Keeping up with the Jones' column for March 18

By Bob Harding-Jones

I have been going on some delightful and interesting walks around Hertford, Ware and our pretty villages without ever going out, by proxy, courtesy of all those who are posting photos taken on their walks to popular local Facebook Group ‘Photos of Hertford, Ware and Surround’.

Many now label themselves Virtual Storytellers and have become mini explorers, equipped with clever cameras and nosy drones to show every conceivable angle of interest.

Postings however, are from a mix of local people, people that were local but now live elsewhere but whose ancestors lived and work here, and newbies too with questions like ‘I didn’t know Hertford had a castle, where is it?’ and ‘Where’s Pansanger Park?’

I admit that although living local for more than forty years little gems turn up that I was completely unaware of, possibly because I didn’t go to school in this area and have travelled mostly local by car.

Some of the out-of-the-way historical artefacts that I did not know of are a revelation. These ancient photos of days-of-yore shops and their proud staff posing outside are brilliant, and these ancestral photos are being dug out of lofts and posted by present-day relatives, sometimes by those living overseas.

It’s amazing how over time, shops and proprietors have changed. The turnover of shops is regrettably at an all-time high right now, but through the years there has always been a gradual turnover.

Napoleon famously labelled us a ‘Nation of Shopkeepers’ and this up to now has been the case. Hopefully, we will not become a nation of online warehouses.

Counting down the days? Can’t wait for a legal and safe short walk in the Spring sunshine followed by long cool beer outside a pub? Let’s hope . . . (mustn’t forget my camera).

The Hertfordshire Mercury covers areas including but not limited to Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Goffs Oak, Hoddesdon, Ware and Hertford in Hertfordshire.