July 2023
I first remember seeing John Motson at the Hollybush in Redbourn at least 20 years ago. He lived in Harpenden at the time and was a regular there, minus his famous trademark sheepskin coat.
Being a football fan I was rather excited to come across him some years later holding court at the Crown & Sceptre at Briden’s Camp.
June 2023
It’s said that life copies art, so maybe that’s the reason a stretch of the Leighton Buzzard road looks like it’s had a brush with a can of green paint this week
May 2023
Last weekend’s street party was such a success that many residents are saying ‘let’s have another one next year!’ It’s a lovely idea and judging by the popularity of the Coronation event, with nearly 100 villagers, families and friends in attendance, would be well supported. The trouble is, we’ve had a Jubilee and a Coronation in the space of a year, what’s left to celebrate?
March 2023
You’d have been lucky to find anywhere open for breakfast before 9am in these parts. And if you want the full English you’d either have to cook it yourself or go to a motorway service station. But all that is changing as cafes, pubs and restaurants…
December 2022
Piccotts End is aglow with Christmas lights at this time of the year. It’s always worth a trip down the road to see who’s put on the most spectacular show. From colourful tree arrangements to a modest festoon nearly everyone is joining in the Christmas spirit.
November 2022
Piccotts End is teeming with musical talent, including Jane and Simon Lillystone on the classical front and contemporary composer Paul Borg. Alongside them I’ve discovered another musical maestro living below the village radar. You rarely find him at home…
October 2022
There is always a new tale about Piccotts End you’ve never heard before. At this week’s Harvest Festival I chanced to meet Alf Holland, the man behind the wall. The wall in question is the one that surrounds Park View Farm. Alf has been its owner since 1988…
April 2022
The village daffodils have put on a great show this year, including many planted by residents in our Daffodil Day last December. They will take a couple of years to get established but have already added to some colour to the verges. Hopefully we’ll be able…
December 2021
It’s all change in the Old Town as the new year welcomes a flurry of new shops. From having just a few, there is now an abundance of coffee shops. There’s The Hive at the bottom, the Tea Tree up the hill, Artichoke in the middle, to the newest, Old Town Coffee…
August 2021
Like the rest of Hertfordshire, Piccotts End abounds in beautiful flint walls. But there is just one problem with these iconic local building blocks. They keep falling off! You can always spot the fresh cement and slightly machined new flints where walls…