The River Gade running through the Jellicoe Water Gardens

Town desk

Hemel Hempstead

New Town energy, Old Town charm

Not a Hemel suburb

Dacorum’s largest town and civic centre: a 1947 New Town wrapped around a medieval Old Town, the Jellicoe Water Gardens and the infamous Magic Roundabout.

Best in Hemel New to Hemel What’s on Deals

From the desk

The entrance to Hemel Hempstead Town’s ground at Vauxhall Road

Sport

Tudors sit sixth: Weston-super-Mare at Vauxhall Road on Saturday

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.

28 August 2026

Bennetts Gate neighbourhood shops in Bennetts End, Hemel Hempstead

Health

Bennetts End Surgery’s unofficial car park is still the council’s land

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.

28 August 2026

The Forum, Dacorum Borough Council’s offices on the Marlowes

Politics

Dacorum to join a new West Hertfordshire council in 2028

Whitehall has confirmed four unitary authorities for Hertfordshire. From April 2028, Dacorum and St Albans will share a single council: with shadow elections in May 2027.

16 July 2026

Stalls on the old runway at Bovingdon Market, on the former RAF airfield

Business

Bovingdon Market closed in 2022. The airfield is a film studio now

This paper had been listing Saturday at Chesham Road as a live diary date. The last market on the former RAF airfield was Bank Holiday Monday 29 August 2022.

2 August 2026