Saturday, 7 February 2009

Hatfield new town is a pale shadow of its former self. Neighbourhoods that were once bright and lively and attractive now seem in terminal decline. The Galleria shopping centre stands astride the A1 and lures people away from the town centre. Those that do visit the town centre find their entry blocked by a massive superstore, behind which the town centre is unvisited and unloved, and the market hangs on in bleak desperation. Hatfield old town is also scarred: the Georgian grandeur of Salisbury Square has been magically transformed into an incongruous urban wasteland. Only Fore Street remains to engender any pride in Hatfield.

Hertfordshire has some great towns, new and old, but in Hatfield and post-War planners have got it badly wrong.

Jackie and I wandered through the town looking at old haunts, and then took a walk around snowy Hatfield Park.