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Anstey

Anstey photos (1 available)

Old photo of Anstey

Anstey maps (2 available)

Old map of Anstey

Anstey books (9 available)

Anstey memories

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You can also read memories of nearby places in Hertfordshire below.

Hertfordshire memories

The Bell Hotel, Hare Street, Buntingford

Buntingford, High Street c1955

I have recently discovered that my Great Grandfather John Main originally from Devon (a shoe maker) and then in Brixton, London as a Dairy Manager owned the Bell Hotel in Hare Street around 1905.
My Grandmother lived there as a little girl and would often tell us stories as children about how it was haunted and about secret panels etc and of an old huntsman who would sit on the garden wall!
I have several old postcards of it and the Street.  He was still there in 1916 when my Grandmother married and I think on into the 1920s.
I just wondered if The Bell was still there?
A memory of Buntingford contributed by Judith Irwin

The Picketts of Standon

The majority of my father's family lived in and around Standon from 1600 onwards and one of them was the Sexton of St. Mary's and another was the innkeeper of The Three Horseshoes at Farnham in 1881. My Grandfather was born in the Three Horsehoes. Does anyone have any connections with the Pickett family?
A memory of Standon contributed by Angela Kenny

Coopers

Bishop's Stortford, Coopers, formerly Maslens 2004

I remember this building being Handscombes Ironmongers. And one end of it being a pram shop in the early 80's I think . I bought my parents their 25th wedding anniversary present in Handscombes... a dinner service in a Poppy design. Full service with tureens etc only cost £24.99! This was in 1978. They held their party at the Bell in Stanstead.
A memory of Bishop's Stortford contributed by Sue Spooner

A good time in Much Hadham

I spent about one year in Much Hadham as German prisoner of war, 1946 till July 1947, working for the Hertfordshire War Agricultural Executice Committee; I specially was engaged in our camp labour office as clerk, under Mr. Wooley and later Mr. Smolenski, two wonderful men. We enjoyed already a lot of liberty, and I really loved this little village, which I visited once again in the late sixties, when I still discovered some remainders of one of our old Nissen huts! These months in Hertfordshire had an immense positive influence on all my further life, especially when I then worked in out of school civic education. Thank you, Much Hadham!
Walter Scharnagl, Dechant-Heimbach-Str. 43, D-53177 Bonn, Germany.
A memory of Much Hadham contributed by Walter Scharnagl

Extracts From Anstey & Hertfordshire books

Anstey, Puttocks End c1955

These thatched cottages are on either side of the road to Brent Pelham at the eastern, outer reaches of Anstey. Puttock's End, one of the highest points in Hertfordshire, was the home of the Glasscock, Flack and Catley families, whose local pedigrees go back to the 1500s. The village boasted a good, pure supply of spring water, and the pump was used by all of the local communities.
An extract from from"North and East Hertfordshire Photographic Memories".

Hitchin, Hermitage Road c1965

In 1901, Hermitage Road was a pleasant, open avenue. The building on the left in view 46642, left, is the Hermitage, home of Frederick Seebohm; very little of it still remains. Windmill Hill is just visible in the background.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".

Hitchin, St Mary's Church and War Memorial 1931

A view of St Marys church in 1931, with the War Memorial in the foreground. In 1752, the Rewd William Cole wrote that the tower was `one of the most clumsy and heavy ones I ever saw`. Perhaps `solid` is a kinder description.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".

Hitchin, the Sun Hotel c1965

In the 1960s, the Sun Hotel’s yard did not include fire escapes from the upstairs rooms, as it does now. Otherwise, there is little but the parked cars to give a clue to the date of this photograph. The timber- framed buildings, on the left, are believed to date from the 16th century.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".

Hitchin, St Mary's Church from Market Place 1908

This 1908 view of the churchyard from the south shows the gates that once protected the dead from body snatchers. J Shipley Slipper, a dentist, held a surgery at Waldock’s on the left, but only on alternate market days - a long wait if you’d just missed him. George Savage’s draper’s shop is by the gates on the right, and next door to him is Allsop’s, trading as a cash tailor under the slogan: ‘The Novelty House for Neckwear’. The façade of his shopfront has been rendered, and scoured with lines to give the impression that it is built of stone. Unfortunately, the years have taken their toll and the render is slowly falling off. Halsey’s is on the right: an advertisement in the window draws attention to ‘Halsey’s Dog Food’ - packets of puppy biscuits surround it. Strictly speaking, the buildings from Savage’s to Halsey’s are in the Market Place, whilst those on the other side are in the Churchyard.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".