From Harry Potter world we drove around the M25 to Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire. This was my hometown, where I was born and lived for 30 years so lots of memories here. We had a couple of days in the area seeing family and friends as well as my old favourite haunts. It was certainly full of nostalgia.

Here are the highlights, and if you are ever visiting Welwyn Garden City or Hertfordshire, this might give you a few ideas of things to do in the area.

The Welwyn Viaduct is a superb piece of architecture and engineering. Constructed in 1850 to bridge the Mimram Valley, it’s a railway bridge on the line to London, and many a time have I sat on a train waiting to cross that bridge. Here’s a design flaw of a viaduct – it can’t be widened at the top so does create a bottleneck.

You used to be able to drive underneath it and there were always horses in the fields and we would stop and feed them carrots and polos, but they’ve blocked it off to cars now and I didn’t see any horses. It’s still a very striking feature of the Welwyn Garden City landscape though!

We also did a drive through of the area taking a trip down memory lane. My childhood home, the house that Rich and I first bought, my old school, the courts where we used to play tennis, the old football field where Welwyn Pegasus would get defeated 13-0 every week, the train station where I spent many years commuting miserably into London, Rich’s old workplace (shout out to Shire Park!). The list goes on and on. Like I say, a real nostalgia trip.

Another thing that draws people to Welwyn is the Howard Centre. It’s a small shopping mall in the town centre that used to attract large crowds on a Saturday afternoon. It’s unfortunately much quieter now and has suffered a lot with losses of major shops like Debenhams, M&S and Next. John Lewis still holds firm though, and there is now a massive new M&S up the road in Stevenage so that makes up for a bit.

We had a quick drink in the Cowper Arms right next to the train station which used to be a family favourite. And dinner in the Raja in Knebworth which I firmly believe is the best Indian restaurant anywhere. I’m pleased to say that not only is the food still absolutely superb (chicken tikka! Puffy naans! Chicken balti! Onion bhajis!) but they are also doing really well as a busines and have extended into a neighbouring shop. This used to be our Friday night curry every week when we lived in Knebworth village and it was only a 5 minute walk. Boy is it still excellent! If you’re ever in the area you must stop here for dinner.

There were a couple of disappointing things about our stay in Welwyn. I had really hoped to visit Hatfield House. This is a beautiful country house belonging to the Marquess of Salisbury and one of its claims to fame is that Queen Elizabeth I lived here as a child. In the grounds of Hatfield House’s Old Palace underneath an oak tree she was informed she was to be queen. It has an old Tudor palace, great hall and some beautiful rooms you can walk through with astonishing pieces of history dotted through them (such as some very iconic original paintings of Elizabeth I).

Hatfield House is also an important piece of my own personal history. The summer after I finished high school I was looking for a job and randomly called the number on the back of a Hatfield House leaflet to see if they had anything. A lovely lady answered and said if I wanted to come along and help with the guided tours I could take people up in the old Victorian lift if they couldnt manage the stairs. It would be a few times a week, 3 hours a day and they could pay £4 an hour. Well I jumped at the opportunity! I spent a lovely summer wandering the rooms, breathing in the history, listening to the guided tours, studying the famous paintings and taking nice people up in the lift. It remains to this day, over 20 years later, the best job I’ve ever had. I never did bump into the Marquess of Salisbury though.

I had really hoped to tour around the house, show off my insider knowledge to the family and perhaps do a walk through the beautiful parkland, but disappointingly it was closed both days that we were there. Gutted.

Another disappointing part of our stay in Welwyn was our hotel. We had booked the Premier Inn Welwyn Garden City thinking it would be basic but standard accommodation. It was actually very cramped, dated and musty and we couldn’t wait to leave. And it wasn’t even cheap or in a good location. Avoid this one and check out one of these hotels instead.

We have been spoilt by the American motels where even the most basic ones have a fridge. The English hotels, we would quickly learn, do not have such luxuries. Rich was most put out that he had nowehere to chill his Bath Ales Gem beer which he had been looking forward to for seven years.

Nonetheless, we had enjoyed our stay in Welwyn and from the distance of time I recollected that I had been very lucky to grow in up Welwyn Garden City, and what a lovely place to raise it family it was.

The next morning with joy in our hearts at the thought of leaving the Premier Inn we hopped on the motorway and off we went. It was now Rich’s turn for nostalgia, as were headed for the West Midlands and Rich’s home town.

If you’d like to read more about things to do in Welwyn Garden City click here for 15 things to do in the area.

Coming up…off to the West Midlands

Previously…read England Trip Report Part 4