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

From the desk

The Magic Roundabout in Hemel Hempstead, a short hop from 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

Eastern Hemel Hempstead, the side of town that uses Bennetts End Surgery

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

Hemel Hempstead civic landscape around the Water Gardens

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

Ashridge House: the countryside setting that underpins western Dacorum’s property market

Local News

Dacorum property: commuter premiums, village scarcity and a wall of planned homes

Berkhamsted and Tring still command Chiltern prices. Hemel remains the volume market. The next shock is Hemel Garden Communities.

22 August 2026

A historic parish church: Hemel’s Old Town has St Mary’s, Berkhamsted has St Peter’s

Local News

Hemel Old Town is the borough’s best argument against the New Town stereotype

A Norman church, a sloping High Street and a Sunday market: the original Hemel never left. It just got a dual carriageway for a neighbour.

20 August 2026

St Peter’s Berkhamsted, in a town with both state and independent schools

Education

Dacorum schools: the map parents actually need

Secondary places in Hemel, Berkhamsted and Tring run on Hertfordshire rules, not borough branding. Here is the landscape before you open the application form.

18 August 2026