Hemel Hempstead, Heath Park c.1955

Photo ref: H255010

More about this scene

The canal meets the River Gade at Heath Park, to the south of Marlowes. Two portions of the moor were leased to Hemel Hempstead Borough Council who provided a recreational area and a bandstand in the 1920s. There was also a children's playground near to where the Kodak building now stands. These all disappeared when the New Town was being developed in the 1950s. The sale of the land to the canal company enabled the trust to build Boxmoor Wharf and a workhouse. The wharf then became the main coal wharf serving the town. In the late 1890s, Henry Balderson, who was Mayor of the Borough of Hemel Hempstead in 1900, used the wharf to import wines and spirits. The wharf was later leased to Rose's who shipped raw lime juice from London direct to the wharf by means of the canal. Since 1986 Boxmoor Wharf has been leased to B & Q Stores. (The village and surrounding districts are known as Boxmoor, but the moor itself is referred to as Box Moor).