June 2011
I see Dacorum Council have painted the hill road from Berkhamsted to Potten End with hideous yellow lines. Why don’t they just ban parking along the whole length of the hill with a notice at either end instead of defacing a pleasant country road. Here in Piccotts End we try to keep the place looking attractive with plantings under the village signs. The only problem is that plants need water. I’ve
May 2011
I’m sure there is a sort of Room 101 at The Rex Cinema, Berkhamsted, where a phone constantly rings and no one answers it. We have invited some friends for the weekend and have promised them a visit to our renowned local cinema. The problem is that we are in France the weekend the tickets go on sale and so a special plan is put in place.
April 2011
I must try to keep my blog more up to date. I’m writing this two months in arrears and I’m struggling to recall even May let alone April. But yes, I remember a late frost that has caused havoc in the garden. Re-reading a post last year about my apricot tree not producing any fruit, I’m now beginning to see why. Apricot trees flower before peaches and if you’re
March 2011
Plans are afoot to make the Old Town one way. Apparently it will cost £1.3 million. I suppose it will improve safety and make the area more attractive but why don’t they go all the way and pedestrianise it? Apparently shopkeepers are against the idea because they fear it will deter drivers because there will be nowhere to park. But that’s not borne out
March 2011 A new one-way system has been announced for the Old Town. I hope it brings the improvement to amenities that the area needs. The Old Town is caught in a vicious circle of boarded up shops and lack of investment. I can’t see a one-way system making matters much better. It’s tinkering…
February 2011
The Marlowes Waterstone’s book shop has closed, inevitably as they were never going to keep it and the more recent one in Riverside. But what will happen to the lovely mural painted by Chris Burke when it opened as Ottakars six or seven years back? Apparently Ottakars commissioned about 30 such murals, at a cost of about £20,000 each,
January 2011
Our daily newspaper delivery, which got off to an excellent start last year with 6.30am deliveries, has been a bit patchy of late, even when there was no snow. But I have to take my hat off to Parry’s, the Boxmoor newsagents, and the Daily Mail, for their performance on Friday January 7th. That was the day England
December 2010 Up to now I can’t remember two successive white Christmases. But we’ve just had them – even if it didn’t snow on the day they were certainly white. Snow stories, which didn’t really exist throughout most of the Nineties, have become commonplace this past few years. Everyone can tell you of that nightmare…
December 2005
Not many who were in the village on the morning of Sunday December 11th are likely to forget what we were doing at around 6.30am. Most of us were asleep! I know I was when I was awoken from my slumbers by what sounded like a sonic boom.
December 2005
Villagers were awoken in the early hours of Sunday December 11 by a huge explosion at the Buncefield oil depot. Fortunately no one was injured but there was a widespread damage to buildings nearby. Piccotts End was spared the worst of the shockwave because it was sheltered in the Gade valley. However many residents reported cupboards and doors blown open by the force of the blast. This photo was taken at 8.17am from Marchmont Cottage.