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2008 Christmas Gift Guide - great gifts for your family and friends

Graveley

Graveley maps (2 available)

Old map of Graveley

Graveley books (9 available)

Graveley memories

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

Hertfordshire memories

Heaven

Stevenage, the Avenue 1899

This is simply my most favourite place in the whole world! No words can describe the peace and tranquility I feel when I walk along The Avenue with my family and dogs. The autumn months are my favourite! The range of colours in the trees, the conkers falling to the ground, and the sound of the branches swaying in the wind. Here I am at peace with the world. I wish it were longer, I could walk for ever!
A memory of Stevenage contributed by sharon dudley

Halsey's Delicatessen

Hitchin, St Mary's Church from Market Place 1908

Our grandparents used to visit Halsey's weekly from Old Stevenage to buy their provisions. Now I with my sister visit regularly especially as we love the new owners' Kirsty and Damien's Tea Room. We take our children for 'tea' there and they think it's a real treat! Christmas simply wouldn't be Christmas without our Christmas Pudding Coffee, and Wild Boar and Black Seal Rum Pate!
A memory of Hitchin contributed by sharon dudley

Hitchin

Hitchin, Cars c1965

The scene is the rear of The Sun Hotel.

Queen Street

Hitchin, Queen Street c1965

The road is called Queen Street and shows St Mary's Square on the left where the market was held on Tuesday and Saturday every week. Beyond that is Portmill Lane and the back of shops and offices at the top of Hermitage Road. On the immediate right is the Telephone Exchange.

Extracts From Graveley & Hertfordshire books

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".

Hitchin, Churchyard c1955

The view looking north in the Churchyard in the mid 1950s was much the same then as it is today. In 1963, a well was found in the premises fac- ing us, then Wendy’s Hat Shop. Believed to be early medieval, it was lined with a soft chalky stone, and contained 15 feet of clear water. A bakery now occupies the premises.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".