The view from our back bedroom window is not the most scenic. Basil Fawlty summed it up perfectly: ‘Well, may I ask what you expected to see out of a bedroom window on Folly Island? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically … ?’ Until last Monday we… Continue reading The Fall and Rise of Bircherley Green
Tag: Bircherley Green Redevelopment
Regeneration – sort of!
Like daffodils shooting through the winter sludge yellow signs have appeared in Bircherley Green. 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… Continue reading Regeneration – sort of!
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). It is fair to say that few people in Hertford saw the need for a hotel. Except for Whitbread… Continue reading Premier Inn Checks Out
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… Continue reading Hertford Saved! – Doomed!
Seed Warehouse
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… Continue reading Seed Warehouse
Hertford – the county town
Sometimes I think I am living in a different universe from everyone else. Apart from a message on Hertford.net no one else seems to be the slightest concerned that the planning application for Bircherley Green Shopping Centre has been withdrawn. Just to make sure I downloaded the entry again and here is the email from… Continue reading Hertford – the county town
Fings aint what they used to be
Since it was announced that Chase Homes intended to buy Bircherley Green the newspapers, message boards and pubs have been full of hopes, plans and wish lists. Unfortunately the planning process does not work that way. I have lived in Hertford since 1980 but was born and grew up in Camden Town. On Saturday morning… Continue reading Fings aint what they used to be
Peyton Place
The best thing about going on holiday with the grandchildren is that you forget about the cares of home and become a child yourself again. The downside is that when you come home you realise that nothing has changed and you are an adult again. So I didn’t expect much to have happened in Hertford… Continue reading Peyton Place
Bell tolls for Hertford
Never send to know for whom the bells tolls – it tolls for thee. So, the powers of conservatism in Hertford have finally won. The developers have pulled out of the second phase of the Bircherley Green redevelopment scheme. This is a Pyrrhic victory at best. We are left with a shopping centre with empty… Continue reading Bell tolls for Hertford
This is your home town
Son take a good look aroundThis is your home town. Bruce Springsteen I am tired of everybody telling me that Hertford is the county town. Maybe it is; but on what grounds? Look at this. This is the situation facing anyone walking through Maidenhead Street towards Salisbury Square. You have to turn left and cross… Continue reading This is your home town