... St Philip Howard Catholic Primary School is located in Woods Avenue, close to the Town Centre. It is closely linked to the parishes of St Peters and Mary Church. The school was built in 1959. ...
... Roger de Mercado 1. I believe that six unidentified people killed in the bombing of de Havilland in 1940 are buried in the churchyard. Is this so and is there a marker or gravestone? 2. Christine's photo is of the Lych gate. These gates were traditionally used for temporary resting of coffins on the way to the churchyard. A "Lynch" gate would be for something rather different!...
... Mike Skillman Surprised and pleased to see this page. William Skillman, mentioned, was my cousin Anthony Skillman's grandfather. Although he took over the business he was listed in all the censuses as a tailor. Best wishes and thanks....
This, the parish church, built at the top of the hill ( known as Fore Street) in the old town of Hatfield enjoys a great deal of history.A church has been known to have been on this site since at least 680AD. Accounts of the church can be found in part 7, Churches in the set of books – Hatfield and its People published in September 1961 – the books on Bishop’s Hatfield by the Reverend Jocelyn Antrobus and more is to be found in the Guide to the P...
... Reg B. Coleman. DH.lads names: Fencers Guss Cammeron, Pete Berryman, Eric Nichols, Dave Webb. Campers: Back row. Skip, - , -, Kieth Filby, -, -, Ron , Dave Webb ,Les,s brother, -, Les Hall, John "Fearless" Frazer, -, -, -, Reg "Dusty" Coleman, Middle row: -. -, "Frenchy" - ,Pete White. -, -,Les,s other brother. ...
Guiding Memories by Lin Williams I was a member of Brownies and Guides from 1957 to 1964 first with the 1st Little Heath Brownie Pack then the 1st Little Heath Guide Company. The Guide Leader was Mrs. Stockley and we met in Little Heath Church Hall. We did a lot of badgework. When I took my Cook badge I had to go to Southgate for the test (had to bring a bowl of custard home on the bus!) I went to the Scout Jamboree at Sutton Coldfield in 1957. T...
... Gillian brooks Hello - I am looking into the life of my grandmother and I believe she was a nanny or governess to Mabel A Gibbs at the Old Rectory Hatfield. Would anyone have any information about this - I think she was there during the first world wat. Many thanks Gillian Brooks ...
In 1912, the original Countess Anne Charity School, founded by Anne, 5th Countess of Salisbury in 1732 closed. The school had occupied a building at the top of Church Street, Old Hatfield, which had been built in 1869. After the school closed, there were plans to enlarge the building and transfer the Church of England Girls School from its site in London Road, but this fell through. Instead, it was the Church of England Infants School which moved...
... Oak View Primary and Nursery School is located in Woods Avenue, and is close to the Town Centre. New Briars School and Stream Woods JMI School were amalgamated to form Oak View School which subsequently opened in September 2007. ...
The following article was first published in the March 2015 edition of “Refocused”, the Parish Magazine of St Etheldreda’s Church with St Luke’s. Frank Lodge, retired Arable Farm Manager, Hatfield Park Farm and Mary Goss, ex-Farm Secretary, reminisce with “Refocused” editors. Frank was in the Royal Navy before he came to Hatfield Park in 1954 (7 years in colours, and 5 years as a reserve) to work as a tractor driver. He told us it was a far diffe...
... Robstan The cine film 'of Hatfield in the early 1950s' has considerable sections clearly filmed in Welwyn Garden City. Ian Waters I have just watched the cine film,It is in fact Welwyn Garden City and NOT Hatfield that is portrayed....
Here is the last sheet of the photo with it’s name listing. I am looking forward to hearing from those of you who have previously not known of the lists existence who can add or correct the listing. For those younger people whose parents are in these sheets, and into family history etc I would be happy to send you a copy of the appropriate sheet for your records. Thanks to Pauline Hannigan nee Gower and her old school friends this page has been u...
Here’s sheet 6 of the photo and the name listing. In reorganising the listing to cover each sheet instead of the listing by rows, I have found the list contains at least nine people with duplicate names. If you don’t agree with the name given to anyone please let me know so I can amend the listing. Luckily who ever set up this site they allow the subscriber easy access to do this. Contact me on michaelbrowne37@uwclub.net if you would like a bette...
... Dawn wells My mum 650 Phyllis Stoker R.I.P. Christine Hinderlider née Boreham My sister, Sheila Boreham, is no. 649. Please add! Andrew cawthorne 566 Alan Hobbs RIP in 2008...
Another sheet (Sheet 4) of the photograph with the listing of the names currently known. If you think you may recognise anyone in the photo that is not listed, is incorrectly named and/or you would like to study the photo more closely I am happy to send a full page Pdf copy via the internet, just e-mail michaelbrowne37@uwclub.net and I will send by return. Thanks to Pauline Hannigan nee Gower and her old school friendsthis page has been updated w...
... DAVID JOHNSON Poor old Mr Stein. He was our woodwork teacher. We "played" him up so much, I still remember putting sawdust in his coffee. Needless to say, I was sent to Mr Cox and got my just rewards, the cane on both hands!...
... DAVID JOHNSON Sad, 622 that's my sister Evelyn Johnson, now sadly not with us. David Johnson, ex. St Audrey's...
... Kevin O'Connor No. 105 is my dad, Patrick O'Connor....
... John Giblenn I am behind the lad who is between Mr Say & Tom Collins the organist. To my left I think is Alan Knobbs. Also Ted Bennett & Peter Munton & his brother. I also think that the tall Man at the top left was be a Mr Gaskell....
The St. Albans Road – A414 Back in the 1950s the St. Albans Road was the major East/West route through the centre of Hatfield. From 1948 until 1959 I cycled nearly the whole length of this every day to and from School (St Audrey’s) or work at the Council Offices at North Place on the Great North Road. . Today it’s but a remnant of its old self, chopped up into bits, and some replaced by other roads along a different alignment… From the town’s bou...
The Church of St Michael and All Angels was first built as a temporary wooden building on the “new” Birchwood housing estate in 1937. It was intended to build a permanent church hte following year but the War intervened and in 1945 it was only possible to build a temporary church at the “Hopfields” end of Birchwood Avenue. This was done entirely by voluntary labour, and was dedicated in November 1946, the first hut being re-erected behind it as a...
While looking through some old newspapers on microfilm at Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies I came across this article about the Comet Hangar which is one of the few remaining buildings that refer back to Hatfield’s aviation past. The building is now Grade 2* listed and is owned by the David Lloyd fitness and leisure clubs. Welwyn Times, Friday 16th January 1951 Biggest Aluminium Building in the World Will house fleet of Comets Now nearing c...
... Southfield School is a primary school with particular strengths in supporting children with special learning needs. In 2013, it relocated from Travellers Lane to Woods Avenue. ...
... I was given this image in the late 70’s when I worked at the Salisbury Restaurant . It shows the recruitment drive in Hatfield with Salisbury Hotel (as it was then ) in the background. ...
... The 1st. intake of pupils on September 15 1953 NB Have you checked recently the other HS Pages/Posts listed and hotlinked in the list at the top right of this page ? The titles don’t say everything, and new edits and new Posts are being added often. ...
A selection of de Havilland adverts from 1921 to 1951 The de Havilland aircraft company was established in 1920 at Stag Lane Aerodrome, Edgware on the outskirts of North London. The company moved to Hatfield in the early 1930s. From an early period, the company was advertising heavily. One of the oldest adverts from 1921 proudly displayed de Havilland’s vast range of aeroplanes. This page shows a few of these old adverts, which are displayed with...
Even though I am 64 now, I programmed my first computer at age 13 i.e. in 1964. It seems impossible to imagine, but because of a resourceful school teacher and unique circumstances, it is true. I attended Hatfield Technical Grammar School, commonly referred to as just Hatfield School in College Lane, from 1962 to 1969. The photos below show the school as it is today i.e. The Hutton Hub, part of the University of Hertfordshire. The structure of th...
... Neil Bennett Hello, Would like to know more about Alfred Burgess and his inventions, especially the automatic fire pump and his relationship with Merryweather's....
This pretty 17th century building was first recorded as an inn when it was aquired by John Searancke, a brewer of Hatfield in 1728. In 1756 The Eight Bells was listed with three beds and stabling for four horses. The licensee at the time was Andrew Harrow, of the same family as Will Harrow, a highwayman who was executed at Hertford in 1763. It is probably best known for its supposed use by Charles Dickens as the pub visited by Bill Sikes after th...
The inaugural meeting of the club took place on Saturday May 13th 1889 in the Village Schoolroom. The club enrolled thirty members, and was named Hatfield Hyde Cricket and Quoits Club. Subscriptions were fixed at 2/6d per annum for Cricket, 1/6d per annum for quoits, with a joint membership of 3/-. Lord Salisbury generously donated a portion of land in a field, opposite the houses known as ‘The Row’, for a nominal rent, and Mr Kendell offered to ...
... C Palmer My grandfather, Frank Groom (middle row, far right) was part of the the fire brigade crew. Carl Burgess My great grandfather JJ Burgess and my grandfather JJ Burgees jr are pictured here. Both became chief officer, of the Hatfield fire brigade....
Christchurch United Reform Church, St Albans Road East. Originally conceived in 1929 building was completed in 1932, as successor to the Park Street Chapel when Hatfield Newtown was expanding and was known at that time as the Congregational Church of Hatfield. The site was first purchased in 1931 and the foundation stone laid by Mr. Halley Stewart on 23 July 1931. The first service was held on Sunday May 1st 1932. A Manse for the Minister was bui...
This Photo is of the Hatfield Senior Scouts Float in the 1953 Coronation Procession. It was built by us scouts in one of the old stable buildings of Birchwood Farm which the scouts had then recently taken over to form a new headquarters. I was sent this a few years ago by Gerald Moore, the Elizabethan on the far left of the picture. The only other two I can name; are on the right of Gerald, who I believe to be Edward (Ted) Bracey and the one hold...
In 1876 Mr. A.E. Sharp took over a drapers business at no. 23 Fore Street from his Uncle, Mark Powell. Mr sharp was a well known figure in Hatfield and was for many years a churchwarden, “Always attending Divine Worship in top hat and frock coat with a rose in his lapel” Over the years he expanded the business which now stretched from Fore Street to Back Street (now called Church Street). “The St James Review” c.1907 A.E. Sharp’s shop was a “High...
... Nigel Reynolds I worked at the Great North Road Walby's until 1971 when I went to University. I understand that Joe Walby died shortly thereafter and the business transferred to David Brewster and operated under the Walby name for a number of years....
Extract of a letter published in the Bishops Hatfield Parish Magazine August 1916. From Corporal W. V. Nobbs, Lewis Gun Section 6th Beds. 23rd July 1916 “. . . . . . At last I am able to write you a letter, I expect you wonder what has become of me all this time. Well, I am glad to say I am still alright, although we have had rather a rough time lately. We have been in a hot corner and suffered very heavy too. . . . We were just where the fightin...
... The original Birchwood Methodist Church was built on the corner of Birchwood Avenue and Homestead Road during 1936 and opened in 1938. It was demolished in 2013 having been vacated in 2007 but brought back into use in 2009 as the recession stopped plans for a replacement. The new church was finally built and opened in 2014/15 ...
Currently the Headteacher at Onslow St Audrey’s school in Hatfield and am looking to get a timeline of all the headteachers that have been at the school. Anyone who went there able to let me know when you were there (or at Onslow or St Audrey’s Schools) and who was the Headteacher at the time? We recently found a load of photos going back to 1924 – so that’s my goal. The school bell from 1850 though is the ultimate date!! look forward to hearing ...
... The new Howe Dell Primary School officially opened in 2008. The school was built to serve the new housing development being built on the former Hatfield Airfield formerly owned by British Aerospace. The buildings were designed to be a beacon of sustainability and included a children’s centre and community hall. The name of the school came from the original Howe Dell Primary School in Old Rectory Drive, Hatfield. ...
... Geoffrey p newland I was student under Mr Duane in the forties, he, was unconventional to say the least. living in the US now, will be in England August this year, hope to reconnect with Howe Dell old boys'" Jo Newland Hi I’m your granddaughter who currently works at Howe Dell primary school and was looking for old photos of when your sister Rose- Marie Newland went to school there....
This former old parsonage, later a school and now a adult care home for adults with mental health conditions, has its origins probably in C15 although it is thought that there was a predecessor to the present building on the same site. The building has been altered over the centuries and has been a residence for many Rectors of Hatfield as well as some relatives of the Cecil family. There are wall paintings in the attic of a Tudor Dragon and a Ro...
Hatfield Secondary Technical School opened in 1953 and was originally sited in College Lane. It started with 120 boys and girls, a number that rose to about 900. It offered German rather than Latin and, according to the BBC’s “Domesday Reloaded” website, the girls at the school did needlework and cooking, while the boys did woodwork and metalwork. In 1971, the school moved to the southern end of Travellers Lane between Hatfield and Welham Green. ...
... Hatfield Civil Defence Volunteers 1945 Back row: Mr James, ?, ? , ? , Victor Grayson, ? . Second row: ?, ?, George (Sandy) Cross, Walter Jefferies. Front row : ? presumed De Havilland volunteers outside Council Offices – George (Sandy) Cross 4th from left second row (wearing beret) Can you add any names? ...
... Catherine Albin I was indeed in the top year you mention that remained the top class until I left aged 11. Teachers I remember include Mr Priestly, Mr Bob Hart and Mrs Hughes. ...
This school was founded in 1732 by Anne, 5th Countess of Salisbury for forty girls, twenty of whom she chose and paid for. The original school was near Lawn House next to the Estate Offices in Hatfield Park. It later moved to the Town Lodge at the top of Fore Street. In the 1870s, it moved to Church Street when it took over a building that had been erected in the 1860s as a temporary church whilst the Parish Church was being restored. By 1900, th...
I have a photo of my grandfather in army uniform during WWI. I had no idea he had enlisted and thought he was a volunteer in the fire brigade during the war. I have been unable to locate any records relating to any army service. On his left sleeve he appears to have a pair of crossed axes? which I guess may have something to do with his role in the fire service. Can anyone help? The image here is part of a larger photo which appears to show a who...