Why I love my home city

There’s a programme on tv at the moment about historical towns and cities around the country and I find it really interesting. We are blessed with so many fantastic places to live in the UK yet we rarely explore or even know whats just down the road.

So I thought I’d write about why I love my home city, St. Albans.

I was born locally (in Luton shhh) and lived in this area until I was about twenty, then moving into north London and subsequently south Cambridgeshire. Jude and Elsa were lucky enough to be born in Cambridge. Addenbrookes hospital is where Jude received all his initial therapy and support. They were fantastic, I have nothing but praise for the children’ centre there. However, about nine years ago we moved back to St. Albans. My mum helped a lot with Jude and I was wary that as Jude got older, he would need more and more support. Living that bit too far away from mum, Jude’s second in command carer, put the fear in me so we packed up and moved back to where I began!

St. Albans is beautiful

We have a fantastic bi-weekly market. It’s amazing, lots of food stalls, fruit/veg, gifts, clothing. You name it, it’s there. I love St. Albans market. Everyone there is so friendly. I don’t think I’ve ever walked down the market and not chatted to at least a few stall holders. Last week, I saw a new vegan food stall so of course befriended them 🙂

Apart from the market, we also have gorgeous parks. Clarence Park is lovely and sides up to St. Albans town football club. Probably most famously is Verulamium Park. Set in 100 acres of ground there is something for everyone with the lake, swing park, football pitches, athletics club and track, outdoor gym and neighbouring St. Albans museum. Verulamium Park also overlooks and holds the beautiful St. Albans Abbey. Elsa’s school sing there every Christmas and it’s so special. The history of that building is just fascinating.

History

Now this is where I firmly put my geeky glasses on. I love talking about history so just go with me on this one…

And St. Albans has so much history that there is even a dedicated society called the St. Albans Architectural and Archaeological Society.

St. Alban. Have you heard of him?

Living during the 3rd Century, Alban is believed to be Roman-British citizen. His story obviously varies from explanation to explanation but it is thought that he gave shelter to a stranger, hiding from persecution. The person in question was a Christian priest who impressed Alban so much with his story telling and courage that he asked to be taught more about Christianity. At the time Christianity was forbidden. Authorities looking for the priest arrived at Alban’s house but instead of handing over the fugitive, Alban wore the priests clothes and pretended to be him. Alban refused to bow down to the Emperor and Roman Gods and instead stated ‘I am called Alban and I worship and adore the true and living God, who created all things’.

Needless to say, this didn’t go down particularly well and Alban was executed. Freakishly enough, it is believed that his body is buried just south of St. Albans Abbey in a Roman burial area which happens to potentially be BELOW THE HOUSE WE LIVED IN WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER ARRRGGGHHHHH

I didn’t know this until we moved away :/ Thanks mum and dad.

There are lots of old Roman ruins around the city which are pretty cool to see. A few weeks ago in Verulamium Park, Emmeline didn’t understand why should couldn’t break through the gate and climb on one…

Links to London –

We are so so lucky to have an amazingly fast train line into central London. I wouldn’t recommend commuting into London for work as it is insanely busy (but only 20 minutes away so I guess that’s an appeal) however, being so close to London does open many a door.

I know London is super expensive but there are always deals and discounts to look out for at all the attraction. Have a look at Groupon for top deals on things you usually fancy seeing.

My children love going to see the museums or visiting Covent Garden so we are blessed to be so close.