Good news for Hemel residents: the Old Town is about to welcome a new Italian restaurant. Morelli’s will open in early February, taking the place of Old Tom”s Bar in the High Street. The head chef is Fabrizio Morelli, who also runs Morelli’s in Luton. He will be partnered by his maitre d’ Nico. It’s more than 7 years since the Old Town’s last Italian closed. That was the ever popular Alberto’s, which closed its doors when the owner Alberto Valota retired.
January 2026
January is generally a quiet month for the fireworks company I run. Time, then, to turn my attention to another of my passions: marmalade! This is the month for making it, when the bitter Valencia oranges arrive in the shops. My Sunday mornings wouldn’t be complete without three
January 2026
Next month’s Safari Supper has been postponed. Carole Cohen, who had been organising the event, said that while a good number of residents had signed up, it wasn’t quite enough to make it work. She plans to announce a new date in September when warmer weather and lighter evenings will hopefully encourage more people to take part.
December 2025
Village volunteer Melanie Mackney is one of the leading lights behind the launch of a new repair cafe which has opened at Grovehill Community Centre. Local residents can bring along their small electrical items, phones and laptops, bicycles even typewriters to be repaired. The shop is open on the first Saturday of every month and has already delighted residents who had their favourite tops, lamps and radios brought back to tip top condition. Two mobile phones which had problems with sound and displays were repaired and a laptop with a battery bracket rattling around inside was fixed.
November 2025
We have been receiving regular notifciations via the village whatsapp gropu of a ‘lost cat’. Here he is, pictured in leafy Piccotts End Road looking like a white owl with his pointy ears, ready to pounce on an unsuspecing vole. Ragdolls are not known to be adventurous, preferring to stay in the warmth of their home than venture out into the great unknown. Our older ragdoll Coco
November 2025
We haven’t even had Christmas yet but our busy social committee are already planning their exciting 2026 calendar of events. Top of the list is the return of our Safari Supper, where residents can meet each other in their own houses over a meal. Next year year’s supper will be held on Saturday February 7th and the organisers hope that many Piccotts End residents of all ages will take part.
This popular village event happens every other year. Basically it’s a magical mystery tour of neighbours’ houses with a free meal thrown in! The mystery is that you don’t know who’s coming until you open the door!
November 2025
You couldn’t ask for a bigger compliment than to find yourself being played by a leading actress in a movie directed by Danny Boyle. But that’s the accolade accorded to veteran village resident Joyce Lear.
November 2025
The annual village fireworks display proved another big hit as residents gathered in the garden of Marhcmont Cottage for an evening of bangers and flash! Food in the form of hot dogs were cooked up by PERA chairman Simon Lillystoine and his wife Jane, and hot soup was handed out by Annette Harrison and her husband Paul. Harriet Twigger and her daughter Cecilia did a fantastic job collecting entrance money and selling raffle tickets.
September 2025
With nothing better to do, I decided to put the nation’s favourite new AI tool, Chat GPT, though its paces. What, I asked, could Piccotts End do to attract more tourists. Before you throw your hands up in horror at the very thought, let me say it was only a light-hearted question. The good news is that Chat GPT did not suggest opening a McDonald’s or a Starbucks.
Here’s what it said: