We discovered Pioneer Skate Park a couple years ago when our nephew, then 13, came to visit us for part of the summer. He'd just started skating so was very much a beginner when we took him the binary.com demo account first time. After signing the mandatory waiver forms, he was introduced to one of the skate guards who promptly introduced him to a few of the more expert skaters there that day. Before long, our nephew was getting what basically amounted to a free beginner's lesson. For the next few weeks, we dropped him off at the Pioneer, knowing that he'd have a good time and that the skate guards would ensure he came back in one piece.
By and large, the kids, teenagers and parents we met at the Pioneer were friendly, welcoming and - as far as we could tell - the skatepark was entirely free from drug or alcohol problems.
Here's what some local skaters thought of the Pioneer.
Pioneer Skate Park is located about 10 minutes walk from the north end of St. Peter Street, on Heathlands Drive, St Albans, Hertfordshire Tel: 01727 850741.
If you want to find out more about the local skating scene, Conspiracy Skate and Snowboard Store on London Road (near Domino's Pizza) would be a good starting point. You'll find them at 17 London Road, St Albans. Tel: 0870 752 8880 Email: mail@conspiracyclothing.co.uk
This Sunday, 10 June 2007, sees the return of the popular St. Albans Farmers Market where you'll find local produce, baked goods, cheeses, seasonal binary .com demo fruit and vegetables, meat and game, etc.
St Albans Farmers' Market is held on the 2nd Sunday each month, from 8.00am to 2.00pm.
The International Organ Festival at St Albans has run for over 44 years and has established a unique place in the history of music for the traditional pipe-organ both in this country and throughout the world.
Highlights of the 2007 Festival, taking place between 12 - 21 July, will include a concert by John Dankworth and Cleo Laine; a gospel choir Black Voices; the renowned Hilliard Ensemble singing music from their recent programme: Arkhangelos; the renowned singer and broadcaster on Radio3 of the Early Music Show, Catherine Bott, singing music from the Spanish renaissance in a late evening concert; a celebrity piano recital by John Lill; and a performance of Elgar's The Kingdom.
For aficionados of the English Cathedral choral tradition the Three Choirs Concert will feature the choirs of St Albans Cathedral, St John's College, Cambridge (director, David Hill), and forex trading St Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York City (director, John Scott).
The St. Albans Organ Festival will also include a series of high profile concerts featuring wonderful musicians performing jazz, gospel music, early music and other contemporary styles, featuring the voice and instruments other than the organ.
Online booking for events is available.
St. Albans will play host to a Continental Market from the 17th to 19th May 2007. Known locally as "the French market", visitors can expect to find baklava, French style sweets including Turkish delight, bread, olives, bunches of French garlic and more.
We've got more information on the various markets in St. Albans and their dates of operation here.
The Farmers Market returns to St. Albans this Sunday, May 13th 2007. The market gives you the chance to purchase locally sourced food and product direct from the farmers and small scale manufacturers. We highly recommend the stall selling relish and salsas as well as the one with fresh, handmade falafels (see photo). Yummmmm...
We've got more information on the various markets in St. Albans and their dates of operation here.
Local elections were held in St. Albans on Thursday 03 May 2007 - results here...
StAlbansBlog is written by a couple in their early 30's who have a toddler and live in central St. Albans. We arrived in the city about 4 years ago so we're still new enough to notice stuff that people born and raised in the city probably miss yet we've been here long enough to know some of St. Alban's secrets too, like the ghost that turns the gas off at the Verulam Arms and the hidden Wildlife Preserve located just moments from the the city centre.
Whenever our family goes out in or around St. Albans, we try to document the places we visit, restaurants we eat in and things we see. We've never been paid to write a review, nor have we been offered any freebies or special treatment of any kind. When it comes to pubs, restaurants, food and shopping we tend to take our custom to local retailers whenever possible - which explains why you will see reviews of shops like Grapeland, a specialist independent wine retailer, but not Threshers or Majestic which share the same road.
Whilst setting up this blog was, and continues to be, primarily for fun, we've also seen it's audience quickly grow in the two months we've been blogging here. We're delighted that so many people are visiting - below are the statistics thus far (click graph to enlarge):
We do have access to detailed statistics on how people find the site although the database only stores details of the last 100 visits. The following estimates should provide a pretty good indication of how people are finding this page:
We're currently working on an advertising policy that will enable us to continue to write unbiased reviews whilst enabling local businesses, or those providing services locally, to advertise to this audience. More coming soon...
With the sun shining bright, Saturday was a busy day at the market. We've got more information on the various markets in St. Albans and their dates of operation here.
This week's highlighted St. Albans property, listed by Palmer Mandley and Sparrow, is a three bedroom split-level maisonette with wood beams, exposed brick fireplaces and views of the Abbey.
Located on historic George Street, the property, which is accessed at street level, is in the heart of the conservation area and dates back to the 16th century with a second floor extension having been added approximately 100 years later.
Offers in the region of £400,000. The details aren't linkable so you'll have to visit the website of the agent for further details.
The nearest the ship has ever been to St. Albans, which is about as landlocked as any location in Britain, is London (shown here).
This week's St. Albans property of the week is a recently renovated and immaculately presented two bedroom Victorian cottage located between St. Albans City Station and St. Albans City Centre.
The property, listed with Ashtons, includes a recently fitted kitchen with chunky granite work tops, Fired Earth glass tile splashbacks, heated tile flooring two nearly full height french doors opening onto a large, newly completed, raised wooden deck with railing - adding significantly to the living space of the home during the warmer months.
The living room and dining room have been knocked through to create one large living space and the exposed brickwork of the fireplace adds a feature to the room.
Timber sash style windows, with double glazing, have been recently fitted through out the property.
Upstairs is are two good sized double bedrooms, one with feature Victorian cast iron fireplace.
The property also benefits from a recently fitted, highly efficient condensor combi central heating boiler. See full details or arrange a booking through Ashtons.
By train, St. Albans is located approximately 20 minutes south of Luton Airport and 22 minutes north of London Kings Cross [check times], making it perfect for a stop over on the way to or from London from the airport.
London (Eyewitness Travel Guides) St. Albans' location also means that London makes an easy day out from St. Albans. Most local people will have heard of, and probably visited, many of the top ten sights in London: Westminster, shopping on Regent Street and Oxford Street, St. Pauls Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, etc.
If, however, you want to dig a bit beneath the surface - either by finding out more about the sights you already know or finding new places to visit that aren't on the usual Bus Tour routes - a good travel guide to London can come in handy. We prefer Dorling Kindersley's London Eyewitness Travel Guide because it not only contains information about a wide range of tourist sights, historical places, restaurants, etc in London, but also has many photos and illustrations to help you decide what's worth visiting.
It's also a great resource to have available in the guest room for when visiting friends and relatives are looking for something to do and you can't figure out what they might want to do on a day trip to London. All they have to do is look through and point at what they want to see!
The City of St. Albans Tour Guides have, since 1964, provided a wide range of interesting and insightful walks in and around the city. Listed on their website are over a dozen different routes, each with a specific theme, including:
Historic Walk: Covering 1200 years in about 90 minutes, this excellent walk gives an overview of the most important people, buildings and events in St.Albans from the Monastic to the modern.
Pubs & Chapels: St.Albans was a centre for the brewing of ale and beer, having a truly remarkable number of inns and alehouses catering for the medieval visitor and trader. Following the Reformation the town became a centre for religious dissent. This walk combines the sacred and the profane in a tour of both existing and former sites.
The War of the Roses: Although two battles were fought in St.Albans in this dynastic struggle between the houses of Lancaster and York, this walk concentrates on the first one,which took place in and around the market place. Hear about the reasons why, the personalities involved and the outcome. There's even a Shakespearean connection! Come and join the battle - no armour needed!
Ghostly Goings-On: An extremely popular and atmospheric walk that introduces some of the ghosts of St.Albans and relates their sad stories. We can’t guarantee whom you might see – only where you might find them, for they do exist! This walk is not suitable for very young children.
City Walks start outside the Old Town Hall in Market Place and take from an hour to an hour and a half. Ticketscan be obtained in advance from the Tourist Information Centre inside the Old Town Hall or from the Guide on duty. No specific advanced booking is required for individual walks EXCEPT the Halloween Ghost Walks which are by prebooked ticket only.
More information can be obtained online or by phoning the Tourist Information Centre on 01727 86451
Thinking of buying or renting a home in St. Albans? The 2007-2008 St. Albans Council Tax charges have been published and are as follows:
Band A: £896.01
Band B: £1,045,33
Band C: £1,194.68
Band D: £1,344.01
Band E: £1,642.69
Band F: £1,941.34
Band G: £2,240.02
Band H: £2,688.02
St. Albans District Council's website provides information on benefits you may be entitled to if you are a single person household, are a student or student nurse, have a low income, etc. You can also phone the St. Albans Benefits section on 01727 819 460. See also: Entitled To's Benefits and Entitlements Calculator
If you are looking for a hotel in St. Albans and want to stay within walking distance of the city centre, your options are fairly limited.
Within the city centre itself, on Holywell Hill just moments walk from the St. Albans Abbey Cathedral and the many bars and restaurants, is Comfort Hotel St. Albans. There's no pool, but rooms are equipped with everything the business traveller or tourist would require including internet access, kettle for tea and coffee making, satellite TV, etc. There's also parking available for residents - a real bonus in the city centre of St. Albans, where parking is often difficult to find. The aclaimed (apparently) and expensive 6 degrees restaurant can be found in the downstairs of the hotel although many residents are likely to want to take advantage of the location of this hotel right in the centre of St. Albans by exploring the other restaraunts and bars offered by the city. Telephone: +44 (0) 1727 848 849
Moments walk from St. Albans City Station, with fast trains to London's Kings Cross (22 minutes) on the Bedford-Luton-St.Albans-London-Gatwick-Brighton line, you'll find the privately owned Ardmore House Hotel. The Ardmore House Hotel is a converted Edwardian Residence with Victorian annex situated in a pleasant residential area of St Albans. Ardmore house offers single, twin, double and family rooms. They also have four poster beds for special ocassions. Ardmore House is located at 54 Lemsford Road, moments from the railway station and approximately 6 tenths of a mile (1km) from the town centre. Telephone: +44 (0) 1727 859313
The Quality Hotel St. Albans is located approximately 1 mile from the centre (1km from the railway station) on London Road. Faclities include car parking, restaurant, pool, sauna, satellite TV and other amenities you'd expect from a mid-range hotel chain. Telephone: +44 (0) 1727 857 858