Hitchin

Hitchin is a town with 33,350 inhabitants in 2011 miles north of London in the county of Hertfordshire. Hitchin is an old market town first mentioned 1,000 years ago.



Understand
Hitchin is a town in the north of Hertfordshire. It is twinned with the German town Bingen and the French town Nuits-Saint-Georges. Hitchin has its own character and several historic buildings can be found around the town centre, historic market place, Bancroft, Bucklersbury and Sun Street. Although this part of Hertfordshire is fairly heavily populated there is still plenty of scenery with rolling hills, lots of small villages and single track lanes to be found.

Girton College (Cambridge) was briefly first sited in Hitchin before the University authorities decided female students could perhaps be permitted to reside within 30 miles of the older colleges. The building still stands, near the summit of Benslow Lane, but is of little distinction.

By car
Parking in the town centre is under pressure at peak times - the unloved Lairage multi- storey car park is still close to the centre and cheaper.
 * A1 Stevenage → 3 miles to Hitchin on A602
 * M1 Luton → 10 miles to Hitchin on A505

By train
Frequent, generally fast, trains run to and from London King's Cross and London St Pancras International (which is 20 minutes faster), Stevenage, Cambridge and Peterborough. Occasionally, trains run further on to Brighton and Horsham via Gatwick Airport. The station is 5 minutes by bus or 15 mins walk from town centre. Services are sometimes disrupted in late evening/at weekends, often with bus substitution - check carefully before you travel and check if planning to travel with a bike - this is strictly forbidden on rush hour trains to London in the morning and from London in the evening - the driver or station staff will prevent you boarding if you attempt to do so.



By plane
The nearest main airport is Luton Airport about 15 minutes drive from Hitchin.

Heathrow Airport is a 1-hour drive otherwise about 1.5 hours by train via London and the Heathrow Express. Coach 777 (Birmingham Airport- Luton Airport - Stansted Airport) stops at Hitchin, as does coach 787 (Heathrow Airport - Luton Airport - Cambridge). Bus 386 runs to/from Bishop's Stortford (change there for local buses or a train to Stansted Airport) and buses 100 and 101 to/from Luton (the former also via the Airport in Luton). There are trains approximately every 30 minutes to Gatwick Airport (taking around 90 minutes) from/to Hitchin, but these are often cancelled or delayed - check before you travel.

Get around
On foot, or nearby villages within easy reach by bike. Pleasant rides (with pubs at the far end) to Willian, Shillington, Charlton, Gosmore, Great/Little Wymondley, Ickleford, Pirton etc. Beyond Charlton the Red Lion at Preston (communally owned by the villagers) is worth visiting for its ambience, ales and pub dining, but does not keep extended hours.

See




Also in the area is Knebworth (historic house and grounds).

Do

 * Walk to top of Windmill Hill (end of Hermitage Road) for view over town. Then roll down again, a la Samuel Johnson, or sledge (carefully!) if snowy.
 * Walk out to Charlton (½ hour),
 * Very scenic wooded walk beside the river to Oughton Head (turn west from Bedford Road beyond West Mill estate). Various routes back, B655 not recommended due to narrowness and lack of footways.
 * Go on a pub crawl, Hitchin has many pubs. Three have 5 or more real ales (see pub section below).

Theatre

 * Broadway Cinema OK, it's in Letchworth, but it's the nearest available and excellent value at £4.50 weekdays (except Friday evening); £2 extra for 3D films. Four screens in tastefully converted Art Deco building.
 * Broadway Cinema OK, it's in Letchworth, but it's the nearest available and excellent value at £4.50 weekdays (except Friday evening); £2 extra for 3D films. Four screens in tastefully converted Art Deco building.
 * Broadway Cinema OK, it's in Letchworth, but it's the nearest available and excellent value at £4.50 weekdays (except Friday evening); £2 extra for 3D films. Four screens in tastefully converted Art Deco building.

Events

 * Rhythms of the World festival Used to take over the entire town centre for a weekend each year but from 2008 re-sited to the grounds of the Priory nearby, with a modest admission charge.
 * Travelling fairs On Butts Close for a few days at a time, 2 or 3 times a year.
 * Vaisakhi Parade Spectacular procession through town by the local Sikh community (annually, mid-April)

Buy

 * The Arcade Slightly quaint, small-scale covered way with a dozen or so shops and cafés (off Market Square)
 * Allinghams Traditional butcher with excellent sausages, game, etc. (Market Square)
 * Colanders A wide range of kitchen and dining-ware (Churchgate)
 * Eric T. Moore Books Now sadly no longer open to the public - mail order only - for new books, the best local option is David's Bookshop in Letchworth
 * Garden House Hospice Charity Shop A local charity - clothes, bric-à-brac, some furniture (Bancroft)
 * Eric T. Moore Books Now sadly no longer open to the public - mail order only - for new books, the best local option is David's Bookshop in Letchworth
 * Garden House Hospice Charity Shop A local charity - clothes, bric-à-brac, some furniture (Bancroft)
 * Hawkins of Hitchin Clothes for everybody and toys for kids (Bucklersbury)
 * Hedley Wright Wine Merchants Regular wine tastings, over 1000 wines (the Wyevale Centre, Cambridge Road - between Hitchin and Letchworth)
 * Merryfields Very well-stocked newsagent, lots of obscure mags, also travel guides. (Sun Street)
 * B&M Bargains Very large discount superstore, chain (Nightingale Road)
 * Oxfam Charity Shop Clothes, bric-à-brac, fair-trade goods (near St. Mary's church)
 * Picture Framer The obvious thing (Sun street)
 * Sainsbury's Groceries, Su 11AM-5PM (off Bancroft or Whinbush Road)
 * Waitrose Groceries, Su 10AM-4PM (top of Brand Street, parking off Old Park Road)
 * Wilkinson Large, extremely cheap chain hardware-n-homewares store (Bancroft, Hermitage junction)
 * Wilkinson Large, extremely cheap chain hardware-n-homewares store (Bancroft, Hermitage junction)

Eat
There is a good selection of places to eat in Hitchin including pubs, cafes and the usual range of cuisines such as Italian, Indian, Chinese and Thai.

Drink
Hitchin is an excellent town for a real-ale crawl; the Sunrunner, Half Moon, and Nightingale will supply you with 15 to 20 ales between them, and several other pubs have a hand pump or two.

Central pubs




Northern Pubs
Pubs along the A505






 * Several other pubs, mostly unremarkable, some very youth-oriented especially in the town centre.

Sleep
There is a very limited range of hotels for stays in and around Hitchin; none of the town pubs offer accommodation. Most of the usual budget chain hotels are available in Stevenage, but few are conveniently sited for public transport.



Cope

 * Hitchin has a very low crime rate although some of the rougher parts (Westmill and Purwell estates) are probably best avoided after dark.
 * Police Station is located on College Lane off Grove Road.
 * Police Station is located on College Lane off Grove Road.

Go next

 * To the north Bedford . Direct bus 71/72 from Bancroft, 55 min. Goes through Shefford, with glorious brewery tap in main street, and passes the gigantic "R101" airship hangars at Cardington.
 * To the north-east of Hitchin Letchworth on the Cambridge railway line. Of minor interest (apart from the Broadway Cinema and David's bookshop ) unless you are a student of the Garden City movement: it was the first Garden City in England.
 * To the north east miles from Hitchin is one of England's most famous academic cities Cambridge. Approx 2 trains/hour.
 * To the south of Hitchin Stevenage, 5 min by train.
 * To the south London is miles south of Hitchin and can be reached via the motorway A1 or by train. Approx 4 trains/hour, 30-40 mins journey. Beware of ticket restrictions on trains leaving London 4:30 - 7PM weekdays.
 * To the west of Hitchin is Luton an airtravel hub. Buses to town centre from Brand Street: Arriva route 100 runs via airport, 101/102 don't.