Recently I searched for old photographs of Hemel Hempstead on the Internet and came across this site which bought back so many memories of growing up there in the 70’s. It is worth a look if you too remember how it used to be, some classic shots amongst them.
On a trip back last year I was amazed how much Hemel has changed but then I can think back quite a way and guess most towns change a LOT in 30 odd years. It was a new town in the green belt in the 1960’s (this photo was taken by Dad in 1961) and the aspirations were clear and quite quaint when you look back now. A couple of my friends have continued to live in the area and probably don’t notice the changes the way I do… although I did get favourable comments that there is now a decent department store in the form of a new Debenhams!
Here are some of the shops I remember which won’t interest you if you don’t know Hemel or don’t like shopping!! The shops I most remember in the Marlowes are Peacocks which was a decorating store selling wallpaper and general DIY goods. The purple peacock logo caught my eye above the window and there was many a trip there on Saturdays with my parents. That was near the magic roundabout end and on that corner was a large WHSmiths (Blockbusters video shop when I last saw it). Beyond was the green and wall where we’d wait for the bus. The Seafarer Restaurant nearby was great with it’s bright orange seats and canteen-like service. We’d go there for fish & chips during school holidays. I most remember the walls which had large bronze effect wall murals of what I took to be either Bodica and her chariots with horses galloping in front or something to do with “In The Hall Of The Mountain King”. They were stunning when I was at that impressionable age and I can still picture them so clearly – perhaps they were actually cheap plastic things, who knows.
Further up on the same side, Garlands was full of exciting ornaments and gadgets. That was the first place I saw those big clocks with ball bearings moving around to tell the time. Then was Taylor & McKenna (light blue & white logo), a toy and model shop. Dad used to go upstairs as there was a great choice of those small enamel paint pots with coloured lids he liked to use, they had a very recognisable smell. He also bought clay for modelling, diecast figures and model plane kits. Next to that shop was an open bit, slightly recessed, with a pond and fountain. I think there were some mosaic murals round the side of fishes. There was a ramp going round the back which we walked up to get to the Wimpy Burger Bar. Ahh, Wimpy, home of many holiday treats. I always wanted, but could never finish, the Knickerbocker Glory!! Then there were some more shops I can’t remember, a big open area, then Boots and Sainsburys. This open area had seats around and was a popular place to stop for a rest. Boots was where my Auntie worked for a while and I remember seeing her on the front tills in her uniform but not wanting to disturb her! She must have loved that kind of job as she enjoyed chatting with people so much. Before that she worked in the old Co-Op building near the multistorey car park. Boots is where I first remember being let loose around town with a friend. The first single I bought was in there, of all things “It’s My Party And I’ll Cry If I Want To” by Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin, perhaps I shouldn’t admit to that 😮 We’d also spend ages around the make-up counter.
Memories of Sainsburys revolve around their old sturdy brown paper bags with the orange logo on and several favourite things to buy – twiglets in the old Peak Frean packaging and toffee apples hiding amongst the boring fruit and crisps. I had a mishap in Sainsburys when very small. Mum sat me in the front of the trolley and went further down the isle to buy something. I decided to lean out to pick something off a shelf and tipped the whole trolley over!! It must have made quite a crash and shocked Mum no end… although upset, I walked away unscathed.
Then came the “high pavement” bit, not a lot up there but I did have my ears pierced in the hairdressers. Crossing over from Sainsburys there was a downstairs sweet shop, possibly Maynards, with a restaurant upstairs that we went into regularly for toasted teacakes and coffee (now a pizza restaurant?). Up a bit further was the open air market. I enjoyed wandering round there many Saturdays and bought several fashion statements of the time including a maroon leather jacket, those clear blue plastic macs (very fetching) and teabag shoes. I distinctly recall all the two tone clothes hanging up and hearing Fat Larry’s Band playing “Zoom” so I guess that was early 80’s. Woolworths is the only shop still further down I think. It used to be a much better shop and the photo booth was always a pull – the photos to prove it are somewhere in my scrapbooks ready to embarrass various friends. Was The Living Room nightclub next door? I never did go there as I left Hemel before I was at that age but it was popular with Longdean’s sixth form.
Craftsmith was the best ever arts and crafts shop on one side of Bank Court. It had an upstairs that went part way over the centre of the court and I’d often buy things in there. On the other side of the court was Raynes, an (even then) old fashioned women’s clothes shop. There was a display window on the corner in front of the doorway where I used to play hide and seek every time we passed when very young! The only other shop I really remember was the fishmongers near the end. It always had weird things in the window like big prawns and pink Taramoslata, loved the name so memorised that before I knew what it was. Inside they had fish tanks around the walls high up so I liked watching those enough to put up with the smell when we went in. At the end on that side stood the Wagon & Horses pub, perhaps the Co Op building was after that. Then who can forget the big multi storey car park in Moor End Road with the famous orange and yellow ball revolving on the top.
The water gardens were lovely, we mostly parked at that end where there were trees between each row of cars. We crossed a bridge over the river and I often took our stale bread to feed the ducks and swans there. There were a few shops in Waterhouse Street, one had a working model of a railway in the window which always fascinated me. I mustn’t forget to include the Dacorum Pavillion, home of many local Ideal Home Shows which I loved even at that age! I guess there was a goodie bag and a few stalls which appealed to me. It was always bustly with lots to see, people demonstrating new things you hadn’t seen before. We went at other times but can I remember what for now. The last event I saw there was Leo Sayer in concert, the building brought back so many memories with the different levels and open areas in between the entrances to the main hall and stage. I picture the decoration as being lots of burgundy velvet curtain and gold details.
We also went to the Odeon cinema frequently, alas no longer there, and had dinner in Seapride next door afterwards. This photo was taken from a website, alas not by me!
In summer holidays Mum and I would often walk along the footpath through the water gardens beside the River Gade to an area further up where there was a large pond. I’d take my fishing net and bucket and catch tiny fishes… which I put back of course (just found the pic below which brings back some happy memories). There was also a playground with fantastic castle walls to climb on, it even had ramparts which were tricky to walk along. There is a picture of this area on the website mentioned above but surely it was much much bigger than that!!
Further up was the large playground on the other side of Warners End Road and behind the Registry Office. 
A great place in the summer as there was an open swimming pool, climbing frame, swings, seesaw, and the infamous rocking horse I fell over the front off when very small. There was a tunnel through the hillside, a big round concrete hole leading through to the main part of Gadebridge park, very exciting to run through or over at that age. The park itself was lovely, home to the fun fair in the hols and a bowling club area. St Mary’s Church, still lovely, sits to one side with its walled gardens.
The Old Town I loved even before doing Local Studies in the 1st year of Longdean. At that time we took rubbings of the pastoral plates beside the doorways, learnt about the origins of the name Hemel Hempstead and who invented the Quern made out of Hertfordshire Pudding Stone. Some memories never fade! There was a great Wagons art shop up there but the best shop was the pet shop, or was it purely a tropical fish shop? I always stood in front of the fish tanks fascinated by the red and blue Japanese Fighting fish who couldn’t be in the same tank as each other and the scary Scorpion fish who’s tentacles could kill. I could watch them for hours so guess I love fish!!
When Steve visited recently he reminded me about how the water gardens used to extend further towards the Dacorum. Apparently they ruined the site over 20 years ago ready for development, that never happened and the grounds were left in a mess and all barricaded up. Now the whole area has been redeveloped and they have reintroduced something very similar – better late than never. There was a pond up that end as well and now I remember an underpass and the fact that you walked through it all on the way to the sports centre.
That’s about all for the town centre itself. When I had a rabbit we’d visit Piccotts End Mill, a little further out of town. You turned off the road, crossed the River Gade, into a large open space where usually a sheepdog or two would be waiting. The old mill was to the left and to the right was a large barn. We mainly went for straw, hay and dog biscuits but I used to look at the horsey stuff when I went through the “Mum I want a pony” stage!! The river had bullrushes and watercress growing at the edges, a very pretty place reminiscent of older times.
At the other end of town in Station Road was the Art Centre where I went during half term a couple of times. A lovely old building with rickety floors. Always children’s crafts in the window. I did some painting and can’t for the life of me remember what else or who I went with. Next to that is a pub, still there, called “Ye Old Projectionist” which has lots of cinema related things. Nearby is the Dacorum Sports Centre where I used to go swimming often. I haven’t seen it since the big refurbishment. At one time I went to classes and we went with the school as well. There was an outside pool which great fun in summer and always very busy. If anyone wants to set me straight on any mis-rememberings or has more to add, please put your comments below.
233 Responses
March 7th, 2007 at 3:37 am
Hi Sue
Enjoyed the trip down memory Lane. You certainly are good at remembering things! I lived in Hemel 1967-2006 and as you say it has changed quite a bit over the years. I suppose when you live there you don’t notice the changes so much. I’m pretty sure that the Old Projectionist has been turned in to flats now (surprise surprise!) Also, I believe that they are trying to turn the Kodak building in to flats too. I think that the town cente has improved over the years, especially when they pedestrianised it and built the new shopping centres. It’s a shame they didn’t move the market in to the town centre when they got rid of the roads as it is a bit out of the way and not very well supported now.
Someone told me that they are going to build another 20,000 homes in the Hemel area!
Loved your photos too!
Karen
March 16th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Hi Sue
What an incredible memory you’ve got! Not only can you remember the shops but you can remember their names. Your write up really took me back and made me realise that I actually miss some things about Hemel (sad I know!). My first very hazy recollection of The Marlowes was a delicatessen somewhere down near the Co-Op. No idea what it was called or what we used to go in for but I just loved the smells. Pesto tends to remind me so I guess it could have been Italian-run.
I remember us having a phase of going to town on a Friday evening. Dad used to get off work early so Mum, Jo and I would stand at the top of Dell Meadow looking out for him coming along Belswains Lane. We’d drive into town and park in the car park with the ball on-top. Thinking back it was a very strange car-park because it went up in a continuous spiral, you drove across a little ‘bridge at the top, then came back down the other spiral, so all the parking spaces were on a slope. After shopping we’d go to the Wimpy up the ramp. Ever since then we’ve given Dad grief for wanting cream and ice cream on his apple pie!
I used to spend hours in Taylor & McKennas. I was a bit like your Dad in that I used to go straight upstairs. I used to gaze at all the model railway stuff and the radio-controlled cars. Later on Adam and I used to cycle up to the Old High Street daily to look at the ‘Sand Scorchers’ and ‘Rough Riders’ (radio-controlled cars, Steve F will know what I mean) in the Model Shop there.
Another shop I have a hazy recollection of is ‘Mr Music’ on the corner of Bridge Street and Waterhouse Street. I think it was only there for a few years. Mum and Dad bought me my first guitar in there.
I remember going to the Saturday Morning Pictures at the Odeon with our friends from No.2 Dell Meadow. The only thing I can remember seeing each week was s series called ‘The Double Deckers’ about a bunch of kids living on a…yes you guessed it! We would get chips to take away from the chippy next door. It was the first time I’d ever seen, heard of or tasted a pickled gherkin so the taste of these tends to take me back!!
The first time I went back to Gadebridge Park after a long stint away I was devastated to see that the grassy hill with the concrete tunnel through it had gone. Gadebridge Park will never be the same again! I’ll have to look next time to see if the big chess-set and the putting greens are still there.
I think one of the shops between Wimpy and Boots was Times Furnishing (does that ring a bell?) I think there may also have been a shop that sold curtains (can’t think of the name but think it began with an ‘S’). You’ve got my grey-matter working overtime now! If I think of anything else I’ll let you know.
Jeff
x
March 16th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
Wow, thanks for your memories Jeff. I remember watching “The Double Deckers” on TV, loved that programme. Remember the circular car park had lots of rainbow colours on each bend where cars had scratched their paintwork!! Yes Times Furnishing rings a bell and I do recall Mr Music too. What a great shame the Gadebridge hill/tunnel has gone though.
May 11th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Hi Sue
I lived in Hemel from 1950-1968 so go back even further. I still visit family regularly and have witnessed the many changes in the town. I used to work in the old Shell Mex & BP building, where Debenhams now stands. Many a good lunchtime drinking session was held in the Wagon & Horses pub. Shell tenpin bowling leagues were held at the old bowling alley, near the old wimpy bar. One of my boyfriends worked at the old Gas Board showroom near the post office. Your memory of the shops is far better than mine, although I can recall Batas, the shoe shop and Milletts near the market where my friend’s father worked. I believe when I first came to Hemel there were 2 cinemas but cannot remember the names. My favourite watering hole at the weekend was the Olde Bell in the old town where we all used to meet up before hopefully heading off to someone’s house party. Oh happy days!
May 19th, 2007 at 10:34 am
Hi Sue, Amazing memory you have. I lived in Hemel from approx 1952-1970. I can remember all the shops you mentioned, but the coffee shop was called Findlays or Finleys just round the corner from Bridge Street, where Hiltons the shoe shop used to be on the corner. The Vanity Fayre posh dress shop too was along there somewhere too. I worked in the DSS building facing the Water Gardens or National Assistance Board as it was called in those days! The two cinemas were called the Princess and the Luxor, god I’m showing my age here!!!
Nice to remember how Hemel used to be though.
Jenny
July 3rd, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Some great memories there. I keep hearing about how Hemel is ‘improving’ or being ‘re-developed’, but I feel the 70’s and 80’s were some of the best days for the town centre. I will add a few more thoughts if I may.
Halfords in the town centre – going in as a boy and seeing the bikes and bike parts (bells, inner tubes and speedos) was great fun. Remember Texas Homecare? Rolls of wallpaper and paste troughs (bit boring in there). H B Milne on the ramp by Wimpy’s – trays of brass screws and odments – being into woodwork at the time meant that I spent alot of time spending my 50p pocket money in there. Next to Milne’s was the first ‘Gift Box’ shop with dodgy items that looked the part but usually fell apart. I got a saw set from there as a gift, but the saw bent double on it’s first use!
Then there was Timothy Whites, with a wonderful range of cooking pots. There was Parry’s on the corner of Bridge Street, and before Bonfire night I could choose some fireworks. I purchaced ‘The Rising Sun’ – and impressive large cone firework that got brighter and brighter as it burnt. Even some shops that are still with us are not as good as in the 80’s. Boots USED to have a music section, audio section, cameras and a cracking beer and wine -making section. Sainsbury’s is a recent loss, but I remember not being able to stand up on the tiled floor – always falling down I was! Whilst I was down, I made good use of my time by the sugar rack – some always spilt on the shelf and a licked finger dabbed up a goodly selection. Woods Of Saratt bookshop was another fave – on the ramp by Tandy’s (just loved it in there as well) – who remembers the ‘free battery club’? One free battery per month which was ticked off on a card. My Nan had 8 or 9 cards for some reason, but they still gave her the batterys (to keep her quiet). W H Smiths had a good record department and travel agent desk by the door as well. Our Price Video was one of the first places to stock VHS tapes and they were pricy too, but all new technology things are aren’t they? I remeber the Co-Op, and each floor held new surprises – the audio section run by a man of great stature was my fave place to stand and linger. I begged Mum for the Pye radio/cassette/record player combo but the answer was a firm ‘NO’. Not FAIR! Walking back home under the BP building past the bus stop, I remember the wind blowing under the road tunnel and then stepping out into the sunshine to walk along the Gade once more (the lost part of the water gardens).
Everything about the town centre used to be better in the 70’s and 80’s – there used to be life in the evenings for one thing – not the dead silence that permeates today. The cinema, the Living Room and even the traffic brought life to the town. I am glad I experienced it and remember the Water Gardens as they were and not the swamp they have now become.
Thank you for helping me jog some fading memories.
July 29th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
well sue that has bought back some happy memories
i lived in apsley from 65 to 82
and then again from 87 to 98 before moving to ireland i remember all the shops you spoke about the tropical fish shop in the old high st was called the house of fishes. do
you remember hitchcocks bycycle shop in lawn lane
apsley has changed so much in recent years with dickensons gone, all the super stores, new housing, nearly every other shop is a take away,pubs gone like the fountain,whip and coller,the bell is now a mcdonalds, the princes arms but its nice to remember hemel as it was during the 60s 70s and early 80s
cheers phil
August 3rd, 2007 at 9:37 am
Hi,
We moved into hemel just recently in sept 2004 and really love the town. I was amased to see 30 years old photos of the town. Thanks a lot. But i donot have much to offer on the memory lane as its still all current for us.
Yes, the town definitely looks very different now.
Keep posting more
August 14th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
My parents took my brother and I with them shopping in Hemel Hempstead, from our home town of Leighton Buzzard, on various Saturday afternoons during the ’60s and early half of the ’70s. We often parked in the circular car park with the orange and yellow ball- SO UNIQUE ! Although sometimes we were at the other end of The Marlowes, in the car park -by the hospital- above shops opposite the open market. I remember this market having a cafe in one corner (standing only ?) and in another, a stall selling kitsch paintings (of those big doe-eyed kids and street urchins by such artists as Genet, Michel T, D Golding et al, and Stephen Pearson’s Wings of Love).
We experienced our very first Sainsburys store nearby. One day we were amazed when the woman in front of us at the till spent more than £10 !! I remember on the east side of The Marlowes, the Tesco, wildly advertising the fact that it gave away Green Shield Stamps. This store was very near the footbridge over The Marlowes.
Down the southern end, towards the circular car park, on the western side, I recall a branch of Currys (electrical store) and shop nearby with a rotisserie, open to the street (maybe this later triggered me becoming vegetarian !). Then there was that toy/cycle shop, virtually at the end of the shops.
As a diversion to shopping sometimes, we went to the Water Gardens (designed by architect G A Jellicoe) for a while. But we nearly always got back to the car in time to listen to the football results ! Then usually home for a Vesta in-the-packet ‘Chinese’ meal (!), but sometimes to see relatives at Leverstock Green. (My paternal grandmother came from Apsley- her first memory, she told me, was the German Zeppelin airship going over during the first World War).
Other times still, we went to H.H. Old Town, to visit a cycling companion of my fathers’. This person and his family lived in a fascinating house, as I remember. Nearby, future MP Clare Short once lived, my father claimed to me.
Then from 1978 to 1982 or so, I went with mates to The Pavilion at the northern end of The Marlowes, to see punk gigs. Unfortunately, we had to run the risk of being attacked by ‘squares’ on the route from the railway station.
I now live in Birmingham, so don’t get to Hemel anymore, but I certainly have some positive memories of the place !
September 25th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Thank you for remembering Hemel how it used to be.I remember when there was a Tescos in the town centre.My favourite place was wimpy aswell and I used to like the chocolate milkshakes.In the 90s I used to work in Texas Homecare and we used to have the showrooms.How you used to pretend that it was your dream home.
September 30th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Hi Sue I really enjoyed your trip down memory lane, i grew up in Hemel from 1973 when I moved there as a 12 year old boy with my family, there is still one shop in the Marlows that exists today that if you walk into it, you feel like you have walked strait back in time, can you guess which one it is?
A: Peter Percy, Mens fashions
October 26th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Hi, I lived in Hemel from 1964 till 1971 so most of my teenage years were spent there. I left school in 1969 to work in the Telephone Exchange [GPO as it was then] at Lamley Road, the exchamge was very small when I joined but a brand new extension was built in 1970 bringing modernistion to all local subscribers. I remember spending Saturday “down town” spending pocket money that I earned from my Saturday job but if I had loads to spend [over £5] catching the 322 bus from the bus station just behind the market and going to Watford.
Loved the old town too, there was a dusty old shop on the corner that sold wicker baskets? I also remember an old style chemist that was the only shop in the town where you could buy Chanel perfume [I had expensive tastes even then]In the middle of the old town there was another old fashioned shop that was the school outfitters so yearly trips were made there for blazers, dresses etc.
Does anyone remember the fair that visited Gadebridge Park every August Bank Holiday?
Thanks for the memories.
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Hi
Please would you let me know if Woolworths use to food in the 1970’s, i dont remember, but my boss seems to think they did.
Thanks
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Does anyone know where the princes arm pub was in Hemel? I’m just trying to track it down as we are researching some family history and found someone who was the publican around 90 years ago. Would love to find out if the building is still around
November 29th, 2007 at 7:51 am
gareth the princes arms is still there its not a pub now but a indian restaurant
the pup closed a couple of years ago it was renamed the hooden in the box 7/8 years ago
and done mexican food it is on the old a41 1/4 of a mile from hemel train station
hope this helps
December 15th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Looking back at old pictures of Hemel and other local areas are great as it is good to see how things used to be before I remember and the ones that also jog ones memory, it’s just a shame that the town that everyone seems to have such good memories of is a bit of a dump now, the kids have nothing to do other than go to “Wally” World, there are of course adventure playgrounds which are fine if you want your child bullied by kids that are left to roam the streets by parents who would rather be high on drugs or drunk! Single teenage mothers are at an all time high and are amoungst the highest in the UK, not their fault but just goes to show the lack of education. Business is not as good as it once was due to the Buncefield depot blowing half of them up a couple of years back! Type in the words “Hemel Chav Town” and see what people really think of Hemel. Hemel is the potential to be a great town, it just needs someone to take it by the balls and drag it from the depths of hell. Anyway love the pics and enjoyed reading some of your memories, I also talk of times before the town was modernised such as when me and my friends used to race our skateboards down from the Wimpey bar that used to be above that little fountain in the town at the same time avoiding old people that chased us with their brollies!! Those were the days!!
December 30th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
i moved there in 1956 and left in 1966
i thought your memories were really sweet
i remember setting off homemade fireworks on the way to school
i remember in 1963 walking to school on the iced-up canal, past the rose’s lime juice depot
i remember that where the swimming pool is now was once the rubbish dump from which dustmen would chase us away when we’d try and steal stuff — childhood is not always logical
and, of course, i remember the wimpy bar, my introduction to a wider world out there
January 25th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Hi,
Does anyway know any history about Old Hempstead House, 10 Queensway?
I currently work there, and am trying to find out about the history of the building. I was told it used to be the Registry Office before it moved to The Bury.
Grateful for any info.
Thanks,
Jacky 25.1.08
February 6th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
We would all agree I’m sure that we prefer to remember Hemel through rose tinted glasses, my first job in Hemel was working at Rumbellows, this may sound incredible nowadays to us all, but back then the salesmen thought it quite acceptable to smoke while serving their customers, I remember how cutting edge we all thought a VCR was that would take up the entire space of a coffee table and cost almost as much a small family car, and I even remember spending my first months wages on some new threads across the road at Harry Fentons followed by a drink at the Plough next to the magic roundabout, circa 1978
February 6th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Thanks for checking back Rob and adding some more of your Hemel memories which are great! I also remember having a drink in The Plough. My recollections definitely have a distinct rosey tinge 🙂
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:20 am
Fantastic to see the town as it was. Am still living here now but sadly for some unknown reason the security guards told me Hemel Town center is now ” Private property ” and you can no longer taken photo’s of it which I think stinks !
Thanks once again for sharing photo’s of a bygone era and a much saner age 😉
I miss the old Odeon cinema !!
Happy times !
May 6th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Passed Hemel Hempstead at 100 mph on trains from Manchester during the 70’s – but you mentioning Times Furnishing made me remember their factory on Little Western Street, in Moss Side – used to climb into the back entrance on Saturday with mates after many a Saturday night, and sleeping on the massive settees, for we didn’t have the taxi money to return home in Longsight! Feliz dias indeed.
dh malaga espana xx
May 18th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
It was funny and interesting to read everybodys memories of hemel in the good years,my nan lived there so evey saturday we were dropped of a saturday morning pictures wiyh big sister to look after us ,5p it cost my favorite was flash gordon or famous 5,i wasnt into the dancing compatition on stage as my sister was.
then we were taken to tescos to shop when it was in the town centre where you took an escalator up to it with the clothing dept at the top DELAMERE was the brand name!
later years when abouy 13 used to take bus into town and visit Taylor and Mackennors to buy exploding cigs for grandad !!always good for a laugh ,stink bombs and as many jokes we could afford on our pocket money.Then later as an adult to visit the pubs and club mostley now gone,now my children are doing the well nearly.
only found site by mistake glad i did as i often tell my children what used to be where,its been fun!!!!!!!!!!!
bye for now…
May 19th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
hi sue, i moved away in 1965 but have been back a few times since, the last being june 2007 with my dad. we looked up an old friend and found him, still living in lyne way. we lived in sacombe road and i went to fields end school,now a housing estate.my dad worked at the coop dairy near the hospital. if anyone knows of oter people that went to fields end or worked at the dairy please email me at alanrowe1957@aol.com.have a look at some oldie pics on francis frith website, they brought back some good ol memories
September 27th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Nice to see so many names from past times on this Hemel memories site. I left in 1975 but the town has great and fond memories, although at the time it was anything but!
I was a big music fan and certainly I remember Tony’s record shop in the market in the ’70’s. He previously had a market stall on a Saturday and sold all the very best rock and progressive albums and imports from the States. Rumbellows was the only alternative for the record buying public at that time! Across the other side of Marlowes, I also remember the hairdressers up ‘on the ramp’, near to Rumbellows. This shop started cutting men’s hair, around 1969 on one evening a week- quite a revelation having mixed sex hairdressing in Hemel!
I had a Saturday job at Sainsbury’s, firstly on the Bank Court side of Marlowes and then at the new premises opposite Timothy Whites. I was actually sacked by John Sainsbury himself, during a formal visit to the newly opened shop, where he and his entourage found me ‘scooting’ round the aisles on a trolley just around closing time!!
I worked at Kodak House in the early ’70’s and watched the opening morning of the new roundabout being opened to the public, with those road markings! The number of bumps were numerous. The 17 storey building was very modern with express lifts, plush offices (for the time), a Rodin bronze statue outside and now, on visiting the town last year, I find it being dismantled. Things are certainly different.
And where is the Pavilion? I was really astonished to find it gone. That was the place (perhaps, the only place) for a teenager on a Saturday night in Hemel. Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band was one of the mainstay acts of my youth and this was followed by concerts during the late ’60’s and early ’70’s from Genesis (with Peter Gabriel, Yes, Eric Clapton, Quintessence, Junior’s Eyes, Stray, Bonzo Dog Doh Dah Band, Love Sculpture. What a venue! What a town!
October 28th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
The Rodin sculpture was sold by Kodak in the 90’s to an unknown buyer. Hemel residents of the time thought it was a gift to the town in exchange for the (ugly) building.
Can you help ?
November 29th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Kodak acquired a number of fine art pieces, which were displayed in the ugly building by the Magic Roundabout, although I recall these were mostly on the executive floor! I thought the Rodin statue of Honore de Balzac, the French novelist, was part of this collection, rather than a gift to Hemel Hempstead. I could, of course, be wrong and in any case, it would have been a better parting gift than the building!
December 6th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Interesting stuff, thank you.
If you click on the link above you can see how Hemel is doing today!
January 9th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
I found this page whilst googling for any mention of my old band. Sadly no mentions of ‘Pie Shop’ anywhere but a really enjoyable read above. Sorry if already mentioned but how about the old rusty lorry that we used to play on and the sort of fort behind the water gardens ? I remember upstairs of Burton’s tailoring being the first video rental place in town and Mr Bird’s delicatessen, where Jessop’s would be now. And how about Seafayre and Seapride for chips – can’t remember which was which. And bizarrely, how about Timothy White’s next to Woolworth’s? Incidentally, Woolies did sell food cos we used to get broken biscuits there…
January 18th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I have some copies of Pathe news films taken in HH during the Sixties which include all the landmarks you’ve mentioned.
They were downloaded from the Pathe website in free “preview” format.
If you drop me an email, I’ll send you the files if you like!
January 18th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Yes, I had already done that funnily enough, thanks Paul! For anyone interested go to https://www.britishpathe.com/index.html There’s some great 60’s footage which bought back many memories.
February 11th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Hi everyone
My wife Jacqui, myself and two children Kerri and Paul lived at 6 Dell Meadow from 1970 to 1980. We only have great memories of the whole area! Anyone remember us? if so please get in touch. We are all now in Canada (and miss the Hemel winters!!)
Kindest regards to all. Peter
February 21st, 2009 at 8:11 pm
oh my days . hemel born there in 62 left 78. went southfields infants, belswains then mountbattern then called prison on the hill wich is now the jarmans piark area. our saturdays comprised in the 60,s and 70,s were sat morn flicks, wimpey bar , woolworths then we,d run across the bridge acrooss the marlows no longer there now then straight to gadebridge park to play on the 6 seated rocking horse then chill with crisps and a bottle of r whites in the concrete tunnel under the mound. mid seventies old enough to party we,d go to the pavillion then called chicagos or the big balls held by john dickinsons. pocket money was earnt by collecting news papers from neighbours then taking them down steep ol durrants hill. too frogmore paper mill. the odd evening we,d go to the bowlling alley back of the new marlows centre. i beleave now is a main post sorting office. weekends we,d go for a live band down apsley to the village club. not forgetting the pubs . the boot.cockeral, spotted ball. they were the good days. i remember the boot being a jug and bottle. not forgetting the big ball ontop of the kodak carpark. mesmorissed us all for years . maybe thats why its called the magic roundabout. hope you enjoyed some of these memmories too. jen
March 20th, 2009 at 9:12 am
I lived in Hemel from 1966 to 1996. My family still live there in the same house in Oak Street, Bennetts End. I only have beautiful memories of Hemel as a child. I pretty much did all the things people mention above. I’m so nostalgic for Hemel I bought historic books on it. The books have thousands of photo’s of Hemel going all the way back to the 1880’s plus a film of Hemel throughout the years. But, I am a seventies child and I feel very lucky because the seventies was, and will always be the last decade of liberation for children. Think of the things we all did and compare them to children of today and the future.
My dad used to say, ” what are you doing in on a day like this? get out and don’t let me see you till dinner time.”
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I lived in Hemel from early 60’s to now! It was so much nicer in those days compared to now, Gally Hill didn’t go all the way to the bottom of the hill and the “very busy” Leighton Buzzard road wasn’t there.
I used to love going to Taylor & Mckenna’s when a kid. when in early to mid teens I used to go to Tyme Music in Lawn Lane a lot, I also used to visit Hammond Organs in the Old Town, go downstairs to the electric guitar section. I believe it got changed to Free and Easy Music, they either took it over or Hammonds closed down.
I used to go to the August bank holiday fair, there used to be a lot going on then, my mates and I would go to the beer tent.
I remember Victor Values, but don’t remember what they sold.
I also remember a shop, I think was called Presents? by the market, it was what would now be referred to a new age shop, they sold stuff like band name T shirts and insence, joss sticks, and knick knacks like that.
I remember a shop opposite the college at the south end of the row called Kings Road, a ladies fashion shop, my girlfriend at the time used to go there, they sold sort of hippy style clothes as I remember.
The only remaining shop in the Marlows that dates back to the 70’s is Peter Spivey.
I think its a shame that so may new “apartments” as they now call them have been built, Hemel to my mind has become like a mini London….its far too over crowded. It hasn’t actually got any bigger girth wise, they’ve just crammed more and more into the same amount of space.
July 16th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
When i came across all these peeps with their memories as a child growing up in Hemel, I just had to reminisce & giggle with my own Hemel days back in 1960 where we lived a short spell of 2 years before moving up North.We lived in the Water House street flats looking over the gardens & recall a few of the shops below were.if my memorie serves me well.. A cobblers,dress shop & a cafe of some discription on the far end.I helped out on the market doing a great job folding & packing away jumpers for the stall owner who so kindly showed his gratification with 2 half crowns for my hard days slog.Still, great fun we had roller skating down the Wimpy ramp & loved attending Brownies once a week.I will never forget the day i went to the picture house to see Haley Mills in the Parent Trap…..my mother had to fetch & drag me out spoiling my fun as i was on my third viewing of the film:)))..Yup great memories!!
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:36 pm
I remember the Wimpy and a bridge over a street to go to a big toy shop. I remember going to the Odeon. I remember there was a parade when the Batman movie came out. We left for the states in 1968. We used to live in Gadebridge. Later when I was stationed in UK with the USAF I went back to Hemel; it’s changed a lot, all the houses and cars every where.
August 8th, 2009 at 1:17 am
Me, my parents and brothers -Stuart and Owain- lived in Gadebridge between 1966 and 1976 (moved up the road to Buzzard, when my father got a job as a headmaster !!). We had friends in Woodview – Neil, Carl, David, Alan and Graham,I remember. Remember most of the above mentioned – especially Taylor and McKennas,the fountain/shrub parks and the strange spinning ball car park- but had forgot until now about the tunnel/hill in Gadebridge park and am eternally grateful for the revived memory – one brother running through the tunnel, the other running over the hill to see who won !! As small children, the friends of our street used to ‘intrude’ into the grounds of the Kodak building and pretend it was a Dalek HQ, crawling across the newly mown grass lawns until a caretaker would shoo us off. I can also remember as a small toddler sitting in Gadebridge park when the fair was there and watching a red helium filled balloon fly off into the deep sky and being filled with wonder as to how large the world and sky was whilst the bells rang out from a wedding in the nearby church in old Hemel. Does anyone remember the leisure centre / pool – I think it was called Churchills , but might be wrong. One day, my older brother, me and his friends all wrapped up our swimming trunks in towels and went off to the centre for a swim. Except when we got to the wooden gate at the border of the Gadebridge estate, I had to turn tearfully back (was 5) as reminded by my brother that I was not allowed by mother to go further. They all continued. Can you imagine a 5 year old being allowed to walk as far as that now and then turning back on their own to go home. A different world! When we left in 1976, my father bundled us into the car straight from Gadebridge Primary school and we left our old council estate to head for LB and my father’s new promotion. I remember my brother’s friends providing a eight / nine years old troop of honour as they cycled besides the car until the bottom of the Gadebridge hill and they tried to keep up on their little bikes along the LB road until they faded from sight. My brother in tears on the back seat as they dwindled from sight. We never went back really and until I read this site, it was a forgotten but very happy memory.
November 14th, 2009 at 5:56 am
I remember the Wimpy Bar,,lovely milkshakes! The old Odeon on a sat morning for the kids club.The seafarer restaurant for great Fish n chips.
The revolving yellow/orange ball on top of parkade.I worked for a time at McAlpines also the old,,BP building.Also remember when Woolworths sold cheese at the counter!!! and buying Ktel records in there!! as a child standing on the Big old weighscales was fun..
There was a cafe upstairs/above where a choc/icecream shop now stands..does anyone remember its name?>
December 13th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
hI – Just chanced on this wonderful site remembering our old days born and brought up here 1946 also remember so much about the town and have been involved quite heavily in local history. parents and i livd above what is now a curry house opposite the college – it was then Thomsons the Butchers and one day mum fell down the stairs with me in the pram! she also remembere the public baths which were opposite in the days just after the war – and the stella school of dancing used to be at the bottom end of bury road where the registry offic is now and the river gade used to run through her back garden! i have a couple of claims to local fame! i was the person who won a competition to think up the name for the then Seafarer restaurant which is now THE FULL HOUSE – my chosen name of it as it had once been both a cinema and a bingo hall but not at the same time! i also did a similar thing in a competition the same year and came up with the name for OFF THE WALL the antique shop in the old high street. at time of this entry they are both trading! if anyone remembers me as anita hollick at adeyfield school would be great to hear from you! anita x anitacrawley1@aol.com 010442 251477
January 4th, 2010 at 3:51 am
I just love visiting this page!! it even induced a tear or two,as it brings back so many memories.
January 4th, 2010 at 3:59 am
The deli that was near Co Op in the Marlowes was my favourite place to buy lunch when I worked at Martins(Newsagents) close by,they had the best bread and sandwiches,my fave was the cheese and coleslaw.The owner(manager was a nice cheery gent.I think he was Jewish.
February 6th, 2010 at 9:32 am
I enjoyed reading all your memories of Hemel . I lived in Grove Hill from 1969 -96 and remember going to Taylor & Mckenna as well as Richards toy shop in Adeyfield sq to buy ‘britains ‘ soldiers with my pocket money. I ended up getting my first job after leaving school working in Hemel card and kit centre in the Marlowes. Anyone wanting to see any more Hemel photos can look at my Hemel page on virtualtourist.com.
February 6th, 2010 at 7:47 pm
I was born in Hemel in 1954 and live there until 1986.
I remember a lot ofthe palces on this site.Some of my memories are the old high street where us ‘hippy’ types would spend the weekends. Firstly it was the Tavern ( I think) at the end of the High St near the wicker shop. That got closed by the pilice due to the underage drinking and drugs I expect. Then we went to the Crown and Septre where we managed to hang out for a while andthen to the White Hart where Mrs Varny and Gwenith reighned. They allowed all the underagedrinkers in and we would sit with our 50p spending money over half a lager and talk all night. In fact you were lucky to sit and some nights it was a crush to stand with so many around. the smoke was awful!
One night it was so crwoded that i was standing by the bar and my hair caught ligth on a candle placed on the bar. It was always the place to find out where the parties were and as word went round eveyone would turn up and every week it would be the same crowd. Then there was the Pavilion. I worked there on Saturdays either on ‘handbags’ or ‘coats’ it was fun and at over £1 per hour well worth having to catch the Pavilion Express home to Bennett End or risking it with a bouncer to get a lift home ( never had any trouble) I can remember one new years eve on ‘coat’s when evry one got impatient and a sea of drunks poured over the counter to get thier own coats, fighting ensued and we could not then find anybodies coat as they were all on the floor, I went home and left them to it. I can also recall dancing at Pop at the Pav we had groups and piped music. I saw Yes ,and whoevr sang Everlasting love and even Segoivia came there too. Dacorum college had good gigs there too. Going back further the co op had a cafeteria where people would meet overlooking the water gardens, and the CONa cafe by the cinema was a place to go. Tescos was only Victor Values and the 314 A doulbe decker back to Bennetts end would set yu back 6d. How about Vanity fair a twostory shop at Brdige st and when SNOB arrived a real teenage shop- fantastic. heppy days
February 7th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Brilliant!! I’d forgotten about the ramp with its mosaic and the pond. I got the bus from the train station to my Mum’s in Levvy Green a few months ago, and it went past Peter Spivey’s; amazed to see it still there. I remember Presents by the market too, and clothes shops called Profile, and Gemini. But does anyone remember The Golden Egg? It was a cafe on the same side as Smith’s. And what about The China Garden, the restaurant with the ‘real’ tree growing inside? And I used to get my hair cut in Bumblebounce at the end of Marlowes. Crikey, it’s all coming back to me now!
February 11th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
As a born and bred Hemelite 1955 for my sins i have deemed myself a fate of new pleasure! After leaving to search fame and fortune in 1979 and never really found it! I have decided to return to my roots I know there have been many changes and closing down of all the good haunt`s like The Harry,The Railway,Queens head disco nights good for pulling! Scamps plus all the other good old watering holes.Shame the Pav has gone I remember watching Mick Mcmanus and Big Daddy discussing their moves over a pre match pint and watching them wink to Dickie Davies to warn the camera man of wich move was coming (ha ha) and the old ladys thought it was real!!So As from 1st march i shall be around iff anybody remembers me write here and maybe we could go on that trip down memory lane! By the way mines a lager tops!! Dont want to mention names here but Cornerhall school 66-70 think our last class was 4b great bunch of guy`s bet there`s still a few around in Hemel? get your drinking heads on guy`s!! All the best Grubby .G
February 22nd, 2010 at 2:29 am
Great days 1959 growing up in Hemel & the trudge up hill to the gr8 school on the hill Southill I recall. Sisters went to corner hall…hell smile for me 😮 I’m 58 now…. & still have all my marvels!!!! lol.
Anybody remember Irene & Noreen Thorn (twins) Give us a shout if your out there or if anybody remembers them both!!
February 24th, 2010 at 2:24 am
Great post started by someone with such a good memory.
I courted a girl from Hemel (Boxmoor) in the 70’s and was a frequent visitor to the town centre of a Saturday afternoon and evening. Although living near St Albans at the time, my father had been working on the Maylands Industrial Estate for a number of years, so I have some very fond memories of the area before the large scale development took hold later on.
Like others, I recall the female fashion store called Snob and the dress stalls on the market, having been obliged to visit them with said girlfriend to provide fashion advise!! Peter Spivey (also in St Albans and Watford as I recall) and Millets were probably more my cup of tea, as were snacks enjoyed in the Wimpy and Golden Egg. I remember going to the night club in the Marlowes, but couldn’t recall the name – Scamps – until I read it in a post above. We would go to the Wagon and Horses for a drink after a date at the Odeon Cinema, and I also recall evenings in the Steamcoach in Boxmoor and discos at the Heathcote Hotel near Kodak, though I may have that name wrong.
Gadebridge park was a gem and I remember that my girlfriend and I, who both had family dogs, introduced them to each other in the park. Ahh!! My previous memory of the park was during a D of E hike back from Ivinghoe Beacon to school in St Albans a few years before. We stopped by the river and bathed our feet in the water to cool them down. We weren’t even supposed to be in Hemel as we’d already completed the required distance walking through Beds and Bucks to the Beacon, but we’d spent our bus fares in a pub in Pitstone and had no option but to hoof it home. Whist walking through Gadbridge, one of my classmates found a 50 pence coin and we bought a reviving Swiss roll in a shop near the Pavillion.
Oh happy times and didn’t the sun always shine?
And the girlfriend? Well I thought she might be a keeper, married her and we now have two fantastic daughters and an adorable grandaughter. Alan
February 24th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
[…] memories of Hemel in response to a post I wrote 3 years ago. I have looked at these films before but […]
February 25th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Hi,All!! Alan youvè just jogged some more memories Heathpark discòs weren`t they for the over thirty`s iff i remember right we used to call them snatch a grannie night??Many a fun grope behind the cricket pavilion across the road ha ha!! As i was around about the same time you was doing the round`s in Hemel you never know we might have met sometime as i frequented most places and me and a few other`s were bit of jack the lad`s like we all were them day`s.When i was a nipper i went to two waters junior school,anyone remember the fishing tackle shop that used to be next door in the back room was a snooker room.I remember with some others going in there and when the owner was at the back nicking a Wagon Wheel they were my favourite chocolate them days. On sundays my mother used to brylcream my hair and send me off to sunday school at the Salem botom of featherbed lane anyone remember??The priest on days of baptism opened a hatch and walked down some steps to the baptism pool used to scare the sh-t out of me watching him go down them steps!! the memories are all flooding back keep up the post`s Guy`s and Gal`s all the best!!
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