please empty your brain below
in your picture of upper high street with St Marys look at the houses to the right lower than the road behind the railings. one of those was the location of " "pie in the Sky" the restaurant run by Detective Inspector Henry Crabbe (played by Richard Griffiths), in the BBC TV series "pie in the Sky" that ran from 1994 to 1997

peewit | 03.03.26 - 7:12 a.m. | #

This is where I register my predictable complaint that the mosaic, lovely though it is, includes Dunstable and Whipsnade but skips Luton entirely. Rude.

Scott | Homepage | 03.03.26 - 7:58 a.m. | #

The Old Town high street also being the filming location of Ricky Gervais's 'After Life' amongst others. I think the area around the old high street and Gadebridge park are very nice, quite a contrast with the run down shopping centre.

Rich C | 03.03.26 - 8:55 a.m. | #

My first job was on the now defunct Evening Post whose office was on the industrial estate in Hemel. But the Old Bell in the old town was our watering hole and I later lived in George Street. The contrast between old and new Hemel was always considerable.

MOTb | 03.03.26 - 9:02 a.m. | #

My uncle worked for Kodak for years. He always moaned about the building in Hemel he was based in.
Now I can see why.

Chris | 03.03.26 - 9:13 a.m. | #

It’s always interesting to see Kodak described as “camera people” or “a camera company”. Of course they made cameras, and had quite a large factory in Stevenage making them for the UK and Europe, into the 1970s. However, they were always simple mass market cameras whose purpose was to sell the consumables on which Kodak made all it’s profit. Film and paper for the consumer market were always the high-volume cash cow for the company until the digital age. Again, until the digital age, huge volumes of silver halide based photographic products were produced for the medical and industrial X-ray market; and also the whole of the printing industry was enabled by the use of specialised photographic products that most people outside the industry were not aware of. All of these products were manufactured at the large Kodak factory in Harrow that you have referred to over the years.

On a detailed point, the Kodak head office building in Hemel was built in 1970-71 not 1957.

dg writes: updated thanks

MikeK | 03.03.26 - 10:24 a.m. | #

The post war centre of Hemel hasn't aged well, but the old town is nice and the surroundings surprisingly scenic, with Boxmoor to the south along the river, the attractive Apsley Marina, and the Chilterns not far from town.

Mikey C | 03.03.26 - 10:24 a.m. | #

RIP DEBENHAMS :(

Ewan James | 03.03.26 - 12:02 p.m. | #

I grew up in Hemel and I still have family there. As others have said (inc. my family), the town centre has been dire for years, and that's not said with the rose-tinted specs of youth. I've come to appreciate the Old Town more and more, as well as the bits of old art that still survive, which you've mostly captured. (Not that rubbish rainbow).

I note that you called the roundabout by its unofficial name, "Magic". I'm sure scarcely anyone remembers that it's actually the Plough, let alone the pub that used to sit beside it. IIRC it had become a Berni Inn by the time we moved there (or if not, then a similar chain), and it was knocked down in the late 80s. I also recall the Hemel Gazette carrying an article on a local petition (80s or early 90s) to officially rename it 'The Magic Roundabout', but the council were boringly sensible.

Bob | 03.03.26 - 8:35 p.m. | #

As a current resident can I just add:
- The Kodak Tower and the add-on building are in fact flats rather than offices.
- My late Father-in-Law, and no doubt manner others, would drive some 10 miles to avoid using it!
- We now have a second Funny Roundabout.
- The bridge you took the photo of the Magic / Funny Roundabout was built as part of the redevelopment.
- On a personal note, my three brothers were evacuated from Putney in South West London in 1939 to near Hemel Hempstead and it took our parents all day on a Sunday on a Green Line Bus to go to see them and get home. They were all surprised when I moved here to live.

strawbrick | 03.03.26 - 9:55 p.m. | #

That roundabout is a nightmare to drive around, especially if (as the first time I went around it) you had no idea it existed! My first traversal was quickly followed by my second and third as I tried to find the right exit.

My mum grew up in Hemel. I’d visited to look at the war memorial - my grandfather, his brother and their father are all listed on it.

Steve | 04.03.26 - 6:44 a.m. | #











TridentScan v2.10.0 | Privacy Policy