|
| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Hi,
As it says on the sign, this is a study of the placename sign as you enter the beautiful town of Harpenden from the direction of Luton.
As is customary in this part of the UK, great pride is taken in the appearance of these signs, which are often decorated with floral baskets, as is this one.
I was very lucky with the sky....some wonderful high cirrus cloud to contrast with the deep blue sky.
I thought this was a good angle to catch both the sign and the sky.
Harpenden is a town in the City and District of St Albans of Hertfordshire in the South East of England. It lies on the A1081, north of St Albans. Harpenden's exceptionally high-performing schools and fast train links to the city of London and airports make it a popular and affluent commuter town, with The Daily Telegraph listing the town as 8th on their 'Richest Towns List' in May 2008[1]. With an average house price of £500,000 and many properties selling for up to £3/4 million it is one of the most expensive places to live in the UK, outside of London.[citation needed]
The town's total population is just under 30,000.[2]
Harpenden grew out of Westminster Abbey's gradual clearing of woodland for farming and settlement within its Wheathampstead manor, granted by Edward the Confessor in 1060. A first reference to a parish church is in 1221 (where it is referred to as Harpendene) so it is inferred that the village grew up around then. The church of St Nicholas is the oldest church in the town, originally built as a Chapel of ease in 1217.
Just beyond the southern edge of the town lies Nomansland Common (sometimes simply called "No Man's Land") upon which part of the Second Battle of St Albans were fought during the War of the Roses. Nomanland Common also saw the first annually contested steeplechase in England, in 1830 when it was organised by Thomas Coleman, and the last fight of nineteenth century bare-knuckle fighter, Simon Byrne. It was also the haunt of the highwaywoman known as "Wicked Lady".
Between 1848 and 1914 the common was a regular venue for horse racing. In his History of Hertfordshire in 1879, John Edwin Cussans commented "Notwithstanding that these meetings are under the most unexceptional patronage as regards the Stewards, yet for two days in the year all the London pickpockets, sharpers and blackguards who happen to be out of gaol are permitted to make Harpenden their own and to make travelling in a first-class carriage on the Midland Railway a danger to men and an impossibility to ladies."
A little-known industry of Harpenden was straw-weaving, a trade mainly carried out by women in the nineteenth century. A good straw weaver could make as much as a field labourer. The straw plaits were taken to the specialist markets in St Albans or Luton and bought by dealers to be converted into straw items such as boaters and other hats or bonnets.
The arrival of the railway from 1860 and the sale of farms for residential development after 1880 radically changed Harpenden's surroundings. It grew from a basically agricultural village into a town. The actress Ellen Terry lived in Harpenden from 1868 to 1874, with her architect lover Godwin, in a house he built called Pigeonwick. He commuted into London by train.
Harpenden's most prestigious contribution to history is Rothamsted Manor and Rothamsted Research (formerly Rothamsted Experimental Station and later the Institute of Arable Crops Research), a leading centre for agricultural research. In front of its main building, which faces the common, is a stone, erected in 1893, commemorating 50 years of experiments by Sir John Bennet Lawes and Joseph Henry Gilbert.
Lawes inherited the family estate in 1834. Acknowledged as "the father of agricultural science", his early field experiments on Hertfordshire farms led him to patent a phosphate fertiliser, the sales of which enriched him immensely. With the proceeds, he established the experimental station, building laboratories in the 1850s. The station continued the development of the artificial fertilisers on which most modern farmers now depend. Some of the long-term 'classical field experiments' begun by Lawes and Gilbert remain in place to this day, representing a unique resource for agricultural and environmental research. Info from Wikipedia.
Hope you like the image,
Have a great weekend,
John |
GreenBaron has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekLens members may rate photo notes. |
|
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 98 W: 19 N: 466]](http://i1.treklens.com/misc/g-s-g.gif){kind=small}
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3139 W: 795 N: 9675]](http://i1.treklens.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(38599)![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 205 W: 5 N: 14]](http://i1.treklens.com/misc/g-n-s.gif)
(1399)