Hertford
Colourful narrowboats alongside flower-filled gardens. 17th Century facades dripping with decoration. Massive flint curtain walls from a castle graced by royalty throughout the ages. Halftimbered hideaways rich with antiques and shining silver.
Hertford busies itself in a frame of beautiful rolling countryside where once kings went hunting and fierce battles raged, the place where four rivers become one and the River Lea heads the short way down to the Thames.
Top Tip
Nip to nearby Ware, home to the eccentric Scott’s Grotto, and head on out to historic villages. Pick up a Malt and Forge Cycling Discovery Map for a picturesque tour on two wheels, available to download FREE at www.visiteastofengland.com
Shopping time
Whether you choose to shop for something special or brood over 180 years of flavour in a McMullens pint, this place is sure to be rewarding. Even non-shoppers can’t resist what is on offer here. In St Andrews Street, you won’t know whether to look at the outside or inside of the antique emporium.
And there are plenty more independent stores lining the narrow streets framed by Georgian shop-fronts near Bull Plain.
Birchley Green provides the big name retail fix in more modern surroundings, but everywhere shops are punctuated with the next excellent excuse for a latte or a swift half. Saturday is market day here and there are regular farmers’ markets too.
Things to do
This is definitely a place to potter. Pick up a map from the Tourist Information Centre on Market Place and off you go. Let history unfurl: the Norman motte, the world’s oldest recorded Quaker meeting house, the 15th Century castle gatehouse, the fine Shire Hall and Victorian brewery buildings and the pargeted Salisbury Arms where Cromwell and Fairfax stayed, complete with its Jacobean staircase.
Stop off at the museum to complete the picture. Be sure to listen out for the band concerts by the waterside in the Castle Gardens. There are some great family fun events throughout the year here too.