A new phase for the Five Bells #berkhamsted as Town House antiques. The old inn was notorious for bare-fisted fights in back yard. In 1860s the landlord lost his licence due to navvies making a disturbance. In 1871, Isaac Bunker was a corn dealer there. facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/151…

BLH&MS talk: A History of #berkhamsted on 14 Oct 2026 at 8:00pm in the Civic Centre, Berkhamsted. Visitors are always welcome @ £5 at the door. A History of Berkhamsted using unused photographs for the 1990 Berkhamsted book 'A Hertfordshire Valley' by Scott Hastie and David Spain

The Michaelmas Onion Fair was held in front of the Crown Inn #berkhamsted in 1890. Goods for sale: potatoes, onions, plants, carrots, &c., brought by Mr. C. Geeves of Leighton Buzzard. The Crown when it was briefly The Galleria Bar and Brasserie... facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/149…

It's strange to think that the pleasant village of Aldbury near #berkhamsted was once the scene of the murder of two gamekeepers, a crime for which two poachers paid the death penalty, and a third was sentenced to imprisonment. facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/148…

George III inspecting IOC troops asked their origin, exclaimed “What? ALL LAWYERS? Call them the Devil's Own!!” In an illustrated tongue-in-cheek publication, Was a bomb dropped by a Zeppelin in Sep 1916 in #berkhamsted? Was Queen’s Hipes the King’s Arms?facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/148…

Birtchnell in #berkhamsted 1973: "In my strolls along the canal towpath I usually look at names of boats. One which caught my eye near Cow Roast lock was Serendipity. At Dudswell, a boat named Ann Archy. No doubt it is given a wide berth." Dudswell lock... facebook.com/blhms/posts/147…

BLH&MS talk: The History of Bletchley Park by Mike Barbakoff on 9 Sep 2026 at 8:00pm in the Civic Centre, #berkhamsted. Visitors are always welcome @ £5 at the door. From creation in 1919 through to evolution into Bletchley Park, the codebreaking and intelligence factory in WWII.

Dating photographs... boys sporting fashions from Edwardian era (1901-1914)? Cars replaced horses 1910- 1930s. Street features help, e.g. Town Hall clock in the distance installed for Thomas Read, 1897. Berkhampstead became #berkhamsted 1 Apr 1937. facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/147…

Now HSBC in #berkhamsted, Barbara's flower shop was owned by the O'Toole family, next door to Vera Rowland's gift shop. Of the Victorian police station on the right, built about 1890, Beorcham wrote in 1967: "not one of the town's architectural gems". facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/146…

Beorcham in 1946 wrote about marked variations in climate across Herts; #berkhamsted receives 3-4" more rain p.a. than East Herts - most of the surplus apparently falling when one arranges an outdoor event! Flooded causeway with Castle Cottage. facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/145…

Morning Post 1825: "Wheat was in sheaf [early]... it has been extensively reaped under Chiltern hills and about #berkhamsted... Heat and want of rain is much felt... Potatoes, in some grounds, are almost baked by solar heat." Children holding bales of hay. facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/145…

Inside Story... "Two people were discussing the new police station. Said one: 'It's still a job to see what it will look like.' Said the other: 'I expect it will be ever so nice inside.'" #berkhamsted Police Station opened 29 Sep 1974. facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/144…

This year marks the bicentenary of Woods on #berkhamsted High Street. James Wood was born c.1806 and is said to have come from Marlins Farm. His labourer father was also called James. In 1826 James junior set up his wirework business on the High Street. facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/144…

Beorcham's first article in Parochial Review... Isn't it just like #berkhamsted to hide its most picturesque building behind a row of shops? It is now tucked away in an inconspicuous corner due to our forebear's selfishness and carelessness. facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/143…

The sunny side of #berkhamsted High Street with awnings... A man on a white horse passes a shop now called "Alchemy", thereby achieving immortality at least in photographic form. facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/143…

Early plans show that the bend in George Street #berkhamsted 100 yards from Gravel Path was to be named "The Circus". Fortunately, it wasn't. Further down, a little by-pass was built round three cottages and their gardens. facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/142… Map 1878 maps.nls.uk/

Pressed for time... Clunbury Press #berkhamsted was situated top/middle floors of buildings between Manor Street and Ravens Lane. Bundy clock recorded time for employees entering or leaving building... three mins grace for being late. facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/142…

On #PostboxSaturday... the Old Post Office in Gravel Path has an Edward VII box. Now only 7 in #berkhamsted older than GR VI wall box out of 29 operational letter boxes; a reminder we need to monitor and protect the status of our distinct postal heritage. facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/141…

Chapel Street #berkhamsted was interesting: barber’s shop at Ravens Lane corner facing Coop Society shop. Opposite school was baker’s shop, Mrs. Channer’s general shop at bottom of Manor Street, town’s first telephone exchange in someone’s front room. facebook.com/BLHMS/posts/141…