop on one side or dash into Going Places the travel agents on the other.

Every one a winner. You don’t see that much in Hertford nowadays but even then no one ever took my observations seriously.

by : John Barber Hertford blog

A Time to Remember

Zach on his uncle’s bike

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance.

Yesterday Sunday 11th October marked the fifth year since the passing of my grandson Zach on 11th October 2015. He would have been eight years old this year.

During those last five years it is still not easy to accept things. It does not get better but this is maybe the time to recall some good things that came out of the darkness.

Our next door neighbour organised a collection amongst our friends, neighbours and other residents on Folly Island. The funds bought two rose bushes in large pots and stands. A few people who missed the collection and were on holiday also contributed and their money went towards sponsoring Martin on a Father Christmas Charity Run for the Peace Hospice, who looked after Zach at home.

There was also a generous contribution from all around the town, mostly traders, to sponsor Anne-Marie on the London Midnight Charity Walk.

The management and many staff from Waitrose where my wife worked attended the funeral. They had already organised a ‘Bake-Off’ and released a host of balloons from the area by the River Lea. The proceeds of the sale helped towards the purchase of an acre of land on the Moon (at about ten past two in the Lake of Dreams).

So many people most of whom were complete strangers to me offered their condolences in the street and the Hertfordshire Mercury gave over the front page for my letter of thanks.

Several traders refused payment for items for Zach’s funeral and Keith Young at Messages was always there to drag me back to the real world when I would rather have hidden away.

Every year we mark his birthday and passing by placing some of his favourite toys on the bench in our front garden.

A poem, a truck, a giraffe and sunflowers

Last year we did something extra and floated candles down the River Lea. This year there were eight and launched from Little Hartham.

Eight candles for eight years

Maybe I will never get over the loss of someone so young but the above helps to remind me and hopefully re-assure others that in the darkest times the kindness of strangers will always shine through.

by : John Barber Hertford blog

Premier Inn Checks Out

It should come as no surprise following Whitbread’s announcement of job losses earlier this week that they have now pulled out of building a Premier Inn Hotel in Bircherley Green (see full story in Hertfordshire Mercury).

Premier Inn cancelled

It is fair to say that few people in Hertford saw the need for a hotel. Except for Whitbread who crunched the numbers and stated that it was a viable proposition.

I am also at a loss as to how this came about. My understanding of the background to this can be read in a previous post.

What now? Who knows? Is there a white knight out there who is willing to invest in a new hotel in Hertford given the current state of the economy and Whitbread’s own recent assessment and actions.

Empty space available for Hotel – photo courtesy of Hertford.net

Maybe the alternative is for Chase New Homes to build Block C similarly to Blocks A and B with retail on the ground floor and apartments above. It appears that Chase and East Herts Council have agreed a legal form of wording to get the application approved and building to commence. See this report on Hertford.net regarding the Viability Review.

It is a sad situation mirrored up and down the country. However in the last couple of weeks Hertford has lost Cafe Rouge, Prezzo, ASK, Costa Coffee and Edinburgh Wolllen Mill. There have been others and I doubt if these will be the last casualties.

Shop closures and business failures have been a constant thread in this blog. I wish I could report on some good news. I will keep my ear to the ground.

by : John Barber Hertford blog

Pub – not as we know it

As anyone who has read these blogs and other pages on this site will know, I have a love affair with pubs.

The guidance laid down by Government to pub landlords has made visits to my local hostelry a total anathema.

My first memory of pubs was when I was not even five years old. My parents took me to Regents Park and on the way home we stopped for a drink in the York and Albany beer garden at the top end of Parkway in Camden Town.

Many years later I revisited this with several mates and we each drank six bottles of Schlitz beer in return for a personalised frisbee. What made Milwaukee famous made a loser out of drunken frisbee throwers.

Before this adult entertainment our local when at school was The Admiral Mann off the Brecknock Road. It was one of the few McMullens pubs outside of Hertford and here I am now living there. Not the Admiral Man, Hertford.

The pub was famous for its Beatles wallpaper in the back bar. As soon as a member of our group came in they headed for the jukebox and requested ‘Yesterday Man’ by Chris Andrews; that or ‘Pied Piper’ by Crispin St Peters.

A little bit older and not much wiser we travelled the country watching Spurs with The Good Beer Guide as our atlas. Each away trip had its own route depending on where the ground was situated.

Midlands trips had to include a stop in Market Bosworth and a pint of Hoskins. I don’t think this is brewed anymore or has been absorbed into a larger chain.

Our journey took us past Bosworth Field; where Richard III finally lost the English Civil War. There was little around the site to let casual visitors be aware. What the Americans would have made of such a heritage site we can only wonder.

The home stretch had to include a fish and chip tea bought from a chippie we had discovered on the outskirts of Leicester which had the longest queues from which we deduced served the best fish and chips.

You find all sorts of pubs using the Good Beer Guide. Inclusion is based on the quality of the beer served not the decor which could range from the ultra modern to the ‘spit and sawdust’. Not a term to be used in these environmentally friendly times.

The Good Beer Guide once directed us to a village in the middle of nowhere. The landlady and a regular drinker at the bar suddenly burst into song; belting out a duet from a little known operetta from Gilbert & Sullivan, or possibly Gilbert O’Sullivan. The words were almost indistinguishable but the ambience totally eccentrically English.

Which is why we value our pubs so much.

I enjoy standing at the bar, perhaps reading the local rag waiting for the good lady; or chatting to the hosts. Dart boards were a common sight, as were jukeboxes. Many regulars sat at their regular bar stool at the bar or in their favourite chair which gave excellent vistas. Other regulars sort of respected this arrangement.

Bar staff got to know your name, and vice versa. Some of us are blessed with ‘bar presence’ and get served however crowded the bar is; we don’t have to wave a large note at the barmaid.

Pubs are friendly places, some have blazing fires in winter; some allow dogs. The best ones have a selection of excellent real ales and the staff will allow you to sample each one until you find a flavour to satisfy your palate.

You see a friend on the other side of the bar, wave and you meet at one or the other end. Friends acknowledge one another and introduce you to their own friends, important conversations often take place in the toilets but no one is a fixture. The wonderful thing about pubs is that you can mingle. set the world to rights and meet new friends. I met Mrs B in a pub!

I haven’t been to any of Hertford’s wide selection of pubs and bars since the beginning of lockdown. It may be awhile before I do as the measures introduced go fully against the idea of what a pub means to me.

Let me explain. No , let John Betjeman explain; he is much better than me at this sort of thing. This is how things are at present taken from the final lines of his poem, The Village Inn.

Our air-conditioned bars are lined
With washable material,
The stools are steel, the taste refined,
Hygienic and ethereal.
Hurrah, hurrah, for hearts of oak!
Away with inhibitions!
For here's a place to sit and soak
In sanit'ry conditions.

The full poem can be read here. There’s nothing more to add.

All my previous posts can be accessed here.

by : John Barber Hertford blog

The Village Inn

THE VILLAGE INN
by John Betjeman

"The village inn, the dear old inn,
So ancient, clean and free from sin,
True centre of our rural life
Where Hodge sits down beside his wife
And talks of Marx and nuclear fission
With all a rustic's intuition.
Ah, more than church or school or hall,
The village inn's the heart of all."
So spake the brewer's P. R. O.,
A man who really ought to know,
For he is paid for saying so.
And then he kindly gave to me
A lovely coloured booklet free.
'Twas full of prose that sang the praise
Of coaching inns in Georgian days,
Showing how public-houses are
More modern than the motor-car,
More English than the weald or wold
And almost equally as old,
And run for love and not for gold
Until I felt a filthy swine
For loathing beer and liking wine,
And rotten to the very core
For thinking village inns a bore,
And village bores more sure to roam
To village inns than stay at home.
And then I thought I must be wrong,
So up I rose and went along
To that old village alehouse where
In neon lights is written "Bear".
Ah, where's the inn that once I knew
With brick and chalky wall
Up which the knobbly pear-tree grew
For fear the place would fall?
Oh, that old pot-house isn't there,
It wasn't worth our while;
You'll find we have rebuilt "The Bear"
In Early Georgian style.
But winter jasmine used to cling
With golden stars a-shine
Where rain and wind would wash and swing
The crudely painted sign.
And where's the roof of golden thatch?
The chimney-stack of stone?
The crown-glass panes that used to match
Each sunset with their own?
Oh now the walls are red and smart,
The roof has emerald tiles.
The neon sign's a work of art
And visible for miles.
The bar inside was papered green,
The settles grained like oak,
The only light was paraffin,
The woodfire used to smoke.
And photographs from far and wide
Were hung around the room:
The hunt, the church, the football side,
And Kitchener of Khartoum.
Our air-conditioned bars are lined
With washable material,
The stools are steel, the taste refined,
Hygienic and ethereal.
Hurrah, hurrah, for hearts of oak!
Away with inhibitions!
For here's a place to sit and soak
In sanit'ry conditions.
by : John Barber Hertford blog

Hertford Saved! – Doomed!

So, after 6 years a development on the Bircherley Green Shopping Centre site was given the green light on 25th June 2020.

I sat through 2 hours of the Development Management Committee and frankly learned nothing that I didn’t know already.

It confirmed two things. One it was not viable to offer affordable housing and two, there would be no Section 106 monies.

On the other hand some of the discussion centred around points that had already been explained in the planning application and representations from consultees.

That is apart from Folly Island which will now be overlooked by a four storey edifice about which there was little comment on the design.

I don’t know what I was expecting – I tell a lie. I knew exactly what was going to happen.

A 1961 film – The Day the Earth Caught Fire – made during the height of the Cold War reflected common fears about the nuclear arms race and possible harmful effects of nuclear weapons testing.

It was set in a newspaper office and the newspaper editor prepares two headlines: “World Saved” and “World Doomed.”

Here is my take on things:

I wasn’t sure which one to use so printed both.

I am not convinced that two large residential blocks are going to regenerate Hertford town centre as a destination.

The one underlying theme about the meeting which became more consistent as the evening wore on was this: ‘anything will be better than what we have now’.

I can’t say that I subscribe to that view which was aired by many councillors.

Since 2014 many designs have been discarded by the conservative elements in town who have wrung their hands over the destruction of the Hertford Town Centre Conservation Area. There was no mention of that last night.

So, if the original application had been approved instead of being chipped away by those that had our best interests at heart we would have a development built by now and operating.

I shall revisit all this in three years time. Meanwhile I am going to retire. Again!

In the meantime you can browse at your leisure through all my previous Hertford posts.

by : John Barber Hertford blog

Fore Street – Solved!!

I spent more years than I can remember at the Hertford Transport Forum discussing the vexed question of Fore Street.

Or more precisely the western end of Fore Street which connects it to Parliament Square.

There was no argument that this small section of road created more questions than answers. It also created a rat run through the town for motorists wanting to avoid the eastern direction on Gascoyne Way.

It was noted in the Hertford Urban Design Strategy that ‘traffic entering from the west creates a conflict between pedestrians, cars, buses and cyclists.

‘Furthermore, the western end of Fore Street is two-way for buses but not wide enough to allow two vehicles to pass without either mounting the kerb or using the designated give way area, which is often ignored by motorists. This in turn creates damage to the footway which is costly to maintain and repair.’

They failed to mention that although it was two-way for buses it was only one way for all other vehicles including taxis. They also overlooked that at one time it was home to the country’s shortest cycle route – about two metres! Perhaps the shortest in Europe – or the world!

Then as if by magic Hertford County Council solved the problem overnight by blocking Fore Street just before Church Street.

Road block at Fore Street

Now no vehicles be they buses, cars, taxis or forty foot pantechnicons can access Fore Street from the west.

As we all knew at the Transport Forum there was a problem with denying access to Fore Street from Parliament Square. How do you police it in the softest possible way? Not now. You just can’t drive through it.

Even the HUDS report saw the odd drawback. ‘Restricting the use of the western section of Fore Street to buses, cyclists and pedestrians would also limit access to the town centre and Folly Island for those travelling from the west. This could result in additional vehicle miles and an increase to journey times for residents, visitors and servicing vehicles.’

What they were trying to say was that there would be an increase in traffic along Gascoyne Way leading to traffic jams, high density of traffic and fumes, delayed arrivals, longer public transport journeys and shorter tempers.

However the general consensus formed from various council and public consultations was that overall people were in favour of it. See graph below.

49% in favour of permanent closure

The HUDS study thought that permanent closure should be a long term aim but HCC have smashed that theory.

It is no time to be rejoicing as this was as a result of the pandemic but it will be interesting to see what the effects of closure are and if they are going to be made permanent.

Update July 2020

The barriers have been replaced with a planter.

Courtesy of Steve Beeston

This doesn’t help Hitesh in Gays Newsagents who has been plagued by Highways and all other types of roadworks ever since I can remember.

Apparently you can comment on this enforced pedestrianisation at the I Love Hertford Facebook page.

All my previous posts archived here.

by : John Barber Hertford blog

Seed Warehouse

Seed Warehouse from Mill Bridge

The Seed Warehouse houses the Mill Bridge Rooms which are owned by Hertford Town Council and can be hired by small groups for meetings.

The truth is that the Seed Warehouse is a Tardis.

You could almost walk past it, unaware of its existence down a narrow alleyway, squeezed between a newsagents and a fast food shop in Mill Bridge, almost opposite Castle Hall and next to the bus stop.

The Seed Warehouse stretches down that alleyway in Maidenhead Yard about a hundred yards or more to the left down to the River Lea.

The ground floor houses almost 90% of artefacts belonging to Hertford Museum. There is more here than in the Museum in Bull Plain. It is not open to the general public except on special ‘open days’.

On such an event take the opportunity to walk around and view things abut Hertford you didn’t know existed. My office was on the first floor and I always took advantage of those times when Museum staff were working in the stores to mooch around.

This was when I was Town Centre Manager. I had to relocate as the Museum needed space to house all the items in Bull Plain as well as staff and volunteer helpers, whilst the redevelopment of that building took place.

I was sad to leave. My office looked out over the Lea on to the Riverside decking of the Woolpack pub.

One of the tenants I introduced to the Seed Warehouse was City Water.

They worked from the top floor but before doing so cleared an inch of dust from the skirting boards and wooden beams, laid carpet, installed lighting, toilet blocks and a kitchen amongst many other improvements. The walls were re-painted heritage cream and the wooden beams stained dark brown.

The left hand photo shows kitchen mid-right and the dining area/IT space at the back. The right hand photo was taken a few yards back showing a small re-furbished office.

Unfortunately we didn’t think of taking a ‘before’ photo but here are two shots of how the top floor looked before furniture was in place.

Top floor of the Seed Warehouse

The Directors tried to make the interior of the Seed Warehouse reflect the building’s past.

Over the front door a large reproduction of a photo taken when a World War Two bomb hit Mill Bridge was mounted against the wall with branches, an air raid siren and hopefully a defused bomb.

On the right as you walk in is a Roman corn drier preserved in a temperature controlled and air conditioned room and once again , only opened to visitors on special occasions.

There is a large antique photo enlarger set on the space by the stairs, rescued from the Museum stores.

All this may still be there. I haven’t been inside for a long time. You may ask what this is all about. Well, Chase New Homes have submitted amended plans for Bircherley Green.

They claim they are trying to re-create Hertford’s brewing past. The Seed Warehouse is but one building on the old maltings area and here were sited the wharves Chase mention.

However you will notice that these are not high rise buildings:

Adams & Co

The new plans as submitted by Chase maintain the previous height; ground floor commercial units and four floors above for apartments.

An artist impression looking south

The one interesting added feature is the false walkway between Buildings A and B. I am sure they are identical to those found in busier and more industrial locations such as the Thames where much of the barley and malt from Hertford was bound during the heady days in the nineteenth century. (see my article on Brewing in Hertford)

They do not fit too well here.

Bridges

There is not much more I can say about this planning application but to refer you to the page where you can view all the amended plans and documents and links to register your own comment:

Here is my own letter registering my objection.

letter of objectionDownload

The one thing I am beginning to hear more and more is that residents would have anything built rather than Bircherley Green left to rot any further.

The photos of the Seed Warehouse and Adams & co are from ‘Our Hertford and Ware’ chapter on Hertford’s Riverside Yards.

All my previous posts archived here:

by : John Barber Hertford blog

A Message of Hope

If you wish you can scroll down to the end of this page to understand what this is all about.

In common with another 1.5m people I have been instructed to stay at home for 12 weeks as I have an underlying health problem.

Like other people I have resorted to hobbies to pass the time. One has been to re-write my web pages. This page like all of my website is coded on WordPress with the new Gutenberg block editor. This has been a steep learning curve so apologies if some pages still look odd.

One project has been to place my 13 scrapbooks of newspaper clippings on line. This is in itself a challenge as after 40+ years the type is fading fast and difficult to read. Even the best OCR programmes translate the words into a language last seen on the walls of the pyramids.

I keep in touch with family and friends by phone. The last conversation I had with a friend of over 60 years ended with a resolution to mark the end of the lock down with a drink.

My wife is mildly active on social media and messages always conclude with the same wish: ‘when this is all over, we’ll meet for a coffee again’. Words repeated every time I manage to speak to a near neighbour over the width of several low brick walls.

How strange that this reminds me of a letter written by folk singer Tom Paxton on the rear of the album cover to ‘Ain’t That News’ in 1965.

Tom Paxton – Ain’t That News

It was a message to his own friend of long standing – John Cherry, a coloured American, although not actually stated. It was about another deadly virus then sweeping America – namely racism and the efforts of the civil rights movement to overturn it. The freedom he mentions is not the lifting of the lock down but something more basic.

His words need no more explanation from me to see how they resonate in today’s difficult times.

They’ve been fighting for years and they’ve won some very important battles. We owe them a great deal, more than we can repay …. it looks like now we are going to be free. And even though there’s much more to freedom than a cup of coffee; still, that’s one cup of coffee that is going to taste just fine.

All my previous posts archived here: