Village house on the market for £2.5 million
August 2013
Piccotts End’s medieval cottage, housing historic 15th century wall paintings, attracted dozens of visitors when they opened to the public for four days in September.
All the fun of the Strawberry Fayre!
July 2013
More than 40 villagers enjoyed a beautiful day for this year’s Summer Garden Party. Themed as a strawberry fayre it was held at the home of Andrew and Harriet Twigger. While the adults enjoyed a barbecue and delicious home-made strawberry desserts the kids made the most of the Twigger swimming pool.
Farewell Trixi!
June 2013
Village resident Trixi Field is saying goodbye to all her Piccotts End friends as she heads for a new life up North. Trixie came to the village from Oxford nearly 8 years ago and in between taking yoga classes and giving piano lessons has been a regular attender of PERA social occasions.
Ena and Margaret cook up a Safari success
September 2013
There was plenty to talk about when villagers converged on the home of Ena and Stanley Hartland at this year’s Safari Supper. ‘And what did you have to eat? was the question on everyone’s lips!
The ghost of Piccotts End and a trip down memory lane
August 2013
It’s always fascinating to hear about the comings and goings of your home’s former owners. A chance meeting in a Devon car park has put us in touch with someone who lived in our house back in the1950s. In our case we were on the trail of the Mrs Inglis who lived at Marchmont Cottage between 1951 and 1973.
We wanted to know about the house’s early history, and about stories that it had a secret underground passage and a ghost! Hearing that she had moved to Branscombe in Devon,
Phew! What a scorcher
July 2013
Mingling with guests at the Piccotts End summer garden party on another scorching hot day I was amazed to learn just how many boffins inhabit the village. We have professors, doctors, scientists and IT experts, not to mention a clutch of lawyers and media luminaries in our midst. My latest ‘discovery’ is that one of our committee members,
Is it the White Lion or the Red Lion?
July 2013
My journey to work through the leafy lanes of Gaddesden always provides some points of interest. Last month I spotted two men planting hundreds of saplings in the hedgerows. John and Nathan of JHP Services told me they had been contracted by the Gaddesden Estate to fill in the gaps in the hedgerows with some 4000 hawthorn, hazel, holly, dog rose and dogwood.
It’s part of a Government-subsidised scheme to revive a quintessential feature of the English countryside.
Why I have grave concerns about the Piccotts End roundabout!
May 2013
What’s happened to the roundabout at the entrance to Piccotts End? Since it was last cut by the council in April the grass has turned a deathly yellow. Is this in preparation for a makeover by the funeral directors J. Worley who are the current sponsors? If so I wonder what they have in mind. The trend these days is for sponsors to make
Never mind king of the mountains The Hub is king of the cafes!
April 2013
Continuing my tour of the cafes and tea shops of Hertfordshire my latest destination was The Hub in Redbourn. This has previously been a newsagents, a pet shop and a ski shop. Today it’s a cafe with a clever and novel string to its bow, or should I say spoke in its wheel, because it’s also a cycle repair shop.
PERA chairman’s life remembered
April 2013
Piccotts End resident Lady Val Corbett has written a book about the life of her late husband and former Chairman of PERA, Robin, Lord Corbett of Castle Vale. Robin Corbett, A Life Well Lived, is the story of the son of a foundry worker who rose to become an MP and ended up as a Lord.