Everyday shopping in Hemel is the Marlowes, the retail parks and the neighbourhood parades that New Town planners actually got right.
Independents survive in the Old Town and in a few parades. Bovingdon Market on Saturday is the unofficial department store for the south-west of the town.
If you can only visit one independent stretch, make it the Old Town High Street before the Marlowes.
Independents first. Anchors listed when they keep the street alive.
The Marlowes is not fashionable and it is still where a lot of Hemel actually shops. Market days, the library, buses, and the walk down to the Water Gardens. Regeneration schemes will keep arriving; the test is whether independents can afford to stay.
Two away wins, a home defeat, seven points from four. Hemel Hempstead Town are a National League South story this paper will keep, not a Premier League widget.
The practice has been telling patients for months that the rutted ground behind Gatecroft is Dacorum’s, not an official park. Ward members pledged CIL to rebuild it. The council newsroom has not yet posted a start notice.