Pinewood Close

The homes which were built on the south side of Hatfield Road in the 1920s had very long back gardens which extended as far as Oakdene Way.  Many of the houses were also detached so the widths were also generous.  These were the homes westwards of Longacres.  Of course, until this road was opened up just before WW2 – formerly there had been a track which led to the Hill End brickworks – the long gardens could only be accessed from Hatfield Road.  Once the brickworks had closed the land was opened up.  Part of it became smallholding land, and there was a wartime pig club too.  In the 1950s there was talk of buying the far end of the gardens, with the intention of driving a road through and constructing houses.  All this happened when I was a child and little did I realise how much of the gardens would be lost.  Today there is the width of Pinewood Close with its footpath, and the footprint of the Pinewood Close houses and their front and back gardens.  Today Pinewood reaches as far as the eastern end of the Willow estate; the boundary between Beaumonts Farm and Hill End Farm.

The entrance to Pinewood Close from Longacres.

And we think that building on people's back gardens is a recent practice.











Another question answered:  Among the correspondence received this week has come a solution to the long-standing question on this website: what is the origin of the road Swans Walk (with or without its apostrophe) ?

Ben Swan first came to St Albans in the 1890s and launched a small business dealing in bicycles.  Later this grew into a car business which launched the name Marlborough Motors.  Once he had retired Mr Swan built a house in Colney Heath Lane, which he named Marlborough House (there was, of course, another Marlborough House, owned by Samuel Ryder).  The present bungalow development is on the site of Mr Swan's house, and the road is therefore named after him.

Kendall's:  Mention has been made previously of Stanton's timber and coal business in Castle Road.  A member of the Kendall family has informed me that the coal business was sold to the Kendall family. Of course the Kendall business flourished in Bycullah Terrace and diversified into other areas; indeed, the Kendall name it still above the door.

October conference

Last October the newly-formed St Albans and District Local History Network brought sixty or so people together for a one-day conference to share the research and other projects they had all been engaged in.

Well, it's October again, and the Network is holding its second conference, such was the success of the first.  It is being hosted by Verulamium Museum and is on October 27th, beginning at 10:30.  Almost all of the places have now been booked but there are still five places left.  If you have nothing better to do on that Saturday and don't need to concern yourself that it is the first weekend of the half-term break, email sanetwork@me.com to reserve your place.  There will be some fascinating presentations throughout the day.

The latest search for pictures and recollections concerns a section of Ashley Road.  From the former railway to Drakes Drive it was just a farm track until the 1960s.  On one side of the track was T W Russell and the St Albans Brush Company.  On the other was the former brickworks,  the old pits being filled in with the town's rubbish.  Holloway Brothers, building contractors, used the site as a base, and the first modern building to appear next to the railway track was Post Office Telephones.

When the brickworks arrived in 1899 a group of three cottages were erected opposite Cambridge Road, for employees, given that the location was remote from all other housing at the time.  The properties were demolished in the 1960s to enable the industrial estate to be built.

I am searching for photographs of the cottages and/or the trackway, commonly known then as the Ashpath and the Cinder Track.  In addition, if you have any recollections of this area I would be pleased to hear from you.  Currently there is no known picture of the old bridge over the railway here either.   Email the author on saoee@me.com

This little incident (right) occurred in August 1955; the location was Camp Road railway bridge.  Were you among the onlookers?  Did you see or hear the derailment?  Did your parents tell you about it?  The line was restricted to freight at this time; passenger traffic, such as it was, ceased in 1951.  Nevertheless, getting this loco back on the rails again was a bit more difficult than lifting the loco on your 00 model railway!

It's no longer there!

Every so often I come to my senses.  It is possible to become so used to the street scene which is in the here and now, but totally obliterate from my mind the street scene which used to be.  Then searching for photographs of the former layout and land use, draw a blank.  I can give you any number of pictures of the Clock Tower or the Cathedral, or a different photo of St Peter's Street for every day of the year.  But there are locations which never were photogenic or important enough for anyone to use time and a length of film to record what was there, even once.  And that's a shame.

Here are two examples from this week's problem-solving exercise.  We now think of Albion Road as being almost exclusively residential.  I know that many residents will remember buying fish 'n' chips on the right-hand side going down.  After number 25 on the left are some rather impressive two-and-a-half storey homes (right).  They are newish, which raises the question of what was there before, since the rest of this little estate is around 120 years old.   Just one picture has turned up of the former buildings.  Dye works, cleaners, iron foundry, rubber works; all were here at some point, but presumably only one owner at a time.

Does anyone have other Albion Road pictures which also show these industrial buildings within an otherwise residential street?








In a nearby location I am unable to find even one picture of the site.  It is on a corner of the former Gaol Field at the Stanhope Road end of Camp Road, which used to be a small nursery.  These houses (right) occupy the site today but until the 1950s the first house on this side of the road was number 12.

According to the street directories it was known as Yokohama Nursery Co Ltd, in the ownership of Mr A Dimmock.  It appears to have been a nursery since the mid 1920s, which is when the Corporation, then in ownership of the prison estate, began to sell the field adjacent to the building.



Does anyone have a photograph of this nursery, or any sales or marketing literature for it?  The author would like to make a former piece of the east end better known than it is.

Walking to the shops

Saturday afternoon, September 29th, Fleetville.  Around two dozen of us gathered for a gentle walk from Morrison's to the Crown.  We stopped every hundred yards or so to discover the history of the development which became the marketing people's "Mile of Shops".  Bycullah Terrace, which appeared old enough at 1900, was finally trumped by a trio of shops at the Crown, which could could be traced back to the mid 1890s.  In between were a multiplicity of former semi-detached houses and short terraces, which at some point in their long lives were transformed into shops.  There were those premises which had never been anything else, and the prize here must go to Fleetville Cafe.  There have been interesting companions, such as a pair of little grocer's shops next door-but-one to each other.  Or the Crown end having three butcher's shops within a hundred yards of each other.

There are also occasional shops no longer with us, such as Sear and Carter's florist's shop which has now been replaced by St Paul's Place; Grimaldi's old garage which has been replaced by two large new shops; the old Con Club building where the two original shop spaces have been re-instated in style as food establishments; and the newish flats on the old Plymouth Brethren site which incorporated a ground floor shop unit (even though it is not being used for that purpose).

There is an intriguing background to Hatfield Road and its shops, which are still largely local businesses for local needs.

Accompanying us on our walk were also members of two well-known Fleetville retailing families: Percy Hall's Hairdressing Saloons and P H Stone's Newsagents.

A call from a brick researcher

A request has come my way from Roger Miles:
"A significant part of Bernards Heath saw brick-making carried on in the past.
A number of old clay-pits can still be seen on either side of the length of
Harpenden Road through the Heath. These local bricks are identifiable by
their appearance, a strong red or orange-red colour usually and a distinctly
sandy texture throughout - not just sand dusted in the mould to help release
the brick. Some of the bricks also have the maker's name or initials in the frog
(the hollow in the top). Alterations to Victorian/Edwardian period houses often
produce examples of identifiable local bricks. A prominent maker on the Heath
was Jacob Reynolds and Dixon is another name.
Bricks of similar type were made at other sites around St Albans and will
probably only be distinguishable if lettered.

It would be of interest to hear of finds of bricks of the type described, which
have lettering in the frog. Bernards Heath brick-making stopped early in the
20th century, so houses built after 1920, say, would be unlikely to contain
Heath bricks, unless re-used.  Details to note are:
The three dimensions of the brick (ins or cms), colour, lettering in the frog,
address of the building and, if known, date of construction. Photo if possible.

N.B. Any bricks that are pink or pink-red, hard and smooth, with LBC or
PHORPRES or FLETTON in the frog are definitely not of local manufacture.
Other, common, 'foreign' bricks of the period, from Bedfordshire, are rough, but
not sandy, and purple, purple-red or purple-grey in colour."

If you have any information for Roger, he may be contacted at rogmiles@compuserve.com

Finding the station

There is a path running alongside my house and it was perfectly usable last year.  Now weeds and shrubby stalks that look as if they might turn into trees at any time, have blocked the access.  All of this in twelve months.

The last train was in 1951; no more waiting passengers.

So I have some sympathy with the folk at Smallford who have a plan.  The Residents' Association would like to rescue the platform building which was the Smallford (earlier Springfield) railway station along the old Great Northern route between St Albans and Hatfield.  What is stopping them is the difficulty of locating the station, and even greater difficulty gaining access to the space on which it stands.

After the railway was closed the yard was occupied by firms which required open storage space.  In the 1960s the platform and structure were clearly visible and accessible.  Some time later the boundary fence was moved to the front of the platform and because the additional space did not provide any benefit to the commercial operation, weeds, shrubs and small trees used the opportunity to do what plants do best; they grew.

It is probable that the decision to close off the station has protected it.  Not only has the foliage sheltered the walls, but damage from vandalism would have been less likely.

The remains of the platform at Nast Hyde Halt.

Smallford Residents' Association are to be congratulated for committing itself to such a restoration project, but it is, of course, dependant on receiving grant-aid for the work involved; and the organisation should know whether its has been successful during the next few weeks.

Next week the blog will be devoted to the forthcoming St Albans and District Local History Network conference at Verulamium Museum on October 27th.  Any local group with historical and community interests will be part of the Network if they wish to be and all they need to to is register an email address or other contact detail with the Network at sanetwork.me.com


Anyone who would like to attend the conference on Saturday October 27th may apply for a delegate place on the same email.  There are currently about 25 places available.  Further news, including the programme for the day, will appear on next week's blog.

Chandlers Wood

Entry to Chandlers Wood from Skyswood Road.

Following my walk along Highfield Lane the previous week, I chose a destination today which I had not visited for fifty years.  I wanted to start and finish in two small remnants of old woodland:  Skys Wood and Chandlers Wood.

Once again the morning was warm, with a clear azure sky; not too hot up the hill which is Kingshill Avenue and its well-proportioned Nash-built homes with their first floor shutters, many of which remain in place.  Queen's Crescent connects with Skyswood Road where is found the main entrance to Chandler's Wood.

Back at Skys Wood the pocket of trees is relatively open with sunlight streaming down to the woodland floor, and occasional walkers being taken by their dogs on a morning stroll or brisk run.  Close by is the children's playground, quite busy as I passed by.

Little sunlight reaches the woodland floor at Chandlers Wood.

While I had often visited Skys Wood – and in any survey I would expect a substantial majority of active people have – I doubt whether more than a small minority have entered the altogether darker, denser planting of Chandlers Wood.  It is hemmed in on all sides by the ends of gardens along Sherwood Avenue, the dog-legged Skyswood Road, Bentsley Close and The Ridgeway.  You are constantly aware of fencing panels around the perimeter, but it is just as easy to become absorbed in the scuttling of birds and squirrels, and the breaking of small twigs underfoot.  I discovered once more the steep-sided dell which may, at some distant time in the past, have been the source of chalk for liming or building.

Neither remnant suggests ancient wild wood, but of long-neglected managed woodland tapped for the timber it produced for building.  Not one human – with or without a dog – made a visit during the half-hour I was there, but occasionally there was evidence of activity: small piles of cut branches and quartered trunks.

Though I had become used to the cool interior, stepping out into the sunlight again reminded me that this was a morning with the temperatures in the mid twenties.

The Uno bus firm could have chosen its colours to match the Olympic palette.  If it had been asked to provide bus services in an around the Olympic Park, its smart fleet would have been quite at home, adorned in its pinks and purples.  It wasn't, but the company was, like a family dressed in its best clothes, able to promote the Games just by being itself.

Highfield Lane

On a beautifully calm and sunny morning in late August I walked along Highfield Lane, from the shops at Russet Drive to the noisy bypass.  When walking there is time to observe, time to spot details which otherwise pass un-noticed.  For example, in all the years I have used this lane never had I previously spotted that the name board has had an alteration applied to it.  I had rather taken it for granted that a name as long as Tyttenhanger Green might be abbreviated on a traffic sign to Tyttenhanger.  Someone had clearly taken offence, as the letters GN had been added as an afterthought.

Forgotten had been the wooden finger sign at the T junction.  But there it was, just peeping out from the foliage of the colourful planting next to the bench seat.

The tree trail has been created to follow the new footpath near Starlight Way, with a sizeable hedge separating it from the road on that side, so that it is possible to only see the first floors and roofs of Home Farm Cottages opposite.  I made a mental note to search for the origin of the name Cranwell used for the new homes nearby.

Peaceful walks may be had through Highfield Wood towards Nightingale Lane and, leaning against a field gate at one point it was only the occasional and far-away sound which disturbed the silence.  Further along, a horse was being moved from a paddock across the road to Highfield Farm and a chain saw began its work to cut through the branches of a group of tall fir trees at Highfield Hall.

The hedges were bulging with hips and displaying the last of the bright flowers, and just around the corner at the Hall was the straight green lane which leads to the junction of Nightingale Lane and the bypass at London Colney roundabout.

It might be thought that the return journey to Russet Drive would offer me a repeat of what I had already seen, but some vistas can only be appreciated, or even seen for the first time, when facing that direction.  So, diagonally across the fields to the east was the line of Tyttenhanger Green homes which line the road as far as Hixberry Lane.


Then there was the sign in part of what is now Highfield, formerly Hill End, which informs us by the Football Foundation  that the sports field was the home of St Albans City Youth Football Club.  This prompted me to recall how many acres of ground on many fields have been given over to sports clubs in the East End of St Albans.

There are times when it is instructive and rewarding to leave the car at home, or at least to park somewhere safely and proceed on foot.