please empty your brain below
The long closed and derelict Odeon cinema in St. Albans is being restored at great expense and should reopen as a single screen 1930's style theatre/cinema next year as the Odyssey cinema recreating the cinemas old days. Will probably become another attraction for the town.

John | 04.02.13 - 7:53 a.m. | #

.....but which tube line is it on?

Brian Stapleton | 04.02.13 - 8:09 a.m. | #

St Albans is a place I've wanted to return to, probably for as long as you and for the same reasons!

CornishCockney | 04.02.13 - 9:20 a.m. | #

It is on Thameslink on the way to Luton Airport. The main station is a hefty walk from the main town of about a mile. There is also St Albans Abbey Station which is nearer the sites but you have to get a train from Watford Junction to get there. It is a pity it doesn't attract more tourists. I also visited the museum on a school trip and we were always fascinated by the skeletons. On the Thameslink line south between here and the next station Radlett there are plans to build a controversial huge freight terminal on green belt land.

kissenme | 04.02.13 - 9:26 a.m. | #

The Greenline 724 bus goes to St.Albans from Heathrow and Uxbridge.
I go twice a year to Harpenden which is near St.Albans and often go into Morrisons at St.Albans for lunch. the 724 bus stop nearby. I should be going again at the end of this month.

John | 04.02.13 - 9:38 a.m. | #

DG visits my home town.

I am honoured!

trebor | 04.02.13 - 11:26 a.m. | #

Ah - the boys race and the market: so you were here on Saturday?

There are some good bits of the Roman walls remaining in the park - not just by the lake, but also parts including the foundations of a gate under the care of English Heritage up in the wood behind. But I think they were constructed in the 3rd century, so not really a response to Boudicca. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/roman-wall-of-st-albans/

Did you spot the first self-service (as opposed to counter-service) Tesco, which opened on St Peter's Street in 1948? (Not the current Tesco, which is down the road where Woolworths used to be.)

Sam Ryder's business premises on Holywell Hill are now a hotel, and his exhibition hall next door is now a restaurant.

The boys' school near the Abbey was founded before 1066, and now occupies the gatehouse, which formerly held one of the first printing presses in England. It opens up occasionally - for example, Heritage Open Days - and well worth a visit.

Andrew | 04.02.13 - 11:52 a.m. | #

I went on one of those guided tours of the cathedral a few years ago. That photo you claim to be of a 'long row of Norman arches' is actually a 13th century rebuild in the later Gothic style, after a catastrophic roof collapse during a service (commemorated in one of the tapestries on display). In addition, the building had fallen into disrepair by the 19th century and was subjected to one of those over-romanticised Victorian 'restorations' which destroyed many of the original features of the west end.

The original Norman part of the building is closer to the tower. The Norman arches are less intricate and simply round-topped, without any of the fussy Gothic detail. A rather fun fact about the cathedral is that it was originally constructed, in large part, out of Roman bricks liberated from Verulamium - the place didn't just vanish into ruins of its own accord, you know! You can still see these bricks if you know where to look - they are much longer, flatter and more irregular than the shape we would think of as a 'brick' nowadays.

swirlythingy | Homepage | 04.02.13 - 12:21 p.m. | #

Really interesting post, thanks DG. Will be bring ing my family up tyo have a look round the town as a result of you writing this.

Marc | 04.02.13 - 1:01 p.m. | #

St Albans School was in fact founded in 948 ad
I know, my brother went there

gilly | 04.02.13 - 1:58 p.m. | #

I've always liked St Albans. I used to go to university just up the road in Hatfield, and would often pop over to St Albans on one of the pink Uno buses. I often went to Ye Olde Fighting Cocks for a pint (and, yes, it is England's oldest pub!), and I would also often wander in to the café inside the cathedral, as they do a cracking cup of tea there.

As for the cathedral, I had my university graduation ceremony there, so I guess it's actually played quite a pivotal part in my life.

Andrewh | Homepage | 04.02.13 - 1:59 p.m. | #

I work in Hatfield and I've never got quite enough time at lunchtime to pop down the road. After this post, I'll make time for a proper day trip! Thanks DG.

Aunty Doris | 04.02.13 - 5:10 p.m. | #

As a child, I used to enjoy the more-or-less annual family trip to St. Albans. We went there by train from Harrow & Wealdstone, changing at Watford for the diesel railcar to St. Albans Abbey. We usually followed the same route: along the valley to the Verulamium museum and the Roman Theatre (stopping on the way for a picnic by the lake), then through the old town to the Cathedral, then shopping in the High Street and maybe afternoon tea in a cafe before heading back down the hill to the station. For me one of the highlights of the trip (while it was still there) was watching the machinery in the gasworks next to the Abbey station while we waited for the train back to Watford.
Fast forward 40 or so years, and being a walk leader with the Ramblers gives me the chance to explore a bit off the beaten track. A couple of years ago I was checking out a route from St. Albans to Bushey; I headed out of the park past the leisure centre and out towards King Harry Lane - and discovered a massive section of the Roman Wall that I'd missed on all my previous visits (the section mentioned above by Andrew).

Steve Bird | 04.02.13 - 5:34 p.m. | #

It's just possible that I was in the cathedral when you sang but I wouldn't have seen you, since it pre-dated my birth by 30-something days.

Dave | 04.02.13 - 5:43 p.m. | #

Great post DG.
St Albans is a lovely place. I often go to the market on a Saturday morning with the wife. The town has a really nice atmosphere.
Well worth a visit if you have not been there before.

Bernie | 04.02.13 - 6:38 p.m. | #

I've recently introduced a friend to your blog DG and it so happens that a week or two later you go and blog about his hometown, so Thank You!

Stephen | 04.02.13 - 11:04 p.m. | #

Happily lived here for over 20 years and love it - thanks for highlighting it as it i such an easy trip out of London with so much to see (check the Farriers Arms on your next trip - the ancestral home of CAMRA (which is based here) - a photo trip on the St Albans - Watford line if you can manage that would be intersting as you do things so well !

David | 09.02.13 - 3:30 p.m. | #

I use St.Albans as a weekend getaway from London, every now and then. It has several good restaurants, and two superb ones: I won't do their advertising for them, so your readers will have to look for themselves - but they're worth that effort, and the train fare.

Nile | 11.10.15 - 9:56 p.m. | #

The people who run/restore the South Signal Box are really helpful and friendly. I was passing today (Wednesday) while they were there and they unexpectedly gave me a 1 to 1 tour and very interesting talk. It's a charming and eclectic little place.

OverTheHills | 15.05.19 - 5:04 p.m. | #











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