The Dacorum Heritage Trust
 The history of Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley & Tring

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COMING TO THE NEW TOWN

Following our marriage in 1949, after our return from Ireland, my husband and I lived with my parents in Berkhamsted, where he worked in the offices of a local builder. After many applications for housing were turned down, we were allocated our first home at No.12, Rant Meadow, Bennetts End, by the Commission for the New Towns. I believe Bennetts End was the second phase of the planned housing, Adeyfield being the first.

I used to push our new baby down Longlands to the shops in Adeyfield Square, as the Bennetts End shopping centre had yet to be built. Facing the Square is the block of flats displaying the Royal Coat of Arms, signifying the laying of the foundation stone of the first homes to be built in the New Town. I think this was laid by Princess Elizabeth, now Her Majesty the Queen: These apartments are now showing signs of their age. We had been allowed to select our house from a Plan, and chose the corner three-bedroomed one adjoining Robins Road, where there was a small thicket on the corner. After a few years our son, dressed in his cowboy outfit complete with stetson and gun holster, used to play 'Cowboys and Indians' with the other children. We came from Berkhamsted with our few pieces of furniture, the bed bought for us by my Dad.

We were moved by Dell & Sons, who are still respected furniture removers in the area, and were charged the princely sum of £7.10s in Sterling. Our garden was large by modern standards, had a surrounding wall, and a good-sized brick- built shed. At Christmas time, when one of the turkeys, raised by my mother-in-law for members of the family living in England, arrived from Ireland, wrapped in strong brown paper and string, it was hung on a hook in the shed awaiting plucking and drawing. On Christmas Eve, my husband, sitting on a kitchen chair inside the open door, plucked away with feathers flying everywhere as the bird was plucked and then brought into the kitchen to be stuffed and roasted on Christmas Day. There were few garages in the area, as not many of us owned cars at that time. My husband dug and laid out the garden, sowing grass seed and marking out flower beds. In the front garden, I planted white allysum, blue lobelia and red salvia, just as my Dad had planted in our garden when I was a child. An Express Dairy van used to come to the estate on certain days of the week, and I bought groceries, including our butter ration, as rationing for certain items was still in operation at that time.

The house had a kitchen/diner overlooking the back garden. We painted the stone floor brick red, and I had a wash/boiler and an Acme wringer with rubber rollers; the washing was rung out into a galvanized bath before hanging out on the line or on a horse. The front living room fire had a back boiler; the brass companion set, holding small shovel, brush, tongs and poker, stood beside it and the brass-topped fireguard was invariably draped with airing nappies. We had to protect the coke hod as our son, when crawling around, was partial to a piece of coke to bite on! The floor and hallway were tiled with the ubiquitous dark brown Marley tiles with red and yellow squiggles. We covered the stairs and upstairs with painted lino until we could afford inlaid linoleum and stair carpet. Compared to my present two-bedroom house on a private estate, the rooms were quite spacious; the third bedroom, the so-called 'box room', was as large as one of my present bedrooms. It had a window looking out onto the road. In the morning when he woke, our son used to stand up in his cot and wave to folk setting off for work. As we were situated on the corner, the wind whistled around the house at times. The windows were metal framed and not double-glazed, so there was a certain amount of condensation. These days we are so used to central heating, I realise the house must have been cold at times with only the back boiler to heat the whole house, apart from a paraffin heater (very unsafe by modern standards) to provide additional heating, but we were young, it was our first home, and we loved it.

Muriel Donovan June 2010

	Autumn Colours in Dacorum Submitted by Mike Wilson (photographs by Mary Cobill). As the days grow shorter and the leaves begin to fall, Nature presents us with a wonderful display of colour. These pictures were taken in Boxmoor and in Ashridge Park.
	Reflections in the Grand Union Canal at Boxmoor. Photograph by Mary Cobill. This view across the canal shows the trees in their autumn colours, reflected in the still waters of the canal. One of the many canal boats (converted into living accommodation) is moored on the right bank.		The footpath across Station Moor, Boxmoor. Photograph by Mary Cobill. This footpath crosses the moor from the railway station and provides a wecome diversion from the busy roadway. The Boxmoor Trust is responsible for over 450 Acres of land around Hemel Hempstead and Bovingdon. Link to Boxmoor Trust website: www.boxmoortrust.org.uk
	A walk in Ashridge Forest. Photograph by Mary Cobill. One of the many footpaths through Ashridge Forest. The Ashridge Estate is owned and maintained by the National Trust. This huge area of forest is home for many species of wildlife and is open to the public all year round.		Sunlight through the trees. Photograph by Mary Cobill. The November sunlight filters through the trees in Ashridge Forest. The quiet and observant visitor may often catch sight of wild deer as they roam through the forest.